This project is a collaborative group effort in which we design a music box that can play multiple songs on command and outputs a signal to a lightboard that emits a light with a color determined by the pitch of the music being played. The music box will use utilize a rotating disk to play songs by using specifically placed nubs that will interact with a set of vertical tines. The sound produced will be picked up via a microphone and then sent to Arduino that will run a program that determines the frequency of the note. Based on the frequency, the Arduino will display a specific colored light display. The music box will also have an arm mechanism that will take instructions from the Arduino based on user input and will then switch the playing disk for another.

 

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Completed Tasks

• Designed and modeled all components in SolidWorks

• Programming

  • RGB LEDs using an Arduino to produce specified lights in accordance with a twelve-note musical scale

  • Program an IR remote control to select songs and play them based on user input

  • Programmed a DC motor and a set of step motors to be controlled by an Arduino to perform specific tasks

• Calculate geometry for a set of musical tines that play notes of within a two-octave range. This involves determining lengths of all tines with tolerances

  • Conducted SolidWorks frequency simulations for some of the tines to confirm calculations​

• Determined equations needed to map out nub placement on the disks so that a recognizable song can be played and created a few disk models in SolidWorks.

  • Modeled disks in SolidWorks for the following songs​

    • Mary Had A Little Lamb​

    • Yankee Doodle

    • Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

    • Ode to Joy

    • Crazy Train - Ozzy Osbourne

    • Iron Man - Black Sabbath

• Assemble box and install lightboard, arm mechanism, and shelving unit

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Engineering Skills Used and Lessons Learned

• Design Skills

  • Worked collaboratively in a group of three to create a design based on a set of constraints and objectives set for the project by the group members​

  • Used a design cycle that consisted of brainstorming, creating a design, determining the flaws of the design, weighing pros and cons, and then brainstorming for a solution

  • Adaptation

    • Some group members needed to learn specific skills on the fly in order to perform and complete tasks

    • When a design didn't work, sometimes fixes needed to be made quicker than a full redesign cycle would allow or would needlessly increase the project budget. This forced us to think on our toes for some solutions

  • Prioritization

    •  Due to time constraints, objectives and tasks had to be prioritized in order for the best result of the project. This caused some of our objectives and goals to be placed on the back burner and go unfinished so that other, more important objectives could be focused on​​​

• Documentation

  • Maintained records of designs in an Engineering Notebook

  • Recorded project progress through weekly progress reports and time cards

  • Maintained a bill of materials and budget for the project

  • Collaboratively wrote several reports detailing project progress as well as proposed "next steps". This included two reports per semester: a midterm report and an end-of-semester report

• Presentation and Public Speaking Skills

  • Performed several group presentations (informal and formal) to discuss and explain project progress, roadblocks, etc.​

  • Participated in a class-wide showcase where our project was on display in a public setting

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