Ceramic Tile Shelves

I am in geometry class and we had to do a project by the end of the quarter that had to involve with we were learning. We were learning about graphing different types of functions at the time. One of the Spanish teachers at our school needed some type of shelving system to hang ceramic tiles that her students were painting on the walls. I was trying to think about ways I could make a shelf using a sine curve. My teacher and I decided to laser cut a sine curve and mount it on the wall so the tiles could slide in and out of it. First I had to make a spreadsheet to get the coordinates of the function and then turn it into a line using a program which I then took the line and laser cut it out. When I cut it out I didn’t like the design so I tried all kinds of different ways making it look nicer. I came up with the idea of having two sine curves flipped on top of each other.

3D Periodic Table

We were learning about the different characteristics of the periodic table in chemistry class. We had a project where we had to make a 3D periodic table of a characteristic of our choice and we could make it however we wanted. I choose ionization energy and wanted to make it using 2*2 and make them different highest depending on how high of ionization energy the element has.

LED Light Show

I wanted to learn how to program using the raspberry pi and learn how to solder using our new electronics bay. I started off with multiple different ideas but ended up making a LED light display. I took apart Christmas lights to get the LED lights and then soldered them together. I then made the frame using the laser cutter by making two circles for the top and bottom and a special cutting design to make the rounded exterior. After I finished soldering and lasering I started programming. There were some problems with finding the right type of program that would work so we tried multiple different ideas but none of them seemed to work.

Florida Map: Their Eyes Were Watching God

Florida Map: Their Eyes Were Watching God
We just finished reading the book Their Eyes Were Watching God in english class. We had to do a project over the book. My group decided to laser cut a map of Florida which is where the book took place and then etch on where each part of the book took place. On the back of the map, we have each placed named out and a brief summary of what happened in that location.

HB4116

Tablet: Gilgamesh

Our history teacher gave us an art project after we finished reading the Epic Of Gilgamesh. I wanted to use the laser in some way and was trying to think of ways to use it. The book was originally written on rock tablets. I used one of the laser scanned copies of one of the original tablets. I used CorelDraw to vectorize the scan and make some other changes to make the tablet as clear as possible.

Wine Glasses

The Makerspace Business Club is a new club that was started this year. The students who sign up for it have to come up with products to develop, make, and then sell. My idea was to make custom laser etched wine glasses. On Grandparents Day at our school, we sold wine glasses with the school logo on the front and then laser etch their grandchildren’s name on the back. We now take any custom orders for wine glasses.

Coasters

To make the coasters, I first design something on the computer that is related to the set I am making. For example, when I was making the New Zealand coasters, I did some research on their national icons. When I found something, I would search for a picture of it that I could use. I would then reformat it so it would look good on wood. Once I had 6 coasters, I would laser cut them. After they were done, I sanded the burned parts and sprayed it with a sealer that would make it waterproof.

Coffee coasters
New Zealand coasters
Caffeine coasters

Model Room: Maus

Model room of Maus 1

This is a model room of the book Maus 1. Our class had to do a project on the book after we finished reading it. My group decided that we wanted to do something with the makerspace so we decided to make a model of one of the rooms described in the book. We had to choose how we where going to make things 3D, and if we were going to make the windows see through, and if we were going to make the door be able open and close or not mechanical. We ended up making the windows and doors out of vinyl. All the the objects in the room were made using a box design and then we glued them together.

Hydroponics

Copying one code from a Raspberry Pi to another. Trying to set up a second hydroponics system.

#!/usr/bin/env python

import RPi.GPIO
import time
import sys

# The Raspberry Pi pins used to control the power strips
setPin = 3

RPi.GPIO.setmode(RPi.GPIO.BCM)


runTime = int(sys.argv[1])

timeUnit = 'sec'

try:
    timeUnit = sys.argv[2]
    if timeUnit == 'min':
        runTime *= 60
except:
    print("")
    print('Defaulting time units to "sec" (other option: "min")')
    print('> ' + sys.argv[0] + ' sec')
    print("")

    
#Set up the pin as an output    
RPi.GPIO.setup(setPin, RPi.GPIO.OUT)


print('')
startTime = time.strftime('%a, %d %b %y: %H:%M:%S', time.localtime())
print("Start pump at:", startTime)

#Turn pin on
RPi.GPIO.output(setPin, True)
print('on')

for i in range(runTime):
    time.sleep(1)
    if i%10 == 0:
        print( '{t}/{n} sec. ({p:.1f}%)'.format(t=i, n=runTime, p=100.0*i/runTime) )

#Turn pin off
RPi.GPIO.output(setPin, False)
print('off')
endTime = time.strftime('%a, %d %b %y: %H:%M:%S', time.localtime())
print("End pumping at:", endTime)
The hydroponics system in the science lab.

Tetrahedra and Icosahedra

This is Blas’s icosahedra and tetrahedra set that was made as a math project. Then he made it for a present. Later on the Makerspace Business Club started selling them. A tetrahedron has four sides each side has a triangle face. With that in mind Blas decided to add puzzle edges to the sides of the triangles. Inside the big tetrahedra there are a bunch of triangle sides that are used for having fun and creating cool things. It is possible to make an icosahedra with the little triangles. Each edge of the small triangles have either one or two tabs for attaching one to another. Which means there are four different types of puzzle piece. They are fun to play with.