STEM Capstone Engineering
Welcome to my capstone project, Element Keys. My peer Michael Fretz and I are setting out to create a custom symbolic keyboard for engineers and teachers to be able to input special characters with ease.
Initial Plate Testing:
Materials/Research:
We always knew we wanted to use aluminum, due to its favorable mechanical properties and weight, however we were not aware going into testing the sheer amount of variability within the metal. We learned about the different series (from 1000 to 7000) and their properties, such as hardness, elasticity, and tensile strength. For our testing we settled on 6061, which is on the harder end. It is less elastic but can withstand greater amounts of force without noticeable or permanent deformation. Another type we considered was from the 5000 series, but we decided against using it because we did not need its flexible properties.
Testing:
In testing, we used Fusion 360’s built-in simulation functionality. We applied a remote force of varying intensities to the plate and ensured that it could withstand forces even far beyond its intended use. We came upon the final decision for the material through running multiple tests and chose the higher gauge sheet because we did not need the strength of a 10 gauge plate. We also 3D printed a test plate in PLA for checking dimensions. We will use it further when the key switches arrive to ensure that they can fit snugly within the slots.
Initial Plate Testing:
Materials/Research:
We always knew we wanted to use aluminum, due to its favorable mechanical properties and weight, however we were not aware going into testing the sheer amount of variability within the metal. We learned about the different series (from 1000 to 7000) and their properties, such as hardness, elasticity, and tensile strength. For our testing we settled on 6061, which is on the harder end. It is less elastic but can withstand greater amounts of force without noticeable or permanent deformation. Another type we considered was from the 5000 series, but we decided against using it because we did not need its flexible properties.
Testing:
In testing, we used Fusion 360’s built-in simulation functionality. We applied a remote force of varying intensities to the plate and ensured that it could withstand forces even far beyond its intended use. We came upon the final decision for the material through running multiple tests and chose the higher gauge sheet because we did not need the strength of a 10 gauge plate. We also 3D printed a test plate in PLA for checking dimensions. We will use it further when the key switches arrive to ensure that they can fit snugly within the slots.
Diagrams:
keyplatesketch.pdf | |
File Size: | 96 kb |
File Type: |
Alternative Concepts
The following is a list of alternative concepts for the hardware functionality that Michael and I thought up:
Switches
Key Organization
Computer Interface
Materials
The materials did not matter for creating alternative concepts, so we settled on the following three sets of designs:
Circle Bluetooth
Rectangle wireless USB
Grid wired USB
Below are sketches of the possibilities:
The following is a list of alternative concepts for the hardware functionality that Michael and I thought up:
Switches
- Mechanical
- Membrane
Key Organization
- Shape
- Circle
- Rectangle
- Grid
- Star
- Triangle
- Hexagon
- Octagon
- Dodecahedron
- Circle
- Alternates
- Shifts
- 1 or 2 shift sets
- 1 or 2 shift sets
- Size
- 1x1 … 8x6
- 1x1 … 8x6
Computer Interface
- USB
- Wired
- Wireless
- Wired
- Bluetooth
- Serial
- Wi-Fi
Materials
- Plastics
- PLA (cheap, little mechanical advantage)
- ABS (harder to print, better mechanical properties)
- PETG (transparency?)
- PLA (cheap, little mechanical advantage)
- Metals
- Aluminum (6000 series)
- Steel
- Titanium
- Aluminum (6000 series)
- Woods
- Walnut (available)
- Maple (could be nice)
- Mahogany (for the wealthy)
- Walnut (available)
The materials did not matter for creating alternative concepts, so we settled on the following three sets of designs:
Circle Bluetooth
Rectangle wireless USB
Grid wired USB
Below are sketches of the possibilities:
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We have settled on the wooden grid design for now, due to its ease of creation, classy construction, and intuitive use. We are also settling on wired USB for the time being because that will allow us to disregard the inclusion of batteries.
The circle is too unconventional of a shape, as is the rectangle.
The circle is too unconventional of a shape, as is the rectangle.