Indentation System Prototype

• 

  Original sketch/design of mechanism.

• 

  Back of prototype, showing base shield on arduino uno.

• 

  Front of prototype, showing loading cell, indenter tip, and LCD screen.

Inspiration

Inspiration from Biomaterials course, MLH supplying circuit components. Not being bound by my inexperience in programing and hacking, allowing me to do something hands on while learning how to use/implement different circuit components.

What it does

First prompts are printed on Serial Moniter in arduino window asking for values needed to calculate information about the specimen. To go to the next question, the button needs to be pressed on the physical contraption. The indenter is connected to a 'holding cell' which will hold a certain weight pushing the indenter into the material of choice, like jello. The accelerometer is attached to the top of the loading cell to determine it is square, then a touch sensor would be used to verify indentation depth, lcd screen to output information.

How we built it

Looking through arduino libraries, and their example code, that correlate to the Grove Starter Kit Plus elements.

Challenges we ran into

Learning to code arduino, ports not being recognized, not having a sensor that measures distance and the fact that an accelerometer connected to 2 integrating op-amps would cause a distance that is too inaccurate. Strange characters in lcd screen when nothing was explicitly printed. How to auto scroll on LCD screen. Being too ambitious. Not sure how to take input from user in arduino Serial Port, like in VSCode for Java.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Building a crude cardboard prototype to visualize what I wanted to accomplish. Having fun and being able to implement information I've learned in Signals and Systems, Physics, Biomaterials, and Computer Science courses.

What we learned

A simpler project would have been easier and more realistic to accomplish in 24 hours. I want to participate in more hackathons, and be exposed to opportunities to build and code more projects.

What's next for Indentation System Prototype

Getting lcd screen to autoscroll, print answers to questions on screen, create more efficient program, learn more about arduino, somehow make the contraption have negligible friction from supporting brackets. Share this project to others interested in material science to provide a affordable activity for students to complete.

Built With

• arduino