Prototype

Regarding code, the first thing worked on was the screen. Getting images to display accurately was the first real test. Then the work shifted to adding the motor and button that triggered the images onto the display. Regarding the design, the first thing worked on was measuring out the box the device would be housed in and then deciding what material would be used and how to cut it. From there the box was cut, stained and pieced together.

The biggest challenge was the wiring of all the components because they needed to be packaged in a tight box. This meant that wires would often come out slightly and it would be very hard to diagnose where the problem wires were. On the design side of the physical space we didn’t run into many problems. We were unsure however about how the motor would stay in place to spin properly but we were able to resolve that when designing the box itself.

If we were doing this again we would try to work on a better way of packaging the device and find a better way to cleanly connect components to the breadboard with less jump cables. How we went about it worked, but it was very congested. We’d also work to create a better experience regarding interacting with the device to inform it the message has been received. The button we were using turned out to be cumbersome and placed in an inconvenient location.