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Journal 12 

Here is the finished version of the earring holder. It is able to hold a large amount of my earrings and display them like I had wanted.  

I did run into issues with my first print. While everything printed ok on the first try it was all way too small, which was somewhat intentional. I wanted to make sure there were no flaws with the small version before making it larger so I could use a shorter printing time and so I could figure out if my proportions were right before sizing it up to the level I needed. When I did this, I found three major issues. One, my tree piece which is where the earnings sit did not fit within the base. 

I solved this by rounding the tree center peice that went into the base, so it would fit easier, and I made the hole a little bit larger so it would be able to fit in just fine. The next problem was the “branches” were too fragile. This was likely because of the amount of earring holes which caused the structure of the branches to be weaker internally and more likely to break off. So, I reduced the number of holes to six, meaning each branch could still hold up to three sets of earrings.  

The last issue was the size of the holes. I didn’t want them to be too large on the first print, but they ended up very wonky so I doubled the size of them for the second print which allowed them to be much more effective and for me to be able to put the earrings through.  

Overall, this was a very fun project and a fun class to take. I have learned a lot in this class and done a lot of things I have never tried which made it interesting and challenging.  

[an-idiots-guide-to-a-tech-class]

Journal 10

I started by drawing out an earring holder inspired by jewelry trees that hold bracelets and necklaces. I included the expected measurements, and I took note of the size and number of earrings I personally own to figure out what those measurements should look like. Here are the notes: 

I began to model this in Fusion, making sure that my measurements were accurate and trying to have it get larger as it went down to maintain the most practical function and so the heaviest earrings would be on the bottom. I also tried to make the spacing of the earring holes at different lengths to accommodate the different sizes of earrings. The last thing I did was create a base plate to hold my stud earrings of all sizes and I created a slot for the tree to sit in the base plate, so the tree is held in place. By doing this the structure is also easier to transport if it needs to be moved or if I need to store it for whatever reason.   

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Fusion 360

Tutorial Shape  

This was super easy, and we did it together in class. It would be kind of hard to mess up. 

Lamp Shade 

This is also straightforward. We did it in class and just rotated a squiggle around the axis then used the shell tool.  

The flask part 2 woo! 

This was very similar to the lampshade when creating the exterior. I first drew out half of the flask using a combination of the line and fit point spline tools to get a rounded shape. When I tried just using the line tool the shape had too many sharp edges and came out very blocky which is why the spline tool was necessary. I used the revolve tool to turn this into a full shape. I then used the shell tool to make the flask hollow and then created a second sketch inside the flask. Once again, I used a combination of the line and fit point spline tools and followed the shape of the initial sketch for the flask. Once the sketch was finished, I rotated that as well. I changed the appearance of each body to make the outside clear glass and the inside the red plastic. The last thing I did was to add the rim. I used the torus shape for this and merged that with the flask exterior creating a singular body.  

Bowler hat 

This was very difficult to do. I tried my best. I first tried to create a cylinder as the base of the hat but then I was struggling with creating the rounded top in order to fix this I ended up starting with the rim of the hat instead. I used the torus shape similarly to what we did in tinker Cad to create the rim. I stacked them and then made the top one cut out of the other one to get a rim. I am not really happy with it but by this point I was too done to care. Then I sketched half of the shape I wanted for the top using the line and fit point spline tools to make sure it was rounded before revolving it to get a clean looking top. I then hollowed out the interior (which didn’t show on the rendered version because it kept being too dark, so I also included a screenshot from the design screen) in order to have a place where a person would put their head.   

[an-idiots-guide-to-a-tech-class]

Fabricating for a Function Pt. 1

My problem I would like to solve is the poor state of my earrings storage. Mainly the lack of space or ability to display them in a way that makes me able to see all of them so they get used. I have a large and continuously expanding earrings collection and many of them get forgotten because they are out of my line of sight or they get lost and possibly damaged. I need something that can store both hanging and stud earrings effectively while accommodating for the different shapes and weights of the earrings. Some of mine have very different sizes and weights which can contribute to an unbalanced structure if I am not careful. Additionally, I need something that can be easily stored within my room which doesn't have a large amount of space, so it cannot be something incredibly large or oddly shaped.

Here are photos incase the video has any issues:

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3D Modeling – FreeCAD 

This assignment was focused on modeling within FreeCAD. We had to model three different objects. I struggled with FreeCAD because there is so much going on within the program that it can be extremely difficult to work with.  

The first object was based off of a tutorial and was a very straight forward process: 

To do the second object I first drew out what I wanted the object to look like and took the measurements of the countertop I work on and the cord for my laptop. These allowed me to add in the measurements I need. I was able to create the shape in the sketcher, but I kept running into issues and error messages with the sketch not being closed when trying to pad it and adding too many constraints leading to it turning orange. I ended up redoing the sketch and for some reason it worked even though it was the same process I tried the first time. Overall, it was a little skinnier than I would like, but realistically I would need something skinnier because I don’t want something that would be easily knocked over.  

Object 3 was filled with challenges. First, I drew out my idea which was to create a screw and a block which I could hollow the screw out of making them stay together. The main challenge for this was creating the screw. I started by making a cylinder then adding an additive helix to create the screw part of the screw. The problem emerged from the additive helix not being able to create consistent screw lines which are the basic part of a functioning screw otherwise it will get stuck in the track and be unable to fully go in the block. I reduced the radius as much as possible to prevent this which means I had to reduce the radius of the cylinder as well. The next challenge emerged from creating the screw hole within the block. I tried to make the screw a pocket to create the hole, but this was rejected as there were multiple bodies involved. I tried to merge the two objects and then turn the screw into a pocket to create the hole, but this required a Boolean operation which the system kept rejecting (this is the method recommended by the internet). I then attempted to reconstruct the screw within the block itself as one body, but this crashed the system. I tried one more time and the furthest I was able to get was creating a cylinder pocket within the block that still glitched out aggressively. At that point I gave up and cuddled my cats instead.  

[an-idiots-guide-to-a-tech-class]

Journal Entry 6

Here are my 3D models:

1) PVC Pipe:

2) Egg

3) Floppy disk

4) Spoon/Fork

I struggled with this one. Cutting out the shapes was incredibly difficult for me. I tried to get the curved shapes through creating cylinders and cutting rounded shapes out of them to try and cut out curves of the fork.

5) Flask

6) Bowler hat

I had trouble with the brim being at the curve I would have liked. I tried to fix it multiple times following the method we did in class. The curved brim is there but is still less than I would like.

7 Aviators

I went with a squared design since I was struggling to get the distinct lens shape and the curved lenses. I ended up just deciding to let it remain square. All the other elements were pretty straight forward and based off of styles my family wears.

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Here is my most recent adventure in class. I had to create my own sound effects and use it in a way that made sense. We were required to use at least one source from online so thank you to freesound.org for existing. and to softcoresoft on there for the amazing cat sound I used.

I had a lot of fun doing this so enjoy!

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Teamwork

The newest assignment for this class is a group project to develop an app to meet certain criteria. Here is our progress so far:

We have got a very good base for our project so far. We decided to go with an app that is focused on entertainment as its main function. All worked together to brainstorm the various components including puns, sounds, and other bits. I have taken on the role of recording the development and testing processes and the sources we are using. I am also helping with the design elements of the app in order to ensure the app looks pretty. We have already made the different screens we plan to use and are working on each of the individual screens to make their functionality as good as possible. We have done a good job of working together so far and I am excited to see the results at the end! 

Here are the notes I have been taking:

Here is the photo of our group:

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Create an App

Hello! I was using MIT App Inventor to make a silly little app for my assignment. I decided to do something simple since it is my first time ever doing something like this. I started by designing my first page which had a picture of my cat, a description and a list picker. I don’t know the difference between that and a button, but I was curious and when I tried putting it in it looked the same but cuter, so I decided to use that (this was not a good idea). I wanted these screens to function like little fun fact page, where when you pressed the button, a little fact would pop up.  It didn’t occur to me how I would go about doing this. I ended up making a second one of these screens for my other cat just changing the colors a bit.

Next, I made a title screen, but it was the last screen I made I wasn’t sure it would be what you see when you open the app.

And it isn’t, so I needed a way to get to the other screens. I was struggling, so I decided to click on the help bar, and that is where I found, as the name would suggest, help. It is where I found this setup that helps to transition between screens.

So, I put this in on the title screen to reach both pages and on each page to get back to the home screen. Once that problem was solved, I discovered a new one by testing my app. The list picker does not function like a button and was causing quite a headache with trying to figure out what it does. I repeatedly failed at having it make the fact pop up on the screen like I wanted. Nothing seemed to be happening by leaving it, so like any reasonable person I got rid of the function all together and made it so the fun facts were already on the screen when you opened it.

Here is the app:

[an-idiots-guide-to-a-tech-class]

Hello!

My name is Shaina and I am a student at FSU and I needed to create this blog for my class. I feel like this is going to involve me failing a lot in creating things (the idiot in the title is me).

Here is a little bit about me:

I am learning to crochet (I'm not very good yet)

I am a cat person

I am a marketing major

I love murder mysteries and reading in general

I hope this goes well! Also, here is a photo of one of my cats. Enjoy!

Her name is Katniss and I love her.