About

My personal project was to make a robot that could paint your nails automatically. That concept led to a light sensor that, when sensing the presence of a finger, tells the motor above to move. Attached to that motor is a small brush with nail polish already on it, ready to paint. It moves, the finger gets painted, and the brush doesn't move again until it is told to do so. 

Materials

I used the 3D printer for the outside, a Hummingbird Robotics kit (a light sensor and motor) and Create Lab Visual Programmer on a MacBook Air. I also used tap, paint, nail polish brushes, and paint brushes.

Tools

I used a MacBook air for 3D printing and coding. I also used a handheld drill to make a small hole for the light sensor to fit in. Lastly, I used a Hummingbird Robotics kit.

Reflection

The most challenging part was adjusting the light sensor's sensitivity (that's a mouthful!) and make sure that it almost always can tell when a finger is or isn't there. I just stuck with it and kept retrying new locations of lighting and the position of the sensor itself. The most fun and rewarding part was assembling it and actually painting my nails with it. Also, finishing the code, because I felt great that it actually could work. I didn't have to learn anything totally new while making this, but I did have to familiarize myself with 3D design. Throughout working, I found myself always trying new positions, materials, and angles for just about everything, from the light sensor to the wires to the motor. If I had the time, I would make the brush be even more accurate with brushing the nail. Overall, this was a very fun project and I feel very proud of the final result.

Below are some pictures of the final product. Enjoy and thank you for the opportunity.

Before I finished the Nail Polisher, I was locked in the oh-so beautiful stage of constant trial and error. During the middle of my time here, this is what I was doing:

First, I had to work out what the 3D printed outer shell was going to be. After going through 3 designs, I arrived at the final one, where there is a hollow box for the light sensor. I was working out the actual coding of the motor rotations for most of the classes as well, using Hummingbird. Figuring out what angle the bush should rotate was pretty difficult. Then, it was assembling, taking it apart, adjusting, and doing it all over again.

Below are the various sketches and models.

During Creator's Studio 2016 I created a cardboard, yarn, and painted bird that was attached to a motor with an on and off turner. All of this was connected to a 3x3 wood block painted sky blue with white clouds. When turned on, the bird would fly in a circle. So, besides the materials previously stated, I also used a hot glue gun and scissors, but no new tools. The most challenging part was ensuring that the wiring in-between the motor, battery, and dial was all connected and properly welded together. There were many occasions were I would turn the dial, hoping the bird would start to fly, and nothing would happen! I got through these challenges by reattaching the wires, along with asking Mr. Umekubo for help. Once I knew the robotic part worked, I enjoyed decorating the bird and block. I felt like the decorating it was like putting a cherry on top of ice cream! Throughout the building process, I learned and found myself having to try the method of taking a step back, looking at the situation, and restarting when necessary. If I could change anything, it would be 1) the speed of the motor and 2) the direction the bird is attached. 

**To Mr. Umekubo, my pictures and videos are on SeeSaw!**

Our project was making shoes that elevate the wearer and give a comfortable bounce as well. They are called Bouncy Shoes. The shoes make the wearer about 11 inches taller. They are made of wood that we painted a shimmery copper color. The wooden base of the shoe is the shape of a box, with no bottom. We used nails to secure the wood pieces to each other. On each side, there are 7 golden rings parallel to each other. There are thick rubber bands that we stretched across the hooks for the purpose of being a comfortable and bouncy sole. Running down the sides of each shoe are nails as well. These nails are to adjust the tightness of the middle strap that secures the middle part of the wearers foot. There are two stretchy straps that, using the nails, cross across each other. This method was discovered to work best in securing the whole part of the wearers foot. This was one of the changes that we made after seeing issues that test wearers of the shoes found. On the thinner side of each shoe, there is a row of nails used for adjusting the tightness of the ankle strap. We used a drill to make the holes for the nails, then we used a drill to drill in the nails themselves. For any nails that stuck out on the outside, we used a hot glue gun to cover the sharp points. On the bottom outside of each shoe, there is a wooden triangle. One issue we faced was that when the wearer leaned on one foot, the shoe would collapse and turn in, posing a very serious threat to someone twisting their ankle. The wooden triangle reinforces the wooden base, and now it is very hard to make that accident happen again. Another issue was that the rubber bands would snap after a few uses, and the unpredictability of the rubber bands made us choose thicker and stronger rubber bands instead. This solved our problem. It was extremely fun to see people reactions when they first got on the shoes. It was also fun to try on the shoes as they improved every time they did. If we had more time, we would want to add lights and even a motion sensor as well.  It was an amazing project that I had a great time making.

We made Burping Billy. Billy is made mainly of cardboard and wires. He has a sensor on his head, and a servo motor for his arm. He also has a rotating hat in his head. Two yellow LED eyes are in his head also. When you get near the sensor, he waves his arm, then says "Hello!" After that, he waves his arm as says "Goodbye!" After that, his hat rotates continuously, and his two eyes turn on. He waves his arm, and says "My name is Burping Billy!" He then burps, and finally waves his arms. The most challenging part of the project was his hat and keeping it on. What happened was the sensor kept getting in the way of the rotation, causing the hat to fall off. With a few pieces of cardboard to elevate it, we fixed the problem. It was very fun to write the code. Which I guess is the whole purpose of this project. It's really cool to program the arm to move, and then it actually does! It was a great feeling to think that I actually made him. I learned about patience, creativity, and most importantly dealing with issues. Things didn't always go the way we planned, and we had to keep going and think of something else. I am very happy with how Billy turned out!