Final Product
The images above show the final product. I really like the high gloss metallic black finish and the slanted position of the MP3 amplifier. I am pleased with the way the front section has blended into the main housing of the product, I was concerned that the speaker grill wouldn't look very nice, however I am very pleased with the result. I am slightly disappointed with the finish on the underside of the product, I feel that this could still do with some further development.
Critical Evaluation
This project has allowed me to explore the relationship between CAD and CAM and has thrown up some interesting challenges for me. Through the project I have been able to enhance my skills in ProEngineer and create a whole new set of skills in CAM. The challenges were first presented once I had finished production of the two halves of the main housing on the Boxford CNC router. The two sections were slightly different dimensionally in one plane. I believe that this may have been down to human error in setting up the Boxford CNC router, unfortunately the error may only be marginal but the process amplifies the error so once produced the error is larger. This caused an issue that the front section would be too small, but as this section had not yet been 3D printed I was able to adjust the dimensions to try to match those of the main housings. However in adjusting the dimensions of the front section width and top radius I mistakenly added extra length to the section, something I was unaware of until the section had been produced. Due to time constraints I was not able to go back and produce the front section again, so I had make further adjustments to the design, to compensate for this error. I was able to use 3mm acrylic cut on the laser cutter to create a battery cover which absorbs the extra length in the front section. I had an almost disastrous moment when the third screw on the battery cover started to crack the main housing paint along the seam, therefore the battery cover is along using two of three retaining screws. The housing wasn't split, however the paint was, so this was re-painted and coated with lacquer.
The key areas of most concern I have had are,
- dimensional/production errors in the main housing
- front section dimensions
- screw missing from battery cover/splitting of housing
- some missing lacquer around the on/off switch due to masking
Overall I am very pleased with the whole outcome and I am happy with the progress I have made in ProEngineer and skills I have acquired. I feel that I have fulfilled the brief and the specification as the sound quality is good, there is an on/off switch, the product is as compact as possible with the 'given' components and is styled on an abstract TRON Legacy theme. I have enjoyed working on this project and the challenges it has presented, it has allowed me to explore new ways of working and develop my skills.
