Cases and scanner

I have modeled a first draft of the case to hold my electronics. This is for an initial prototype. It has 3 main sections.

The first section is to hold an arduino in place, also allowing the usb and power things to extend out of the case. The second section is to house the large quantity of wires that will be inside the case, finally, the third section is for a breadboard so that I can nicely handle all of the electronics with minimal soldering.

The lid is built to slide into the top of the case and allow wires and devices to come out of the box.

Once 3D printed, adding some magnets should allow this to be mounted to most fridges.

Food Waste in a minute

Food waste is a huge problem. A government website talks about how food waste is a big problem. It claims that 21% of waste in landfills are food. This study reveals that on average, American households waste 1.28 pounds of food a day.

In response, I plan to make a device that can be attached to a fridge (probably via magnet) that will scan bar-codes and look up data about how long certain food will last. It will then notify the user when food will spoil soon, hopefully reducing food waste.

New ideas

After extensive brainstorming, I have come up with two other good ideas to work on.

In the interest of preventing huge food waste, the first is a device that you can attach to your fridge. You then use it to log what foods you put in and take out. It then monitors when the things might go bad, telling the user when the fridge is opened.

The second idea that I have is to create a robot that can search a basement or attic to find holes where rats, bats, or water can come in.

To implement either of these ideas, I would have to work with sensors, arduinos/raspberry pi's, and programming.

The 二胡

The 二胡

While thinking about different types of musical instruments, I came across the 二胡(erhu). This is a traditional Chinese instrument that has only 2 strings. It seems to me to be a mix between a banjo and a violin seeing that it uses a bow much like a violin, but it has a skin that resonates to create the sound. In fact, it is the skin that makes the sound of the 二胡 unique. The question that I'm currently facing is thus, is it possible to 3D print an 二胡?

Ideas, Ideas, Ideas!

I'm still unsure about what problem I want to solve, but I am thinking about a few. Currently, I'm brainstorming about different problems that I could try to help fix.

My current ideas for products include:

• A means of detecting and noting locations of trail blockages by allowing hikers to mark locations of potential blockages.
• A simple and cheaply replicable musical instrument that is easy to play, but can produce a wide range of sounds.

Not a long list, but my I'm still brainstorming about what to work on.

Currently, I'm leaning towards the musical instrument/s.