@Ben_A

In the final devlog before Outpost we confirmed all the electronics worked and were able to swap in the new metal TT motors because the old ones were not powerful enough to lift the carriage with the rollers attached. We also fully assembled the frame and organize the wires so it’d be much easier to bring through TSA. We did many tests of the systems working together, and we realized that we had to reprint a redesigned carriage. This was an issue because my 3d printers nozzle had clogged, and we had no time to go buy a new one before Outpost so we brought it as is expecting the worse. However at outpost we were able to design and print and new split design carriage which mitigated the drift the caused by the motors running at slightly uneven speeds and was able to make our whole system a lot more robust! Thanks to the help and the printers we used at outpost, we were able to get Glintx working for Open Sauce and we cleaned over 100 people’s phones throughout the event!

This was phase one of the construction of Glintx, during this time we confirmed that all the electric parts we purchased worked together as intended and we were able to get all the electrics set up and fitted within the 3d printed frame!

Surprisingly, all the electric parts worked first try and we had almost no compatibility issues. One problem we did run into however was the motors being slightly too weak for the carriage we designed, we had originally ordered metal toothed tt-motors for this project that had plenty of torque for such a little carriage, however due to Amazon delays we had to purchase one ourself from a local supplier which turned out to not have enough power for the project. Just as we were wondering what to do, since we were in a rush to complete this project for Outpost, the Amazon eta got moved up! We were able to get the motors that same day after it had been stated to be delayed by over a week!

Now all we had to do was get the full frame put together and pack for Outpost!

-this was an edit to the original devlog as I didn’t have enough time to write a proper one in the rush.

We completed the CAD model for our project! We designed GlintX in 6 sections for easy printability while keeping part complexity down — they’re designed to print with almost no supports whatsoever.
We spent a long time on the carriage design (the square carriage that holds the two microfiber rolls to clean the phone screen), since we had to account for the various shapes and sizes phones come in.
We also spent a lot of time on the middle base part — it’s the most complex model I’ve ever created in SolidWorks, since we needed to account for the 3D printer’s tolerances in tight gaps, and a lot of measurements were needed to make sure everything fit together well. It was even harder because many Amazon sellers didn’t list part dimensions, so we had to find them ourselves. And my SolidWorks kept crashing while I was working :(
The build splits into 6 parts: top lid, carriage, middle base, 2 shell parts, and a bottom base for the wiring and Arduino. We did this so the project would be easy to 3D print without needing too many supports.
We also added all our files and a README to our GitHub repo, and created a demo video. Our project is now ready to submit for the Outpost funding!

Yesterday I made good progress on my phone-cleaning station project and have now finished the parts list. The design uses threaded rods to move a microfiber roller up and down both sides of the phone, allowing the screen and back to be cleaned evenly. UV lights will line the interior walls for sanitization, and the phone will sit vertically in the center of the device during the cleaning cycle. I also selected the motors, controller, power system, and other hardware needed to operate the mechanism. Today I will be working on the CAD and attempting to create the casing to 3d print further along the development process. Before this I will need to refine the parts list as it currently does not fit our budget perfectly.

We started creating full diagram of GlintX with most of the parts we need to purchase identified.

Hello!

For my Outpost hardware project, I decided to design and build a phone-cleaning station. The goal is to create a compact device that can clean and sanitize a phone using microfiber rollers, UV lights, and cleaning fluid.

Today, I worked on the mechanical design and sketched out the concept on a whiteboard. The phone sits vertically in the center of the device, while two threaded rods drive a microfiber roller up and down both sides of the phone. UV lights line the inner walls to help sanitize the surface, and a sliding door on the top provides access for adding cleaning fluid.

The most challenging part so far has been designing the microfiber roller mechanism. After considering several options, I chose to use threaded rods because they provide a reliable way to move the roller along the entire height of the phone and ensure consistent contact with the screen.

My next steps are to create a detailed diagram of the system, finish the CAD models for 3D printing, and finalize the parts list. I’m also trying to source as many components as possible from local stores to avoid shipping delays and keep development moving quickly.