July 16th

Created a sketch of my design:

0.4 hours

July 17th

Did some research today and started my schematic. Had trouble choosing a NFC reader but I think I found a good one. I did have to create a custom footprint though for the connection to the PCB. I think its going well but a long way to go

1 hour

July 17th-22nd

I have relatively busy around this time, but I know if I want to get this project done soon I have to kinda lock in. I've spent my free time researching mainly, figuring out how to wire everthing up, and thinking about final assemblemy.

This included choosing a motor type, battery voltage step-down, and speaker amp. I also have chosen a good few of my parts and finished my schematic!

I apologize for the multi-day entry but I haven't really been getting enough done on each day to justify a full entry. Overall things are going well and I just have to: - Check Schematic - Assign Footprints - Create PCB - 3D Design - Software - Get Approved - Order Parts - Build!

It's going to be tight but I think I can do it.

5 hours

July 23rd-27th

I have been so busy with the project I have not been journaling nearly as much as I should but here is an update on what I've been doing.

I Strated by working on and finishing my PCB which took a long time. I had to think about where everything would end up physically on the project more than I ever have before, and I also did some grphic design and other marking on the silkscreen to help me remeber what goes where and spice everything up a little, and I ended up having a lot of fun making it. I even drew the logo from the game by hand onto the board (with line tools). I can honestly say I think It's the best PCB I've made yet.

Then I got started on the CAD, and the nightmare began. while it was kind of fun playing tetris with my design, figuring out how everything would actually come together was much harder. I settled on a combination of dovetail joints and some slip fits.

And as I mentioned eariler after rougly laying out all the parts I designed the basic outside structure of the design which took a while as I sketched it in the design software then extruded everything out from the sketch and made it into the final shape. I'm very happy with how it turned out although many of the dimensions are wonky due to some changes I had to make to fit everything. I also designed some other techniques to make everything fit together and print well, like the finals logo that is inserted into slots in the cashbox to give it more colour and game accuracy. I also ordered some yellow filament to make the main case and printed a verson of the cashbox

I also spent countless hours looking for parts online and have two orders lined up and ready to go. Also during that time I ordered my PCB which was actually not too expensive but might get here to late. I also reached out to hackclub about getting an extension on my build time. I'am now going to go work on making the final CAD changes (Adding the dovetails and buttons) and writing the code and potentially ordering parts.

Still To-Do: - Finish off CAD - Software - Get Approved - Order Parts - Build!

** ~20 hours**

June 28th-29th

Boy have I been busy, but I'm done! I think.

I ordered the rest of my parts and did a test print of my case and then made some coresponding changes, I also wrote my BOM and README. I then went on to write my software, which I will say ChatGPT played a hand in as I'm on a time crunch, but I do plan to go back and review stuff later. I set up my code for launching the game on command boot on launch as well.

I also realized I frogot to show a photo of my schematic, so here it is!

In addition I made my file system nice and neat!

Still To-Do: - Get Approved - Build!

Getting there! Hopefully I'm approved in time and by some miracle all of the parts make it here in time.

13 hours