P10041: TEAK – Sound & music

1. Sponsors: The National Science Foundation and WE@RIT Sheryl Gillow – Mechanical Engineering Heather Godlewski – Mechanical Engineering Bryan Lozano – Electrical Engineering P10041: TEAK – Sound & music

2. TEAK – Traveling Engineering Activity Kits The TEAK project involves the design and fabrication of 4 hands-on engineering activity kits that relate sound and music to engineering and engineering design Kits are focused on teaching students in the surrounding Rochester community Project Description

3. Kits must operate safely in a classroom environment • Kits must relate music and sound to engineering concepts and design • Kits must be portable and durable • Kits must be usable by groups of up to 30 students • Quick set up and storage • Kits must be well documented Customer Needs checklist

4. Xylophone Kit Electronic Keyboard Kit Communications Kit (Hearing Aid Kit) Design Concepts

5. Concept Selection

6. Scheduling • Allocation of budget • Ensuring all kits are engineering oriented rather than just music oriented • Provide adequate engineering analysis to support proof of concept • Ensure selected kit activity is not too complicated • Ensure kits are portable Project Risks

7. This kit will allow students to explore the relationship between material properties and the sound that is produced. By designing a xylophone utilizing a variety of bar materials and bar lengths, students will hear how the various properties affect the tone and pitch produced. In addition, the concept of density will be introduced and students will measure and calculate material densities. Xylophone Kit - Kit Description

8. Xylophone Kit - Design Sketches Key Geometries Base Concepts

9. Xylophone kit – final design

10. Durability Testing • Imagine RIT • Used by 33 people • No signs of failure • Drop Testing • Can survive multiple falls • Improved response anticipated when using solvent bonding • Weight/Size Testing • μKit weighs 3.6lbs (without containers) • Total kit weighs 16.7 lbs (without containers) • Decibel Testing Xylophone Kit - TESTING

11. Xylophone kit Design Strong Points • Highly Portable • No small parts that can go missing • Zero replenishment cost barring damages • Offers multiple test scenarios • Acrylic base looks professional and has more of a “wow” factor Design weak points • Sounds produced were not designed to be harmonic in nature as focus was on material properties • Base material is more brittle and has a slightly higher possibility to break

12. This kit will offer students the opportunity to build and modify the design of an electronic keyboard, modifying the gain of an inverting amplifier, and the filter type used to modify the tone. Also, they will be able to test the effects of their design decisions ELEC. KEYBOARD Kit - Kit Description

13. eLEC. KEYBAORD Kit - Design Sketches

14. ELEC. KEYBOARD kit – final design

15. Durability Testing • Imagine RIT • Used by 23 people • No signs of failure • Weight/Size Testing • μKit weighs 0.6283lbs well under max 10lbs • More portability testing pending purchase of containers • Decibel Testing • At peak output volume the kit reached 97dB at a distance of 1 foot. Thus the kit did fail the testing procedure but remains safe due to the limited exposure time associated with maximum output. ELEC. KEYBOARD Kit - TESTING

16. Elec. Keyboard kit Design Strong Points • Highly Portable • Offers multiple test scenarios • Offers multiple design variables • Stresses engineering principles of design, testing, and teamwork • Allows a meshing of creativity and enginuity • Limited interaction with required circuit components ensures durability Design weak points • Batteries drain disproportionately due to +9V rail also powering microcontroller • 8 keys do not allow for playing a multitude of songs • Lack of quality enclosure leaves kit potentially vulnerable to fall or misuse damage. • Vulnerable to damage if incorrect battery lead plugged into Synth. Shield • Will require some replenishment funds to purchase new batteries after several uses

17. The purpose of this kit is to help students understand how sound travels, both mechanically and electrically. They will get to complete activities that demonstrate how a hearing aid works and use the engineering design process to optimize their own hearing aid! HEARING AID Kit - Kit Description

18. HEARING AID Kit - Design Sketches

19. HEARING AID kit – final design

20. Durability Testing • Imagine RIT • Used by 25 people • No signs of failure • Weight/Size Testing • Kit Weight – 12 lbs. (without containers) • Kit Size – Same size as current kits • Decibel Testing • At one foot, the maximum output is 67 dB HEARING AID Kit - TESTING

21. Hearing Aid kit Design Strong Points • Highly Portable • Kid Friendly • Ease of circuit manipulation • Durable • Snap Circuit has “wow” factor when compared with a breadboard circuit • Zero replenishment cost barring damages • Maximum output level not as high as other kits • Activity won’t be overwhelmingly loud when in a classroom Design weak points • Maximum output level not as high as other kits • Changes in volume may be hard to hear • Snap Circuits are not customizable • Can’t add resistor values to create a bigger range of volumes

22. Meeting engineering Specs

23. Budget Overview • $2,250 Allotment • Some unnecessary purchases were made, decreasing budget performance • Some expenditures still pending (Containers, dB Meters) • Still anticipate being under budget (Shipping costs omitted but have little effect)

24. Project wrap-up Successes • Created 3 functional kits • Met the majority of customer needs/specs Many mitigated by concept selection and product design • Stayed within budget • Improved quality of kits by using kid-friendly hardware • i.e. PCB with sockets, snap circuits Failures • Electric Guitar Kit • Unable to complete in-class testing • Never found a solution for having to work individually • Overall quality reduced as a result • Did not manage budget perfectly due to limited group interfacing and rushed design fabrication

25. In-class testing of activities and lesson plans • Xylophone Kit • Add more bar materials • Add more types of mallets • Replace 3” bar with an 8” bar • Obtain more scales so each group can have one •  Electronic Keyboard Kit • Expansion into polyphonic tone generation to demonstrate harmonic combinations • Physical Key Integration • Professional Style Enclosure Integration • Expansion of number of keys to allow higher function • (Multiplexing Input Push Buttons) •  Hearing Aid Kit • Design a new amplifier to allow for a greater volume gain • Improve snap to speaker connection FUTURE WORK