BLOG | Terratable

Software - Controlling the Platform

With the construction of the TerraTable practically complete, the system needs to be controlled to actually be used. Enter: the...

Eric Pye

Mar 29, 20211 min read

Culmination - Another try

With the mechanical aspects of the device now complete, and the motors subassembly parts now machined - it is once again time to put the...

Aayush Wadehra

Mar 26, 20211 min read

Assembly - Machining New Components

With the new plan in mind we set out to purchase the required threaded rods, and motors. The threaded rods came in six foot sections...

Brandon Johnson

Mar 23, 20211 min read

Motors - A Close Fit

In order to use the new KP35FM2-035 motors, their fit had to be checked to ensure that they would //fit into the existing footprint of...

Brandon Johnson

Mar 17, 20211 min read

Mitigation - Improvising and Adapting

With the realization that the locking mechanism was not going to be working as intended, a significant redesign was required. We turned...

Aayush Wadehra

Mar 14, 20212 min read

Locking - A Minor Setback

Unfortunately, not everything can go as smoothly as we would hope. The locking mechanism for our pixels did not function as we intended,...

Eric Pye

Mar 10, 20211 min read

Assembly - It's All Coming Together!

With the pixel assembly in full swing and the electrical testing progressing nicely, the next major step was to put together the outer...

Aayush Wadehra

Mar 7, 20211 min read

Motors - Preparing the NEMA

The NEMA motor will be used to lift all of the pixels to the maximum height then slowly lower them while the locking motors lock the...

Brandon Johnson

Mar 3, 20211 min read

Soldering - Attaching the Motors

Further progress has been made for preparing our motors and driver boards for their placement within our device. First, each individual...

Eric Pye

Feb 28, 20211 min read

Motors - Getting Things Moving

In addition to mechanical construction, motor testing has been worked on concurrently to ensure each component can be properly ran. The...

Eric Pye

Feb 25, 20211 min read

Assembly - 25 Down, 75 to go!

As of last week, we have officially made all of 'Pixel-Legs' we could out of our initial laser cuts. There were a few rejects due to...

Aayush Wadehra

Feb 21, 20211 min read

Production - Starting to Assemble the Pixels

After assembling the first five test pixels, we realized that it would be quite a tedious and difficult process to assemble one hundred...

Brandon Johnson

Feb 14, 20211 min read

Assembly - Putting Pieces Together

Quickly after placing our laser cutting request, our parts were ready for pickup from the WATiMake lab on the University of Waterloo...

Eric Pye

Feb 6, 20211 min read

Laser Cutting - Getting Started with Building

To begin building, the first step would be cutting all of our recently-acquired acrylic to appropriate sizes and shapes. Before we set...

Aayush Wadehra

Jan 29, 20211 min read

Components - What We Have and What We Need

What we have: Here are the components we have ordered/still need to order: Most of the components ordered from China have already been...

Brandon Johnson

Jan 20, 20211 min read

Progress to Date - Our Journey So Far

To date, we have developed some CAD models for the overall design of our product, tested the motors we are planning on using to actuate...

Aayush Wadehra

Jan 16, 20211 min read

Background - Adding Verticality to Tabletop Gaming

The intent of the project is to create a dynamic grid, in which each different pixel can be individually raised to a desired height, in...

Eric Pye

Jan 11, 20211 min read