Project Report

Design Brief
Introduction
The for my year 10 electronics project I made an electronic dice. It is a dice made out of
wood, plastic and electric components whose role it is to flash a single LED randomly which
represents a number from one to six. Other than the 6 main LEDs there is also a switch and
a Push Button. T[-e4c
he switch turns the whole circuit on and the Push Button decides when a number should be
represented by lighting up a LED. The circuit is contained within a wooden case which is in
the shape of a hexagon and has been coated with oil. The case is topped off by a red sheet
of plastic out of which the switch, LEDs and the Push Buttons appear.
The circuit is designed so that the charge provided by the battery goes through a capacitor
which holds the charge and a few resistors, which decrease the charge slightly after which
the current goes through a series of LEDs and whenever the Push Button is depressed the
LED which was holding the charge at that moment keeps it and lights up. However this
happens so quickly that it is impossible for the user to rig the result by depressing the push
button at a certain point in time which allows him to get the result he wants unfairly.
Objectives and Goals
The objective and the goals of the current project all lead to building an acceptable electronic dice
which works both electronically and has a suitable case which correctly protects the circuit. The
main objective in the circuit part of the project is to create a circuit which works and is electrically
correct. That means that none of the leads have been soldered together when they are not
supposed to be and that all the components are soldered in the correct place.
The case has slightly more objectives which involve making the case, making the base and making
the lid. Making the case is an important objective as without the case there is nothing to protect the
circuit. The case is made out of 6 identical pieces of wood which are stuck together in a hexagonal
shape. The base is made out of plywood and is stuck to the bottom of the case in the same
hexagonal shape. The last objective related to the case is to make the lid which is made out of
acrylic. Holes have to be drilled in the acrylic lid to allow the components to be accessible. The lid is
then screwed onto the case in the same hexagonal shape.
The final objective is to place the circuit inside the case and ensure that the case has no
abnormalities such as wood pieces sticking out of the case. The circuit board and all the components
are placed inside the case. Then the lid is placed on and the components are stuck through. Finally
the lid is screwed onto the case and the case is complete.
Drawings

























Material List
The dice contained many different types of materials to form the case which contained the
circuit, as well as the components which were needed to make the circuit.
Circuit
Printed Circuit Board Ceramic Disk Capacitor
Resistor 6 Red Coloured LEDs
Switch Battery Wire/Clip
9 Volt Battery` Push Button
IC Sockets IC Chip
Wires Solder
Solder Sucker Transistor
Case
6 Pieces of Equally Sized Wood Plywood
Sheet of Red Acrylic Tung Oil
PVA Glue Garnet Paper
Rubber Bands Wet Rag
Nails Screws

Tools/Machines
Many different tools and machines were used to make the case and the circuit. Most of the
tools and machines were used to make the case while only a small fraction of the machines
were used in the production of the circuit.
Disc Sander used to sand of excess plywood
Bandsaw used to cut the acrylic and plywood
Drill Press used to drill holes in the acrylic for the components to go through
Vice used to hold the case in place while being hand drilled
Hand-Drill used to drill holes to allow for the screws to go through
Screwdriver used to put the screw through the case and acrylic
Hammer used to put the nails through the case and base
Wire Cutter used to cut the wire to manageable lengths
Wire Stripper used to strip the wire to allow it to be soldered
Soldering Iron used to solder all the circuits and wires.


Process
1. At the star we were given an instructions manual, the printed circuit board and all
the components needed for the Electric Dice to work. As well as this we were given a
long strip of solder, a package of solder sucker and a many long lengths of wire
2. The next step was to attach the components on the circuit board by soldering them
on by using a soldering iron and solder. There was a specific order in attaching the
components as some of the components could be harmed if they were attached too
early since the heat generated when the other components were attached through
the soldering iron would burn out the component. So for this case, the resistors,
capacitors and transistors were attached first. The LEDs, switch and push button
second, the battery clip third and the IC chips last.
3. After all the components were soldered into place the circuit board, with all the
components, was left in a safe place as work began for the case
4. The case had to be built from 6 identical pieces of wood which were joined together
by using PVA Glue. To ensure that the PVA glue would set the case in the correct
hexagonal shape; rubber bands were stretched around the case.
5. One of the pieces of wood had a speedball hole drilled into it, that is the hole from
one side is larger than the other, which in this case allowed the switch to go through
the wood without increasing the size of the switch.
6. After the case set, the rubber bands were removed and it was sanded using garnet
paper until it was completely smooth from all sides and all the excess remains from
the glue and rubber bands were gone. It was important to sand along the grain as it
would prevent any scratches from appearing on the wood.
7. The case was then placed on a sheet of plywood where its outline was drawn on the
sheet to signify were it should be cut. It was then cut on the bandsaw and sanded on
the disc sander until it was satisfactorily equal with the outline drawn beforehand.
8. The plywood base was attached to the case by nailing into wood. After this garnet
paper was again used to make the whole case completely smooth. The case was
then oiled using Tung oil and a sponge in which the whole case was coated in oil and
any spillages were washed by using a wet rag. The case was then allowed to dry.
9. An acrylic lid now had to be made. Similar to the base, the outline of the case was
drawn on the acrylic and it was cut and sanded appropriately by a bandsaw and a
disk sander. However on the acrylic a drill press was also used to drill the holes into
the acrylic in which the LEDs and Push button would be located.
10. A hand drill was then used to drill a hole through the acrylic and case so that a screw
could be inserted to join them together
11. After the acrylic was cleaned and the case had been built, the circuit board and all
the components were placed into the case with the necessary equipment sticking
out of the case from the hole drilled for them. The acrylic was then screwed on and
the electronic dice was finished.
Evaluation
Overall the project was a success as in the end I had built an electronic dice which worked
perfectly and was encased in a hexagonal box with an acrylic lid which had LEDs a Switch
and a Push button sticking out of it. However I had faced some problems during the
construction of the dice and also had some regrets later on some of the design choices I
made about the dice.
What were the problems faced and the solutions found?
One of the first problems that occurred in the project occurred during the soldering stage
and if it wasnt solved, couldve completely wrecked the rest of the project. The problem
was that my soldering skills were not as good as they couldve ben and so multiple leads
were being soldered together when they were not supposed to be, and some components,
such as resistors, were soldered in the wrong order and wrong place. However after
consulting the book and the teacher these problems were fixed.
Another problem that occurred later in the project was when I was making the plywood
base of the case. The problem was that after marking of the lines and sanding the excess
waste off the base, I realised that I had cut off too much and had to redo the base.
What new skills did you learn during the making of the project?
The only skills I really learned during the project was re-learning how to solder and also
learning how to use all the other machinery such as the drill press, disc sander and the band
saw. These were mainly skills that I had re-learned as I had forgotten had to operate most of
the machinery. Something new that I learned however was how to successfully oil the wood
which was something I had not done before and it was a relatively simple job.
What would you change if you did it again? Are you happy with you solution? Can
you suggest any further improvements to the project?
One of the main things I would change if I could remake my project would be to change the
acrylic colour and the LEDs colour. Since in this project they were both red, the LED did not
stand out very much from the acrylic. If I could remake it, I would change the acrylic colour
to black and change the LEDs colours into three different sets of colours. 2 of the LEDs
would be green, 2 would be yellow and 2 would stay red. Other than that I would prefer to
sand the box a little more to make it look nicer and have smoother edges but other than
that I am happy with my project.