Project updates Gladiolus
12 January 2023
Start of the prototyping journey. Every component is designed with 3D printing in mind. The very first print is the core. This is to get a better idea of the overall shape and proportions. The shape, proportions and scale were fine, so the design did not need to drastically change. The holes for the speaker module were a bit too close, so these were drilled out more and changed in the CAD file for the future. The polygons from the STL were very noticeable in the shiny black PLA so the outer coat was exported with more detail to make the cylinder smoother.
15 February 2023
Some small changes were made to the model. Fixed hole distance speaker. Added places to screw the coat to the core. Made the inner diameter of the core a bit larger to make space for the electronic components. Printed in White and marble PLA to make the details more visable.
13 March 2023
Started on the most basic components like the Bluetooth module and LED strip. Electronics aren't my strongest skill, so I asked a friend to help me with this aspect of the process.
14 March 2023
First look and sound check of the speaker. There is still a long way to go but it's nice to see the speaker come to life for the first time. First, the speaker sounds fine for now but the chamber can not be closed, so the sound profile can still change a lot in the future. Second, the LED strip is so bright that it shines right through the 3D-printed marble PLA. This makes the channel very noticeable. I haven't made my mind up if I like it or not. In the future, the outside coat can be made out of metal to eliminate the light bleed if need be. The next steps are the battery, ON/OFF switch and light animations.
31 March 2023
I tried to make a speaker cover. It's an improvement to the exposed black speaker, but I want to experiment more with the shape and materials. I am thinking about adding fabric over the grill, but these are future problems.
10 April 2023
I made some test pieces to fit a barrel connector and a buck convertor in the bottom for the power delivery. Besides that, I also designed a bracket to hold the Bluetooth module in place. This means that the core also needs to be changed. For now, I only reprint small pieces of the core while testing before reprinting the full core again.
18 April 2023
I finished the design for the ON/OFF button. It took a lot of tests and iteration. I'm still not 100% satisfied, but it's good enough for now, so I can continue to work on other things. The golden buttons are normal 3D-printed buttons coated in gold-coloured epoxy.
16 may 2023
My friend and I decided that a barrel connector wasn't good enough for us, so we switched to a USB-C connection. This meant that I had to redesign the bottom again, but this also meant that I could make it way more compact than before, which is always nice. I also started to look for batteries that would fit and printed an enclosure for these batteries so that they could be mounted on top of the buck converter.
1 June 2023
There were enough changes to the core, so I printed it completely to do another test fit. I didn't reprint the coat because I could reuse the coat from the previous print by drilling a small hole in the USB-C connector. Therefore, I only had to print a small guide.
11 January 2024
The previous test fit went well but due to changes in the electronic components, a different converter and a different Bluetooth module meant again changes to the model. These were small changes, but the core had to change again a little bit, which is the most difficult to reprint. The old one is still usable for now so reprinting at this moment is not necessary, but for the final design, I have no choice.
23 January 2024
For now, all the components are ready. From this moment I can start working more on the electronics. I am exiled and terrified at the same time. If the electronics are finished, the first version of a fully working gladiolus will be finished, but this is unfamiliar terrain for me. I'm looking forward to learning a lot more, but I'm also aware of the difficult problems I will encounter.
Overview components
During the prototyping phase, I designed, tested and iterated a lot of components. This was fun and educational for me. This is an overview of all the parts I produced during this time.
Electronics
This is the start of the electronics part. For finding the components and designing the wiring, I asked my friend again for help. He helped me a lot during this process. Also, soldering the components is something he is much better at than me. My part will be mostly connecting the LED strip to an Arduino that will play animations according to the beat, connection status, battery and other parameters.
30 January 2024
First progress regarding the LED animations. For now the impulses come from a button and not from an Audio signal, but it is a start.
