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How to Make (Almost) Anything

Fab Notebook

Jason Zhang · MAS.863

click to open →

This notebook belongs to

Jason Zhang

Music Technology, MIT

If found, please return to the arch shop.

Contents

  1. About Me3
  2. Final Project5
  3. Week 0 · Ideation, CAD & Web7
  4. Week 1 · Laser & Vinyl Cutting9
  5. Week 2 · QPAD & Arduino11
  6. Week 3 · 3D Printing & Scanning13
  7. Week 4 · Electronics Design15
  8. Week 5 · Electronics Production17
Portrait of Jason Zhang

Composer, engineer, HTMAA attempter.

2

About

About Me

Master's student in Music Technology at MIT. Composition and computer science at Michigan, then a year as a software engineer at Autodesk, freelance composing all the while.

Read more → 3
Sketches of the final project

In this chapter

  • Humble beginnings...
  • The First Toot
4

Ongoing

Final Project

An instrument that is also aesthetically interesting, playing on the double meaning of “organ”: the instrument, and the parts of a body that breathe.

Follow the progress → 5
Early CAD model

In this chapter

  • Final Project Ideation
  • Sketching
  • CAD Time
6

Week 0

Final Project Ideation, Getting Started in CAD and Website Building

Sketching out the final project idea, a first model in Fusion 360, and setting up this website.

Open week 0 → 7
Vinyl-cut whale

In this chapter

  • Web Design
  • Vinyl Cutting
  • Laser Cutting
  • Group portion
  • Files
8

Week 1

Laser Cutting and Vinyl Cutting

A vinyl-cut whale, a laser-cut cardboard whistle, and a fresh coat of CSS for the site.

Open week 1 → 9
Soldered QPAD board

In this chapter

  • Soldering
  • Arduino and Learning Basic 3D Computer Graphics
  • Connecting to Computer
  • Group Assignment
  • Files
10

Week 2

QPAD and Arduino

Soldering the QPAD (flux is your best friend) and programming basic 3D graphics on its little screen.

Open week 2 → 11
3D-printed whistle head

In this chapter

  • Back to (the) Fusion
  • 3D Printing
  • 3D scanning
  • Group Portion
  • Files
12

Week 3

3D Printing and Scanning

Making up for the cardboard whistle with a 3D-printed double-barrelled one, plus some 3D scanning.

Open week 3 → 13
3D view of the receiver board in KiCad

In this chapter

  • Website Updates
  • Electronics Design: Fighting KiCAD
  • Trying Fusion 360
  • Simulation
  • Files
14

Week 4

Electronics Design

Two KiCad boards for the final project — a piano-key “manager” and a 12V “receiver” — plus mallet sounds and tape loops for this site.

Open week 4 → 15
Milled piano-key board on the mill

In this chapter

  • Redesign
  • Milling
  • Soldering
  • Testing
  • Ring Modulator Stylophone
  • Group Assignment
  • Files
16

Week 5

Electronics Production

Milled a piano-key board with a speaker and an amplifier, then debugged it — melted speaker included — into a ring-modulator stylophone.

Open week 5 → 17

made in the arch shop

HTMAA · tape loops