I also designed and engraved around 70 wood tiles for the game. The original game only has 64 pieces, but I added some so that the game could be played with six people instead of five. You can see the original file that I created and the printed tiles below. I used a thicker wood than craft board for durability, so I had to vector cut the tiles multiples tiles so that they would come out cleanly.

Wooden game pieces (there are lots more...)

All the troops meeples lined up

Rather than purchasing all new supplies, I wanted to try and reuse materials that would have otherwise been thrown in the trash. So I looked for materials in the dumpster over a few weeks and found the metal springs of a bunk bed that I think will work really well. See the image below, where I pointed to the portion of the bunk bed that I used for this project. I used an angle grinder to cut the frame into pieces that I could use more easily and took out the middle springs portion. 

2/16/15: At this point, I was left with 6 pieces of metal cut to length that I can use for the frame of the trailer. I switched to one of the sander disks and removed the plastic paint coating on the metal on the areas that I will be welding to make sure that I can get a sufficient bond.

2/20/15: Next, I welded the pieces together! I cut a drop out in the frame where each wheel will connect so that I could get the wheels in and adjust them. My use of recycled materials made the welding a bit more challenging since the edges were not always flush against each other, but I am confident that I was able to get a strong enough weld despite the imperfection.

The completed welded frame with me holding the wheel up where it will eventually go to make sure it will fit.

One of the corners welded.

The next step was to lightly sand and paint the frame and adjust the wheels so they would fit in initially (I need to adjust the axels of the wheels more to one side so that it fits better). I also need to bend the piece of steel that will serve as the connection between the trailer and the bike. This will be at an arc curve so that it won't interfere with the wheel. 

2/25/15: With Bruce's help, I was able to heat up the steel tubing and bend it to the curve that I need. We did this by laying it on our metal work table and drawing out the points that it needed to hit (the two connecting points, and high enough to avoid the wheel). We then heated up the pipe using a blow torch and bent it to the shape I needed. Once this was complete, I welded it to the frame. 

I was also able to get the painting done, so the next step is connecting the wheels and finishing the joint between the arced piece of steel and the bike. 

3/4/15: The bike trailer is now functional! I had my presentation of the project today in class. A few updates on what I have done since the last post. First, I attached the wheels. Next, I welded on the metal conduit to attach the trailer to the bike and finished the hitch system that allows the trailer to turn easily while being easily attached and removed from any bike. The last big step was completing the wooden interior that allows things to be carried in the trailer without interfering with the wheels. It is very strong! I tried it out today carrying my husband, Jack, in the back and it didn't seem to have any issues at all. I am very pleased with the outcome. I would still like to paint it to make the steel and wood last longer (and look better)! See photos and a video of the final result below.

The completed trailer

                              

I faced a few challenges with this project, including getting the black and white threshold to a point that worked for both the image and the text. Originally, whenever I got the text to the right contrast, the image would be too light and wouldn't pick up the detail of the mountains. So I ended up changing the contrast on the original image of just the mountains so that it was more easily adjusted in the laser engraving software. I also had to figure out the best way to center the image on the piece of wood. I ended up using the tool that traced the pathway of the laser a lot before pressing "print" to get it as close as I could. It isn't a symmetrical piece of wood, so it would be impossible to center it between all points perfectly, so I did the best I could, and I am quite pleased with the result. Hopefully they will like it, too! 

So we had fun last week at the Makerspace playing around with the laser engraver and seeing what it would do with a photo of a face. This is pretty tricky, because all of the colors that add detail and dimension to faces have to be converted into a dichromatic image. We tried this photo of our little brother, David, and I am quite pleased with the result! It definitely looks like him from far away, but when you get really close the shading on the eyes looks pretty weird. Anyway, I thought it was a neat prototype. Let the experimentation continue! 

Our SparkFun Red Board and Bread Board programmed to change color depending on where the pressure sensor is pressed.

I found a few different websites this weekend that talk about the phenomenon of ceramic printing- using a 3D printer to extrude clay and make art pieces that would be impossible to make on a traditional pottery wheel because of their angles and texture. The printer extrudes layers of clay in some cases so thin that the result resembles the consistency and look of hand thrown work. This process certainly introduces some exciting possibilities for the future of ceramics (although I don't think I would prefer such pieces over those made by hand...)

For my first 3D printing assignment ("print something!"), I decided to print parts for a hydroponics system designed by an organization called 3Dponics. Hydroponics is a form of gardening that grows plants by providing them nutrients through water rather than soil. Gravel is typically used in the containers to give the plant's roots structure. Hydroponics systems expand the possibilities of growing food in urban environments and growing lots of food in a little bit of space. Disney Epcot has a great example of a very elaborate hydroponics garden (photo below). If you'd like to try this project yourself or find out more, the instructions can be found at https://www.3dponics.com/instructions/.

Disney Epcot Hydroponics Garden

I printed five drip nozzles, which screw onto two liter bottles and drip water at a steady rate for optimum health of the plants. I also printed the conduit piece, which goes into the reservoir and connects the tubing to the aquarium pump to keep the system running smoothly. Finally, I attempted to print a silencer that goes at the top of the system on the end of the tubing to make it quieter. Check out the diagram from 3Dponics below to get a clearer idea of what parts I am talking about.

3D Printed Drip Nozzles

Silencer- Hollow on the inside

3Dponics Schematics

 Since the plans were already designed and available for free as an STL file, I simply loaded them into the software in the 7hills makerspace, arranged them how I wanted and pressed print. One challenge I had was cleaning off the additional plastic support that the printer built up to make sure that they wouldn't collapse during the making. Particularly with the conduit and the silencer, the extra plastic was very difficult to clean out in the hollow space (and I'm still not sure I got it all!). I did not expect to need to spend so much time cleaning off the extra plastic after printing. Also, one of my nozzles was warped a bit during printing, but I think that it will still work fine.

Warped Drip Nozzle

I have not set the whole system up yet, but I hope to in the next couple weeks and will update this post to show pictures of the whole system running once I do!

http://www.csail.mit.edu/csailspotlights/feature2

Check out the link above to read more about how researchers at MIT are using robots for farming. 

(Also seen on Makezine.com at http://makezine.com/2009/03/20/robotic-gardeners-at-mit/)