Benji Z.

Hey, I’m Benji, a freshman in West High. For my main project I have chosen to do the 3D scanner turntable following these instructions. I chose to do this project because of my interest in scanners, my interest in VR, and my interest in design/architecture.

Because of my limited to no knowledge of programing, design, and engineering, the amount of learning that could be crammed into my mind was, well, mind boggling. From not even knowing what an Arduino is, to knowing how to program it is quite astounding. With this knowledge, doors that I didn’t even know were there opened up, countless options for careers and colleges were suddenly available. Although I did learn a lot about engineering and programing, I would argue the most valuable thing that this program has taught me was to problem solve, that I can learn and solve most problems by myself.

Engineer

Benji Z.

Area of Interest

Biomedical engineer

School

West High

Grade

Rising Freshman

Final Milestone

FInal Milestone

For my third and final milestone, I made a modification to raise and lower the camera in order to get the different angles of the object. I started by making a prototype out of a block of wood and fishing line to create a sort of pulley to lift up the phone, but it was not stable, so I then switched to using the drawer slide to increase the stability, but giving up the ability to adjust the camera angle. The way it moves up and down is by using a spool, which is connected to a stepper motor, to wind up a fishing line, which pulls on the bottom of the drawer slide, pulling it up. I used the same code as the turntable stepper, except I added in two buttons, one to wind the line up, and one to unwind the line. Because of my limited time, I wasn’t able to get the camera to turn at an angle, but all it would need would be a servo motor connected to the slide, and the mount itself be connected to the servo.

Materials

BoM

Code

GitHub

Word

CAD Files

CAD Files

Fritzing

Second Milestone

Milestone #2

For my second milestone, I made the turntable turn using a stepper motor. I began by familiarizing myself with what a stepper motor is and how it works. A stepper motor turns in steps, whereas a regular motor turns in degrees. Next, I looked up codes for turning the motor online. When I copied and pasted the code into Arduino, it popped up with a “stray 302”. This was because my computer could see “invisible” characters. Because of this, I had to put the code through a website that translated the code so that the “invisible characters would pop up as question marks. Once I had my code, I took out all the unnecessary parts and kept the required components that made the stepper turn. After I finished the coding part, I drilled out a hole to hold the stepper, and drilled another small hole in the hand crank to allow the stepper turn the crank for us, which also turns the turntable. My third and final milestone will be trying to get the camera to raise and lower to get different angles of the object.

First Milestone

Milestone #1

My first milestone is the 3D model of a mouse that I scanned using my turntable, the Qlone app, and Autodesk Remake. This required me to troubleshoot my problems and come up with my own unique solutions to my many problems. I had to first try to use Autodesk Remake to take pictures, stitch them together and create a 3D model, but it wouldn’t work. Instead I used the Qlone app, which is much simpler, though you had to pay money to edit it and send it to a 3D printer. To get around this, I sent the Qlone scan to SketchFab, which is a website that is supported by Qlone, and downloaded the 3D model onto 3D Builder, which is an app I have on my computer. I then sent the 3D builder model to a different software to be converted from a .3mf file to an .stl file inorder to be sent to Autodesk Remake to be edited and exported to a 3D printer. For my second milestone, I plan to have the turntable turn automatically so that the scanning process becomes automated.

Starter Project

For my starter project, I built a Jr Theremin, which has a variety of parts, such as resistors, electrolytic capacitors, a regulator, and other components. A Theremin produces sound by using the heterodyne principle, produced by two RC circuits. As your hand gets closer to the antenna, the frequency from the antenna grows smaller, and the chip in the middle senses that, sending a signal to the piezo to vibrate at a lower frequency. The battery has a voltage of 9, so the regulator supplies the proper amount of energy to the chips, and the resistors give the right amount of energy to the other components. The capacitors serve as a backup for energy, and also filter out unwanted sound.
Showing 2 comments
  • Yi
    Reply

    Good start! It’s a very interesting device and it even can change the sound!

  • Reece
    Reply

    Cool! What happens when you remove the capacitors? What does the unwanted sound sound like? I’m looking forward to seeing your turntable!

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