Intergrating

I have placed the potentiometer and the solenoid inside the log and began testing the sound quality. I have discovered that the beak works better if the spring is on the outside and not the inside of the log. This means i need to re-design the beak to include a spring attachment.

Making a log an alarm clock....

My update so far...

I have drilled all the way through my log so i am able to place electronics inside. This was rather tricky to do but none the less it has been done. It is wide enough to fit my arduino board.



2 holes have been drilled parallel on either side of the log;

-dial side
-woodpecker side

The dial hole needed to be made larger to fit more of the potentiometer in the hole so the solenoid will fit better behind it.

The woodpecker side has been hand carved to look like a woodpecker has 'attacked' it.



A recess has been made on the top of the device for push button mechanics. I feel the button must not be flush with the wood, as this will be almost impossible to do and, well i prefer it this way.

I am currently attempting to squeeze my electronics inside now.

Something similiar

This is what i am keeping my fingers crossed for; simplicity, beauty and sophistication.

I love the contrast between the raw wood and the refined plastic, which i normally hate! I think it works really well and what is most difficult to do with a log, is to give it another purpose and function, i feel this achieved with the plastic, it is no longer a log but a log bowl. Fabby!

More information is available at their website ' loyal loot collective '- a beautiful company.

Sand blasting

So this is the sand blasting machine in sculpture. You wear massive industrial gloves and place your arms in the pink holes and look down in the small window, which as soon as you start blasting sand, you can no longer see through... To activate, use the pedal.

To set up, i laser cut onto a metal strip covered in sticky back plastic and removed the plastic where necessary.

I started with the aluminum strip. I did 5 passes and it turned out ok. I found perhaps more blasting was needed...

I did too many passes with the copper strip... the sticky back plastic blew off so my numbers were not visible any more.

To conclude, the affect made with this machine is nice but i feel accuracy may be impossible to achieve.

Wood

Yesterday, myself and Steph went to Falkirk Wood to find some wood for our final products. I could of bought the whole shop but limited myself to 3 elm logs and a very large ash log. I hope to be able to use these logs in my final design... fingers crossed!

Test Button

I have designed my device to include a test button to allow the user to determine if they have set up the beak correctly. I originally started with a push button; so when the button is pressed, it would 'peck' for 5 seconds only.

However, for the purposes of the degree show i have changed this to a toggle switch. This will keep the beak 'pecking' until switched off. This will help in translating my product without having to wait for the correct alarm time.

PCB making

I have made PCB boards to replace my breadboard and make it compatible with inserting safely and accurately in my product.

1. The solenoid PCB circuit:


2. The main PCB circuit:

Now that i have designed it, my next stage is to laser print it and solder the components in.