Don't Fret Log

Link to Project Page

Link to Project: Don't_Fret

Week of January 22

• Whole Group - We attended the initial meeting and brainstormed ideas for the project. Informed that Ty Dalinghaus will not be continuing on our project.

Week of January 29

• Whole Group - Discussed detailed ideas and switched from initial idea of a locking mechanism to a guitar pedal after realization of common interest.
• Chance and GraceAnne - Attended meeting with TA and Prof. Discussed and confirmed new idea of effect pedal and made sure of the reality of running it through a Raspberry Pi.
• Chance - Setup and formatted Wiki page and log.

Week of February 5

• Whole Group - Made Ghant chart and solidified specifics goals as well as how to build off of the guide we are using which can be found here: https://www.electrosmash.com/pedal-pi That addition is redesigning the Raspberry Pi mechanism so that it handles two separate triggers for two separate effects in one housing.
• Whole Group - Met to discuss and list materials that are needed, taking most of the ideas for what is needed from our guide. Discussed that capacitors and resistors do not need to purchased but can be supplied via the lab.
• Whole Group - Picked up Raspberry Pi and attended tutorial on how to get the Raspberry Pi up and running. Received locker and combo.

• Challenges for Next Week: Challenges for next week are putting together the project proposal for Friday (2/16) and setting up the Pi so we can move ahead with the coding as well as ordering all of the materials following the project proposal.

Week of February 12

• Chance - Went in on Sunday evening (2/11) to setup the Pi. While in lab realized that the Pi was lacking a cord for the power supply which cut this session short. Waiting for a cord to continue.
• Chance and GraceAnne - Came in on Tuesday (2/13) to work on setup of the Pi with the power cord that John set out for us on Monday evening but locker would not open? Will address this issue with John and ask if he put powersource on top of locker because it would not open. Used this time to work on presentation. Chance took power source and now has it on his person.
• Whole Group - Worked on project proposal slides and presentation for Friday. As of Tuesday (2/13) this is nearly complete and will be done by the meeting with TA and Prof tomorrow so they can preview it prior to presentation on Friday.
• Chance - Updated the wiki page with the final objectives, ghant chart, etc because they had not been since we decided on initial idea.

Week of February 19

• GraceAnne and Jared - Worked in lab on setting up the Pi by downloading noobs onto the micro SD and started to set up SSH on the pi but ran into network issues. The IP kept timing out.
• Chance - Did research on voltage and process of the pedal. Met with Jim to talk about this and the circuitry. Booted up Pi and completed SSH. Also set up a git repository to save code that is done on the Pi.
• Whole Group - Began ordering parts needed for construction.

Looking forward: With parts coming in our current objective is to replicate what is done on the guide we are following in the attempt of having it in working order by Spring break so we can focus on adding a second function and printing the case. As noted we will have to know the basic dimensions of the case so that we know the size of the circuit board that we need to use. Some of the challenges facing us next week are adapting the code from electrosmash, understanding the circuitry and making sure all of our parts are here and that we have everything.

(2/21/2018) Whole Group (60 minutes) - Had our meeting with John and Jim. Established goal of getting LED to blink so we can understand how the pins on the Raspberry Pi work and Chance got the rest of the group up to speed on booting up the pi and being able to SSH to it. The hope/reach goal is to have a one function "pedal" working via a breadboard by the start of Spring break which is March 9th so we can move to adding multiple effects and casing post break.

(2/22/2018) Chance (30 minutes) - linked all the parts to the mouser pages that I ordered from and ordered parts.

Week of February 26

(2/26/2018) Chance (30 minutes) - Picked up the parts that I ordered off of Mouser from the post office and took an inventory to make sure everything was there and looked at circuitry to see a basic picture of where these new parts will go into our circuit. Put these materials in our locker, this includes the extra op-amps that I ordered for Jim which I will give to him on Wednesday or the next time I see him.

(2/26/2018) Chance (90 minutes) - I had exams last Wednesday, Thursday, and today so it has been a busy week. Came in today and spent a little while in the lab familiarizing myself with how the pins on the Pi work and the map of them. Also learned about exactly how a breadboard is setup and how to work circuits on them to help me when we continue into creating a "demo" pedal on the breadboard. To show that I understood this I hooked up an LED via the breadboard and two pins on the Pi (pin 18 and a ground pin) and added a new file of code titled LED and ran that to light the LED for 5 seconds. I have a video of this and I can show John + Jim at next meeting.

Looking forward: For this Wednesday we need to get all the capacitors and resistors for our pedal from the supply so we can work on creating that and figuring out exactly how we want to code it and what we need to create a first draft of the pedal. Some challenges that I anticipate are understanding how the parts we ordered from Mouser connect into the circuit. Besides that it is pretty much just getting it working by Spring Break (TWO WEEKS!).

(2/28/2018) Chance (2 hr 20 minutes) - Came in prior to the meeting and made a list of all the resistors and capacitors we needed for certain parts of the circuitry from Electrosmash. Went with Jim and GraceAnne to pick up all the necessary resistors and capacitors. Talked through all the circuitry and its functions with Jim as well as setting goals of first measuring values through the ADC and the Pi and building out hopefully the input and output stages of the Pi by Spring Break. Talked to John later when we arrived and updated him and while GraceAnne talked to John about soldering and connecting the input and output jacks worked with Jared to get code and the circuit link up with the ADC and Pi to successfully read out voltages going into the Pi.

(3/2/2018) Chance and Jared (2 hr) - Went in to work on circuitry and code. Jared started coding the code we need, using electrosmash as a guide. We tested part of the code that using GPIO pins using an LED to make sure it was working along the way. Chance worked on building the circuit. Completing the output stage apart from the jack which needs to be soldered by Grace and started the input stage as well, working out from the ADC which is hooked up to the Pi.Notes on circuit for Chance(myself). Violet cables are for the PWM pins from Pi to breadboard. White and Grey cables are for SPI interface connection between ADC and the SPI pins on the Pi. Yellow cables are for the 3.3V and 5V connections from the Pi. Brown cable is for the ground. THIS CODE IS ONLY FOR CABLES CONNECTING TO Pi. Output is on the higher side and input is on the lower side of the breadboard.

(3/2/2018) Whole team attended meeting on 3D printing and rapid prototyping.

(3/3/2018) GraceAnne (1.5 Hours) - refresher on soldering and started to solder the male-male cables to prongs. I couldn't get the actual prong to heat enough to melt the solder, going back Wednesday before our meeting to work more. I might need help from a TA just to initially show me what I may be doing wrong.

(3/4/2018) Chance (45 mins) - I am out of town for a tournament this weekend so I looked into 3D printing following the initial meeting on this and went through tutorials for both OnShape, following John's recommendation, and also AutoDesk and started to think about what case design should look like and what dimensions might be required.

Looking Forward: For me, Jim mentioned testing individual parts of the circuit as I build them. For instance I have built out the output stage and am working on the input stage but I am curious how testing these individual parts would work. I have ideas for testing the input and output once they are both built but I am lost in relation on how to test for instance just the output stage. For the two to be complete though the two jacks need to be soldered. Also, I will probably reaching out to John in the next week as I work more on 3D design and I would like to have a discussion about case design at our next meeting. -Chance (3/5/2018)

Week of March 5

(3/6/2018) Chance (20 mins) - I was confused on one of the connections on the circuit diagram used on ElectroSmash so I contacted them and cleared up where the "+1V5"connection on the diagram goes.

(3/7/2018) Chance (30 mins) - Attended meeting with team, TA and professor. Important to test each stage by isolating in the code. Cool reach goal addition of a custom circuit board and was encouraged to order additional parts.

(3/7/2018) Grace (90 mins) - Soldering male-male connections to the input/output jacks in order to test the input and output stages.

(3/8/2018) Chance (90 mins) - Went into before I left for break to work on the input stage of the circuitry. It is a lot more complicated than output stage so it is taking a little bit longer. By hopefully linking the two it will be very easy to test the process as a whole. If not we can isolate just the two stages and make sure the ADC is reading an input specifically from a guitar and that the PWMs are working properly. I also started to look around for examples of 3D printed cases to see if I could model and found the files for the sizing of the parts we have so that it is easy to integrate those measurements into the printed case.

Week of March 12

SPRING BREAK

(3/11/18) Chance (30 mins) - Looked through and tried to find examples for cases. Continued to watch tutorials regarding OnShape.

Week of March 19

(3/19/18) Chance and GraceAnne (2 hours) - Went back over the output stage that Chance already completed and added the jack that GraceAnne soldered before break. Chance built out the input stage to the best of his ability. Hopefully we can test the two as a whole with guitar and amplifier on Wednesday.

(3/20/18) Chance (70 mins) - Built out a box and lid with screw holes to demonstrate basic OnShape skills. Began to think about what other access points we are going to need in the shell (i.e. power, two jacks, etc).

Looking Forward: I am hoping to test the input and output on Wednesday with guitar and amplifier. If it doesn't work we have to go back and test them apart. Once we get this we can solder that on and insert into case. I have one question about getting it to work that we can address on Wednesday. -Chance

(3/21/18) Whole group (1 hour) - Met with John and Jim to discuss testing and debugging that will physically begin Friday. Showed John the basic box I made in OnShape and talked about screw attachment ideas and access points.

(3/23/18) Whole group (2 hours) - Tried to flip the switch. We are moving on to testing. First task is to move the whole thing to the bread board that is larger and get the output working so GraceAnne can solder that. Need to make the PWM's created a value and send to output so we can hear a ton to ensure it is working.

(3/24/18) Chance - Ordered additional jacks.

Week of March 26

(3/26/2018) Chance (2 hours) and Jared (70 mins) - Chance built out the output on a separate breadboard and Jared brought amp and manipulated code. Got the output to work by producing a tone which is good news and means that GraceAnne can start soldering it. We have some conceptual questions that I would like to discuss on Wednesday but for right now it is just that good news.

Looking Ahead: Need to go over soldering to the circuit board for GraceAnne and need to discuss how to proceed regarding the input stage. Discuss questions regarding the output test.

(3/28/2018) GraceAnne (30 Minutes) - Attended later part of meeting and got information on soldering. (3/28/2018) Chance and Jared (1 hour and 30 mins) - Attended whole meeting and worked on the output stage. Figured out the conceptual part of it and how to put in and manipulate a created signal.

(3/30/2018) Chance (1 hour and 20 mins) - Came in and rebuilt the input stage with all three power supply mini circuits so we could test again later this afternoon.

(3/30/2018) GraceAnne (1 hour and 20 mins) - Worked on laying out and diagramming the perf board for soldering.

(3/30/2018) Chance and Jared (2 hours) - WE HAVE A WORKING FULL PEDAL! We ran the clean through the new input and the breadboard output that Chance made and it works. Jared also got an effect working as well and Chance did work on figuring out the switches and how they will factor in circuitry wise. Good day.

Week of April 2

(4/3/2018) Chance (2 hours) - Worked on what I hope to be the final iteration of the box in OnShape. I am sharing the document with John so he can view the work I do and give feedback. Wired the LED into breadboard as well and looked more at switch information to discuss/test on Wednesday.

(4/3/2018) GraceAnne (2 hours) - Soldered wires to the two switches (foot switch and toggle switch) so that they can be hooked up and tested with the Pi circuit that is on the breadboard. Worked on sketching out the soldering for the perf board.

(4/6/2018) GraceAnne (2.5 hours) - Soldered the output stage onto the circuit board, started to draw/set out input stage.

(4/8/2018) Chance (30 minutes) - Worked more on case. Need to measure the circuit board to find where to put the stand ins to hold it in place.

Week of April 9

(4/10/18) Chance (30 mins) - Put finishing touches on the case in preparation for meeting tomorrow.

(4/11/18) Whole Group (1 hour) - Met with Jim and John for the weekly meeting. Talked about finishing touches and testing the perf board layout.

(4/11/18) GraceAnne (2 hours) - laid out the input circuit, power and switches.

(4/13/18) Whole Group (1 hour) - Came to class reviewing final presentation information and reserved a print spot for the 3D for Sunday.

(4/13/18) GraceAnne and Chance (2 hours) - Came back later that evening and laid out more of the perf board circuit.

(4/14/18) Whole Group (4 hours) - Whole group came in to work. GraceAnne did work finishing up soldering the final circuit while Chance and Jared worked on the poster and figured out the switches. Tested the perf board circuit and it did not work. Began to work on debugging.

(4/14/18) Chance (30 minutes) - Scanned through the circuitry and the final board to look for errors.

(4/15/18) Whole Group (3.5 hours) - Again the whole group showed up for testing and debugging. Tested just the output and found that to be working well. Tested the input and by printing our the values realized we were over threshold for voltage which pointed us to an error with one of the power pins. Found some bad connections in the power supply and also had to find a ground that was not properly connected because it worked! Jared figured out how to set the code as a default boot up so that we do not need a monitor for presentation and we got two effects working with a toggle switch to move between them. Chance also started the 3D print of the case which will take awhile with help from John.

Next Steps: Wait for the 3D print to finish. Construct the final box and integrate the push button and the LED into the circuit. Edit and print the poster. Print the lid. All we need for presentation on Friday is a power strip.

Week of April 16

(4/16/18) Chance (20 mins) - Went to check in on 3D print that was started yesterday. It failed.

(4/18/18) Chance (1 hour) - Went in and talked with John and Nathan about printing the case again. Also emailed Jim and went through Mouser to order a basic vanilla box in the event that we need one.

(4/19/18) GraceAnne (1 hour) - Began to drill holes in the vanilla case because the 3D print failed again due to a miscommunication error.

(4/19/18) Whole Group (5 hours) - Chance and Jared joined GraceAnne in the lab to complete the final construction. Wired and attached the LED with some issues regarding GPIO pins firing so the code was edited to use a working pin. Also attached the two switches. After attaching the main push switch the effects and clean were not working. We identified a broken wire and rewired to no avail. Chance realized that there was some errors in how the switch worked with bypass and nonbypass so that was changed and the pedal worked. Put it all into the vanilla case and got ready for presentation.

(4/20/18) Whole Group (4 hours) - Checked again to see if it was working. Made minor changes. Presented.

Week of April 30

4/30/2018 Chance (1 hour) - Went through and compiled the receipts and made all the necessary reimbursement materials and checked out with John at 2:30.

4/30/2018 Chance (3 hours) - Worked on the final project report.

4/30/2018 Chance and Jared (1 hour) - Went in to get some code off of the Pi that we used for testing.

5/2/2018 Chance (1 hour) - Finished project report and went in to take photos of inside and outside of case but it was missing.