[FINAL] Pi Music Player

The Problem My stereo receiver is from the 70s and has a single AUX input. When we have people over, there is no simple way to let people play music without unplugging TV connection, adding an RCA -> 1/8 Stereo cable, and making people plug in directly/leave their phone by the receiver.

The Solution

Add an intermediary device that people can stream to via Bluetooth, which outputs via RCA to the receiver.

Inspiration

Old HiFi receivers! Hardwood (or veneer) + polished metal.

Design Process

Fabrication Process

   

Electronics Fabrication Process

[SKILL BUILDER] #6 -- 4-axis Mill

For my 4-axis skill builder I did a prototype version of my final project.  

I started with a foam yoga block from REI, but managed to destroy it VERY quickly. Unfortunately, I zeroed the Z axis out incorrectly--I tried to manually make it touch the grounding pole because I was clicking the wrong button in Roland's software.

I went into panic mode after I buried the bit an inch into the material and ripped a huge chunk out of it, and completely forgot to take photos of it. Fortunately, I managed to not break a bit (soft material + sharp bit = still alive) or damage the machine.

I went back the following week with a cork yoga block and was able to run the job correctly.

The majority was cut with a 1/4" upcut bit, the small holes were done with a 1/16" bit.

Compared to my wood cut done for my final project:

[LATHE #1] -- Wooden Mallet

[SKILL BUILDER] #5 -- Wood Lathe

[MIDTERM] Sunrise Prototype v1 & v2

[SKILL BUILDER] #4 -- CNC Joints

[SKILL BUILDER] #3 -- TechnoCNC Router

OtherMill Project

[SKILL BUILDER] #2 -- OtherMill

This skill builder is also step 1 in my goal of making spring loaded camming devices (SLCD, aka a cam) in this class.

Created two SVG files in illustrator with a basic cam lobe--one for overall cut, one for axle hole

SVG files loaded into Bantam Tools

Adding the aluminum stock to the mill

Missing shots of loading and homing the machine, here it is starting to cut

Over an hour fifteen minutes to go...

[arve url="https://giphy.com/embed/xUOwG34rYNx4JYKUc8" /]

It's done!

Pulled out of the machine, rough edges

Up close after breaking the scrap material off

A few quick passes with a sanding block and it's smooth enough to handle

Done, for now!

[SKILL BUILDER] #1 -- Hand Router

Assembling all the tools:

Dowel pin hole drilled, circle jig attached

First pass through, realizing the plywood was super cheap--there is a void going throughout the board that caved from the pressure of my hand on the jig

Mounting the board to a second ply board so I can go all the way through without a router table

At this point I had a reasonably nice circle, and was planning to make some designs on it and round the edges. Turns out we don't have a round over bit though

Measuring circle diameter in order to add more peg holes for the jig. I should've spent more time doing this instead of basically eyeballing it.

Holes cut, pin added

First pass on one side, realizing that I'm essentially going to be making a yin-yang.

Second pass on the other side. This is where the results of my inaccurate measuring are more apparent.

At this point, I've got a yin-yang and I want to do something with the edges.

Without no router table available, I tried to mount the circle to the edge of the table, route a section, and spin it to the next. Not the best choice. You can see how rough the cuts are in this photo.

It was already ugly, but I wanted to take this a step further by routing the other side to create a super tapered edge...bad idea. I ended up losing chunks of plywood as I was going and stopping about halfway through because it was so bad.

All in all, I didn't make anything worth keeping, but it was definitely a learning experience. Using the circle jig provided a ton of stability and control, while trying to freehand the edges proved difficult without the right equipment (table). I'd definitely like to try that again when I have access to a router table, but for now I think just creating channels in wood could be an interesting way to hide lighting/cables.