Wow, I’ve been awful about posting for a few months. To be fair though, it’s because I was finishing up my degree, and I was successful! I have been enjoying my time off… mostly catching up on sleep, and getting started on DSP topics that I thoroughly enjoy studying. I’ve starting delving into this bad boy, and I can’t wait to learn more about automated speech recognition!

So what happened with the robot and the laser harp? They were both completed successfully!! The visual documentation is as follows:

Robot

Ready to do some minor solder work and wiring

Attaching the main leads to the motor box, while trying to not to break the connectors off of the motor (hence the reinforcement of purple electrical tape).

With the frame attached….

Ready to cut off a thousand plastic gears….

And I got to excited to take pictures in between, but she’s done!!!

And last but not least… the laser harp!

This was what Wednesday nights looked like for three months….

The galvanometer with the power supply… there’s that helpful purple electrical tape again!

Making adjustments to the laser….

Action shot after finally getting the laser to split into eight even beams to form an octave….

The case, and the finished product underneath!

In case you missed it in the last post, you can see the laser harp in action here. The video wasn’t working during our presentation to the school, but other than some minor note adjustments, this is how it worked. The harp is now available for students to check out and play in the Cogswell Polytechnical College AV lab.

So what’s next? I’m looking to delve into audio DSP, and speech recognition technology. I’ll post as things come up, and I can’t wait to move forward in my career!