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 casing of the device, and the various internal pieces that would be required to constrain the motors, lift the pixels, and support the driver boards. We chose to make the outer shell using 3mm thick coloured acrylic, to give the device a study and attractive feel. These parts were all laser cut at WATiMake, and then assembled.

The top, sides, and bottom of the box were cut with notches to make assembly easy, and the lifting platform was cut with dimensioned holes to incorporate the threaded rod nut and screws to secure it in place. The top web and the internal web, which supports the motors and driver boards, were designed to perfectly constrain the pixels, preventing too much movement during the controlled lifting, locking, and lowering processes. Finally, holes and empty spaces were incorporated throughout the design for wires, the PCA9685 Boards, and various other ccomponents that may need to be incorporated.

Here is a gallery of the assembly process:

With all of these parts now fully assembled, it was time for a quick test to ensure the lifting process would work:

With the lifting work smoothly, the next steps involve finishing the assembly of pixels, completing the soldering and required electrical connections, and testing the locking of the pixels at various heights using the motors.