Week of 4/38 - 5/2

This week was spent on re-making the Hunter's Journal PCB. Before April break, I re-tested the PCB for the Hunter's Journal to make sure it worked, and it didn't. It was not working was actually fine since I was planning on changing the Metro Mini to a Breadboard Arduino. At the start of the week, I re-made the PCB in CAD, which thankfully didn't take long. I made a test cut of the PCB out of cardboard to make sure it would fit within the Hunter's Device. It was a bit too small for the pre-cut holes in the Device, so a few minor changes were made to the design. I was able to mill out the PCB only a day after, though I did have to change the drill bit because the one already in the machine was broken; a fellow classmate Tanzerul, showed me how to change it.

The new PCB in CAD.

The PCB milled out, it took two tires.

Most of the week was spent working on the Breadboard Arduino itself. Now, I've had some problems making these things in the past, and that hasn't changed one bit. I re-read the guide on Breadboard Arduinos to remind myself on how exactly to make them. At first, I kept everything on the breadboard. I just changed the Mini to a BB-Arduino, but that made things complicated to read very fast. I removed everything that wasn't the BB-Arduino so I could focus on getting it working. The main problem with it though, is that it kept failing to upload any code to it. Even when using working cords and double-checking that everything was put together right, it still failed. I decided to check the power with a multimeter, and that's when I found out that the 16MHz Resonator wasn't getting any power. I don't know, everything else seems to be getting power just fine. The bell rang for gym before I could replace the faulty resonator, so I'm planning on fixing it up on Friday.

The Breadboard Arduino w/ the faulty Resonator.

I was also working on a side project this week, something I started the week before break. I wanted to make a mask based on a game I really enjoyed, due to a convention I'm going to next week. I managed to model everything before break week and set the ears to be resin printed over break because they wouldn't be done by the time school ended that day. I 3D-printed out the main mask piece Monday due to me knowing that the print would take some time to finish. After everything was printed, I glued the bottom ear pieces to the main mask. The top ear pieces are bent at an angle, and the supports I originally modeled didn't really work, so I had to make some new ones. I'm re-using the bag straps from the leather bag I cut up for the Journal as straps to keep the mask on my face. I've only cut them out to the right length, though. I plan on finishing the mask next week, shelving it for a few days to re-focus on getting the Hunter's Journal done.

The Mask and bottom ear pieces glued together.

The leather straps cut from the bag.