the ece creation lab - colorado state...

i

The ECE Creation Lab Final Report

Spring Semester 2016

- Full report –

by Zeb Benham

Jason Gardner

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Colorado State University

Fort Collins, Colorado 80523

Project advisor(s): _____Edwin Chong__________ Approved by: ____Edwin Chong__________

ii

ABSTRACT As students of Engineering, we aspire to make things. All of the hard work spent learning theory and concepts would be unfulfilling if we never get a chance to apply these things we learn by actually making something and seeing it work. That’s what we’re doing as Engineers, making things work. This is the goal of the ECE Creation Lab at Colorado State University. The lab is a space meant for students to empower themselves with the tools they need to create the hardware to make their projects work. The lab itself consists of tools that can make a wide variety of hardware pieces that an electrical or computer engineer would find useful. These tools include: 3D printers for making structural/mechanical components, tabletop computer numerical control (CNC) machines for various types of precise routing such as circuit boards and aluminum panels, a drill press, computer workstations with software for designing 3D models and circuit boards and a soldering station. The lab is a useful space that students can produce prototypes in a fast and efficient way and it is our hope that students will use this resource to take on more innovative or complex projects.

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS Title ……………………………………………………………………………………………………. i Abstract ………………………………………………….……………………………………………. ii Table of Contents ………………………….………………………………………………………… iii 1. Introduction …………………….…………………………………………………………………... 1 2. 3D Printers ………………………...….….………………………………………………………… 2 3. CNC Machines ……………………………………...……………………………………………… 3 4. Argentum …………………………………………...……………………………………………… 5 5. Software and other tools ……….…………………...……………………………………………… 5 6. Workshops …………….……….…………………...……………………………………………… 7 7. Conclusions and Future Work ...………………………………………………………………….... 7 References ……………………………………………………………………………………………. 8 Appendix A – Abbreviations ……………………………………………………………….………… 9 Appendix B – Budget ………………………………………………………………………………. .10 Appendix C – Project Plan Evolution ………………………………………………………………. 11 Appendix D – Letters of Interest submitted for grants ..…………………………………………......13

D-1 Keysight Sponsorship Proposal ..……………………………………………………… 13 Appendix E – Other Documents …………………………………………………………………...... 15 E-1 Project plan ……………………………………………………………………………...16

E-2 Test, Validation and Characterization Plan……………………………………………...19 E-3 Quick Start Guide to Lulzbot Mini 3D Printer……………………...…………………...23 E-4 Spreadsheet of itemized donation ………………………………….…………………...25 E-5 ECE Creation Lab Poster …………………………………………..…………………...26 E-6 ECE Creation Lab 3D Printing Workshop Document ……………..…………………...27 E-7 ECE Creation Lab CNC/Circuit board Workshop Document ……..…………………...29 E-8 Ethics Paper………………………………………………………...…………………...34 E-9 Intellectual Property Deliverable ………………………………..……………………...37 E-10 3D Printing Quick Start Poster ……………………………………...………………...39 E-11 CNC routing Quick Start Poster ………………………………….…………………...40 E-12 Materials Poster ……………….………………………………….…………………...41 E-13 E-Days Poster …………………………………………………….…………………...42

Acknowledgements ……………...…………………..……………………………………………....43

iv

Chapter 1 – INTRODUCTION Students in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department want to put to the test the knowledge they are gleaning. They want to build, to design, to create. So much time spent in the classroom, head in books, working on theory and solving problems. When they do get the chance to put that hard work to the test, their projects are restricted. There’s no way to print circuits, you have to order in all your parts and build your design off of the specifications of the parts you can get your hands on. What if those students could design and build their own gears, their own parts? What if they could print their circuits they worked so hard to create and watch as it controls a drone or lights up a panel? This is the goal of the ECE Creation Lab at Colorado State University. The lab is a space meant for students to empower themselves with the tools they need to create the hardware to make their projects work. The mission of this lab is to create a useful space where hardware can be produced in a fast and efficient way and that this will be a resource for students to take on more innovative or complex projects. This lab will be a place which allows students this opportunity through better available tools. The lab was made possible through several donations. Keysight donated money for the purchase of a 3D printer and a tabletop computer numerical control (CNC) etcher. Cody Leuschke from Rocketship Systems, donated two Cubex Duo 3D printers, two RAMbo boards and several reels of filament. The ECE department also donated money, computers, a soldering station, and the space for the lab. With the help of John Seim and Professor Olivera Notaros, two CNC Etchers, two Lulzbot Mini 3D printers, an Argentum circuit printer, a drill press, and an assortment of other tools were purchased to aid in the quick prototyping of projects taken on by the ECE department’s students. The task of this project was the creation of this space. Setting up the 3D printers, building and configuring the CNC machines, building and configuring the Argentum circuit printer, laying down the foundations of what this space is used for and to ensure that students needing to use this space were able to get instructions on the use and safety of the equipment within the lab. Setting up the 3D printers was quite a learning experience. The Lulzbot Minis were easy to set up but the Cubex Duos needed to be completely rebuilt. A more detailed review follows in Chapter 2. This section discusses what 3D printers are and why those printers were purchased. There is also brief introduction to the basics of use, including types of filament and the types of settings available. The CNC routers were not much different. Setting up these machines took ingenuity and patience. The report of the set up is under Chapter 3. This section also discusses what a CNC machine is, the capabilities of the machines purchases, the types of cutting tools available and a quick walkthrough etching a circuit. The Argentum circuit printer is a device manufactured by Cartesian Co. We purchased the Do-It-Yourself version which had to be put together from a kit. The Argentum prints conductive ink onto various substrates including paper, flexible sheets, fabrics and ridged boards. Chapter 4 describes its build and configuration.

2

Chapter 5 contains an overview on the software available on the lab computers and some of the other tools that we have purchased for the students use in quick prototyping. Within the section, there is a simple software tool chain for a quick reference to what is the quickest way to design and build your products. We conclude after this section followed by a list of our references. Chapter 2 – 3D PRINTERS There are four desktop 3D printers that were donated or purchased for the ECE Creation Lab. Two Lulzbot Mini were purchased and two Cubex Duo 3D printers were donated. The Lulzbot Mini is a high performance machine that is very easy to use. It consists of a heated bed with one stepper motor to control movement in the y-axis, two stepper motors controlling the z-axis, one stepper motor to control the x-axis, and an extruder head for 3mm filament which contains one stepper motor for feeding and a hot-end to melting. The Lulzbot Mini is a smaller machine have a bed measurement of 152mm x 152mm x 158mm. They have auto-leveling beds and easy to access filament. The auto-level is a calculation the printer makes by measuring the distance from the head to each of the four corners of the bed and then recalculating the G-code that the printing program sends to the printer to build the image. The Cubex Duo is a larger machine measuring 275mm x 265mm x 240mm. This machine does not have an auto-leveling board but is upgraded with a heated bed. It consists of one stepper motor to control the x-axis, two stepper motors to control the y-axis and one stepper motor to move the bed in the z-axis. Its extruder head also has one stepper motor for feeding and a hot-end to melting but uses 1.75mm size filament. There are several different types of filament. Each filament has its own properties: melting point, strength quality, print quality, and applications. Most filaments are a plastic base. They range in quality and purpose and also size. The machines in the lab use either 3mm or 1.75mm size filament. A Few of the filaments available are: PLA (Polylactic Acid) is one of the most common filament types. It is useful for a broad range of applications and is great for prototyping. ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene) is one of the other most common filament types. ABS is slightly stronger than PLA and is good at making durable parts and is great for prototyping. HIPS (High Impact Polystyrene) is a brittle but hard filament and is great for prototyping. It has similar properties to ABS but is more brittle. If a student already has a 3D image in a STereoLithography (STL) file type, all the student needs to do is upload the file into the printing program (Cura), and load in the filament and start the print. Cura then send step-by-step instructions in a file to the printer. This is called a GCode file and is a standard file type for machine control. The printer then lays down one layer of filament at a time, drawing the 3D image from the STL file. To load the filament, the extruder head must be heated up to the melting point of the filament in use.

3

If there is another type of filament already in the extruder head, then the head must be heated up to the higher melting point of the two filaments. Once the head reaches the melting temperature, remove the filament from the head if possible and then load the end of the new filament into the feed hole at the top of the extruder head. If using the Lulzbot, push down until filament starts to extrude from the bottom of the head then lock the filament in place with the hinged idler. Or if using the Cubex Duo, simply insert the filament. Start to extrude filament using the extruder control in Cura, until only your color filament is seen removing the extruded filament as it comes out. Once the filament is loaded, only the print settings need to be set. There are three different basic settings for each of the types of filament: normal quality, fast print and high quality. These basic settings are just what they appear to be. Fast print prints the 3D image the fastest but sacrifices quality to doing so. This is for something that is simple, that does not need to be precise or look great. High quality prints slow allowing the head to be precise. This prints slow and ensures that the product is detailed. Normal quality is in between fast printing and high quality and is enough for most prints. After deciding which quality of print, student needs only to select print and watch as his/her 3D image is built. The Lulzbots were relative easy to put together. They were designed for an almost plug and print ability and even came with an introductory print. Setting up the printer is the hardest part, if you already have your 3D image designed. With the Lulzbot’s auto-leveling bed feature, they are the ideal machine for students that are new to 3D printing. The Cubex Duos are more difficult to use. Preparation consists of manually leveling the bed and cleaning the extruder head. Manual leveling takes some practice. Modifying up the Cubex Duo was a challenge. Donated were two RAMbo boards that were to replace the motherboards that came with the Cubex. In addition to the new motherboards, new power supplies needed to be installed, heated beds installed, each connector needed to be re-pinned, and the end-stops needed to be replaced. The firmware used to control the machines is called Marlin. The Marlin firmware is an open source software that is compatible with the RAMbo board and is very customizable [2]. The firmware contains all of the physical parameters and electrical characteristics of the hardware that makes up the printer. The most important of these being the current needed to drive the stepper motors, heat bed and hot end, and the physical limits of the machine. Using help from the RepRap User Manual [3], one Cubex was modified successfully. The second printer is not operational at this time due to the second motherboard not powering on. The second unit has had all of its modifications done and will be ready to use as soon as the motherboard issue is resolved. Chapter 3 – CNC MACHINES The lab hosts two computer numerical control (CNC) machines. These are tabletop versions of the big ones you’d find in a machine shop. They consist of a working surface (bed) that has attached to it a gantry, that moves a routing spindle in 3 dimensions. A computer controls the motion of this gantry and the speed of rotation of the spindle. These machines were purchased to allow students to use a method called isolation routing to make circuit boards for their projects. Isolation routing is a process that starts with a copper-clad surface (PCB) and the circuit traces are isolated from the other copper areas using a fine tipped cutting tool. This process allows a circuit to be “etched” into

4

copper-clad boards creating an functional circuit. The CNC machines are connected to the computer workstations via USB and are controlled by a program called Mach3. Mach3 processes a GCode file that contains step-by-step movement commands that control the CNC. The CNC machines can be fitted with different types of cutting tools including: V-shaped etchers that come in various angles with very fine tips. These are used for isolation routing the circuit traces. These bits are mostly used for shallow cutting just the copper layer of copper-clad boards. End mills that come in various lengths and diameters are used for cutting smaller areas from larger material. They can cut all the way through most materials. Drill bits in various diameters that are used to make very small holes for through-hole components. The etching process is done in a certain order. Once a circuit board layout is completed, the result is a number of layers that contain the information to manufacture a board. These layers are separately saved in a file type called Gerber. Gerber files are one of a few board manufacturing standards. The layer files that we are capable of processing in the lab are the copper layers, the drilling file and the board edge cuts. The copper layers (top and bottom) are the ones that are used to specify the isolation routing of the circuit. The drilling file contains the information on where in the board area to drill holes for components. The edge cut file specifies the boundary area of the circuit so that it can be cut out of a larger piece material. The CNC machines can only process one of these files at a time but they first need to be converted from Gerber to GCode so the program that controls the CNC can read it. One at a time, these files are converted from Gerber files to GCode. They need to be done separately because each layer will require different cutting tools to process. The first layer to do is the copper layer/s. The CNC is fitted with a v-shaped tip and the copper layer GCode file is run in Mach3 to create the isolation routing. Next, a drill bit is fitted to the machine and the drilling GCode file is run in Mach3 to drill the holes for components. Finally, if necessary an end mill is fitted to the machine and the edge cuts GCode file is run by Mach3 to cut out the finished circuit board. As you can see, there are many steps involved in manufacturing a circuit board using this method. The steps for each layer are generally the same though so once a user becomes familiar with processing one layer, the rest is fairly intuitive. The most challenging aspect that we have found is in configuring the GCode. There are many options for cutting tool type/size, multiple pass etching, removing copper material from large areas, cutting depth and many more. While these options make the CNC a highly configurable and flexible tool they also add complexity and can be challenging to master. The CNC machines themselves were not difficult to assemble, but setting up the machine parameters inside of the Mach3 software was confusing at times. The software needs to know the size of the working area and other specs about the machines in order to control them correctly. Ultimately, the correct configuration was found and saved as a profile so that was a process that only needed to be done once. Also we found that any slight variation in the flatness of the bed of the CNC would impact etching as the copper on the boards is very thin. Some areas may not be etched because the variation in the bed causes the copper-clad board to bend slightly away from

5

the cutting tool. This was overcome by routing a level surface on a piece of medium density fiberboard (MDF) on the CNC. This leaves the surface of the MDF flat relative to the tool tip. The etching is then done with the copper-clad boards mounted on the MDF and consistent depth routing is achieved. Chapter 4 – ARGENTUM The Argentum circuit printer is a machine manufactured by Cartesian Co. The model that we purchased comes as a Do-It-Yourself kit containing the enclosure pieces, motors, electronics and other hardware necessary to build an Argentum circuit printer. The printer is said to take around 20 hours to assemble, but we have found that it could take longer if there are issues with calibration. The very detailed assembly instructions that came with our parts was followed. The argentum functions like any inkjet printer in that it moves a carriage with ink cartridges across whatever media it is printing on. The difference is that the carriage moves in two dimensions and the ink conducts electricity. Electrical components can then be soldered on or affixed using a special type of adhesive. The approximate printable area of the Argentum is 6.77” x 4.07” at a resolution of 300DPI. [4] Manufacturer specs state that components with a pitch as small as 0.65mm can be used. Materials that can be printed on include: polyimide, linen paper, stone paper, fiberglass and more. The Argentum operates using its proprietary software named ARC. An image file (.jpg, .png, .bmp) is loaded and a print can begin. The printer first “homes” itself by touching the four end stops at each corner of the print bed. The Argentum prints a circuit by laying down anywhere from 6 to 12 layers of silver conductive ink. After each layer, an ascorbic acid is applied that reacts with the silver to set it. The circuit is dried between each layer and the cycle continues until the desired conductivity is attained. As you can imagine, the process is fairly tedious and takes attention and human input. Therefore printing a circuit with the Argentum is not a “set and forget” type process and will require students to be present for the entirety of their print. The process does seem easier after the first time and I do think that students will benefit from the utility of this machine. Chapter 5 – SOFTWARE AND OTHER TOOLS The computer workstations are at the heart of the ECE Creation Lab. The software they contain is doing the heavy lifting of 3D modeling, circuit design work, file conversion and machine control. The following list is the suite of programs, and their function, that we have chosen for the lab: Cura – 3D printing slicer, GCode converter and machine control Mach3 – CNC machine control and configuration Blender – 3D modeling KiCad – Circuit schematic and PCB layout FlatCam – Gerber/Excellon file to GCode converter F-Engrave – Image and text to GCode converter

6

Cura is the main interface for the 3D printers. Cura Lulzbot edition is what we use in the lab. This has profiles (machine specs) of the machines that we use and it provides highly tuned control of the Lulzbot products. Cura allows users to open a STL 3D model file and configure it for 3D printing. It provides access to printer and GCode settings as well as a GUI for controlling the machines. Once the settings for the print are configured, it processes the 3D model into a sequence of 2D “slices” (The 3D printers print one 2D layer at a time from the bottom up to create the 3D object). This process is known as slicing. After slicing, the 2D slices are mapped to GCode which is the language that controls the printer’s motion, temperature and extrusion. Mach3 is the main interface for the CNC machines. It loads GCode files and has many options for configuring the machines. Blender is a modeling program that allows users to create 2D and 3D objects accurate to very fine tolerances. It saves files in many file types but the most applicable to the lab are STL files. KiCad is a circuit design and layout program that is easy to use and allows users to generate Gerber files for copper layers, hole drilling and cutouts. These Gerber files define where copper should and shouldn’t be on a circuit board as well as other specs such as silk screening, masking and holes/vias. KiCad has two main functions: schematic capture and PCB layout. Students can design a circuit schematic and the program will help port the schematic to a PCB layout with it’s library of component footprints. This layout can be exported as a collection of Gerber files to be used to manufacture boards. FlatCam is a file conversion program that imports Gerber files such as those exported from KiCad and converts them to GCode to be used with CNC machines. FlatCam allows the user to define the size of the cutting tools to be used and the parameters of the routing to be done such as which areas to remove copper from and how deep to etch the copper clad boards. F-Engrave is a tool that converts text or images to GCode for engraving. Students may want to engrave, etch or route things other than circuits with the CNC machines and this program is a way to make this happen. The tool chains for 3D printing and CNC etching are shown below: 3D printing Blender -> Cura CNC etching KiCad -> FlatCam -> Mach3 – for circuit etching -or- F-Engrave -> Mach3 – for other routing/engraving The lab also has a couple of other tools for creating hardware. There is a heavy-duty tabletop drill press with an array of drill bits, a solder station for populating PCBs, an array of hand tools for assembly and a Dremel rotary tool to grind, polish, hone, or machine any parts that may not have come out perfect after etching or 3D printing.

7

Chapter 6 – WORKSHOPS During the second semester of this project (Spring 2016), a number of workshops were given on the topics of 3D printing and producing circuit boards using our CNC machines. Each workshop was two hours in duration and provided a hands-on exercise utilizing the equipment in the lab. The 3D printing workshop had the students manipulate pre-made 3D models and become familiar with the Blender 3D modeling software that we have on the computers. Then we exported their files and loaded them into the Cura software where a complete explanation of setting up a print was given. A print was started and that concluded the workshop. The CNC/circuit board workshop had the students use Kicad to define a flashing LED circuit and layout the artwork for the board. Gerber files were discussed and a set of files was exported from Kicad. These files were loaded into the Mach3 CNC control software and an explanation of how to run the CNC machines was given as well as words of caution regarding safety. I believe that students find the workshops to be a very beneficial resource. The documents that were created to conduct the workshops can be found in Appendix E - Other Documents. It is our hope that, using these materials, future workshops can be conducted fairly easily. Chapter 7 – CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE WORK Putting together a hardware manufacturing lab has been challenging. Not only did the machines need to be set up and calibrated correctly but the workflow and software tool chain had to come together in a way that is intuitive to operate and easy to understand. The greatest challenge was finding the right software that would be easy enough for a total beginner but robust and configurable enough for an experienced user. The current setup accomplishes this goal and should be suitable for a wide range of experience levels. Looking toward the future, the lab’s capabilities can be expanded as new functionality is desired. A proposal for Keysight sponsorship has already been granted for a reflow oven for the lab. This will allow smaller surface-mount components to be used in projects with greater ease. A copy of the proposal can be found in Appendix D - Letters of Interest submitted for grants. Hopefully the ECE Creation Lab will continue to empower our students with the state-of-the-art tools necessary for the projects of the future and inspire teams to take on more challenging engineering problems.

8

REFERENCES [1] Aleph Objects, LulzBot™ Mini User Manual, Loveland, Colorado: Aleph Objects, 2015. [2] EvdZ. (2015, August 26). Marlin (version 1.0.2) [Online]. Available: http://reprap.org/wiki/Marlin [3] RepRap Electro, RAMBo 1.1B User Manual, Free Software Foundation, Inc., 2008. [4] Cartesian Co., http://wiki.cartesianco.com/Main_Page, Cartesian Co., 2015.

9

APPENDICES Appendix A - Abbreviations CNC – Computer Numerical Control MDF – Medium density fiberboard PCB – Printed circuit board 3D – Three dimensional 2D – Two dimensional STL – Standard Tessellation Language USB – Universal serial bus

10

Appendix B - Budget The following is a table with the itemized budget for the lab. ESTC, Keysight and the ECE Department have contributed funding for this project. Items purchased personally are noted to the right. The majority of the purchasing was done by the lab manager. ECE Creation Lab Budget

Description Pcs Income Per unit Total

ESTC 6,830 Keysight 3,425 ECE Department 400 PCB printer 1 899.00 899.00 CNC Etcher 3-axis 1 1867.02 1867.02 CNC Etcher 4-axis 1 2132.80 2132.80 LulzBot Mini 2 1282.50 2565.00 Wiper replacement kit 2 11.40 22.80 Cleaning filament 2 9.46 18.92 3D filaments misc. 659.61 659.61 Grizzly drill + tools 1 505.48 505.48 Rotary tool set 1 40.91 40.91 Water reservoir 1 5.57 5.57 personal Tool tips for CNC misc. 81.10 81.10 Heated bed for Cubex Duo 2 79.95 159.90 Misc. Hardware for CNC misc. 8.57 8.57 personal PEI sheet 2 45.00 90.00 Borosillicate glass bed pair 1 64.94 64.94 personal Cresent wrench set 1 32.68 32.68 personal Drill bit set

1

20.00

20.00

personal

Total income Total expenses

10,655 9174.30

11

Appendix C - Timeline The Timeline below is from Fall semester 2015 and Spring semester 2016. The following timeline shows the stages of completion as well as deliverables for this project. Please see below for details on each stage. Spring semester was not done in stages. Date Stage Deliverables ECE401 Fall 2015 Sept 2, 2015 Stage 1 Picture day 9/16 Preliminary Project Plan 9/21 Website

Notebook Collection 9/28 Revised Project Plan 10/19 Stage 2 Notebook Collection 10/14-10/21 Project Plan Review 11/7 DTVC document 11/9 Notebook Collection 11/11 Stage 3 DTVC Review 12/9, 12/10 Oral Presentations Stage 1. The equipment and furniture will be purchased and delivered to the lab space. The equipment will be assembled and calibrated. Software packages will be installed on lab computers and a tool chain will be chosen. Software/equipment interface will be configured and debugged. One LulzBot Mini and one X4-800L machine will be available for student use Stage 2. Information posters will be created. Dust and noise solution for X4-800L machines will be implemented. Second Lulzbot Mini and X4-800L will be available for use. Cubex Duo printers will be modified and calibrated. Stage 3. Cubex Duo printers will be available for student use. More extensive documentation will be provided (manuals/website). Raspberry Pi wireless print servers running OctoPrint installed. Addition of webcam.

12

Date Deliverables ECE402 Spring 2016 1/27 Updated project plan and website.

Installed safety goggles/rack. 2/5 Ethics paper deliverable due. 2/8 Workshop (3D) 5-7pm B111. 2/10 Wrote and submitted proposal for sponsorship from Keysight to fund reflow oven. 2/15 Workshop (CNC) 5-7pm B111. 2/17 Workshop 2 (3D) 6-8pm B111. 2/19 3D models for Cubex heat bed corners

designed and printed. Shop vacuum installed. Intellectual property paper deliverable due.

2/22 Turn in notebooks. 3/5 Lab posters designed, printed, and installed. 3/9 Meet with Keysight representative Dan Ferguson to discuss sponsorship for reflow oven. 3/16 Ordered final components for Cubex modification. 3/26 Argentum building started. 3/28 Turn in notebooks. 13-Apr Argentum circuit printer built.

Argentum circuit printer calibrated. E-Days poster review.

14-Apr Cubex Duo 1 is finished. 15-Apr Example circuit created on equipment. 3D “E-Days!” model created for E-Days. E-Days 27-Apr Meet with new lab manager, Addiel Orozco, to

discuss the state of the lab.

13

Appendix D – Letters of Interest submitted for grants

Expanding the capabilities of the ECE Creation Lab with the addition of a reflow oven. By project lead: Zeb Benham Supervisor: Edwin Chong Electrical and Computer Engineering, Colorado State University Project Summary The ECE Creation Lab is a hardware development space for students in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department of Colorado State University. Its purpose is to enable Senior Design and Open Option Project students to design and build hardware for their projects using state-of-the-art tools such as 3D modeling and circuit design software, 3D printers and CNC machines. Why is This Project Important? This project is important because it provides students with a solution for rapid prototype creation. This is very useful tool for students working on Senior Design and Open Option projects as it will allow for hardware to be created “in house” and will also provide an opportunity for students to gain insight on the manufacturing process. !The ECE Creation Lab is currently up and running and is assisting students in creating hardware for their projects. The lab has two 3D printers, two tabletop CNC machines, a soldering station and a drill press in operation. Although these tools are very capable, students have shown a need to expand the lab’s capabilities. Due to a rise in popularity of surface mount (SMT) components and a desire to create technology with a smaller footprint, our students could benefit from the addition of a reflow oven for soldering SMT components. This addition would not only expand the capability of the lab but would provide the students with experience creating hardware using more modern techniques. This experience is important for our students because as technology progresses and evolves, having an understanding of modern practices will give them an edge in the job market. One example of a team that could utilize a reflow oven this semester is Dr. Tom Chen’s team. They are working on a cutting-edge project involving CMOS biosensor devices. The image to the right shows an example of a board design created by the team. The board is currently being manufactured and it will require many surface mount components to be soldered. A reflow oven will allow their team to quickly populate boards and learn this SMT manufacturing process. More information on this project can be found on their website: http://projects-web.engr.colostate.edu/ece-sr-design/AY15/CMOS/

15

Appendix E – Other Documents The following documents were created during the project. The documents include: • Project plan • Test, Validation and Characterization Plan • Quick Start Guide to Lulzbot Mini 3D Printer • Spreadsheet of itemized donation • ECE Creation Lab Poster. • ECE Creation Lab 3D Printing Workshop Document • ECE Creation Lab CNC/Circuit board Workshop Document • Ethics Paper • Intellectual Property Deliverable • 3D Printing Quick Start Poster • CNC routing Quick Start Poster • E-Days Poster

16

ECE Creation Lab – Project Plan 3-D Printing and Electronics Prototyping Team members Zeb Benham – Senior, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Senior Design project Jason Gardner –Senior, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Open Option Project Edwin Chong – Supervising Professor Project Summary The ECE Creation Lab is a hardware development space for students in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department of Colorado State University. Its purpose is to enable Senior design and open-option students to design and build hardware for projects using state-of-the-art tools such as 3-D modeling software, 3-D printers, and CNC machines. Why is This Project Important? This project is important because it provides students with a solution for rapid prototype creation. This will be a very useful tool for students working on Senior Design projects as it will allow for hardware to be created “in house” and also for students to have control over all aspects of their projects. Problem statement The ECE department at Colorado State University has a need for a lab space that will provide students working on Senior Design Projects, Open Option projects and ECE202 projects the ability to fabricate hardware for their projects. Such a lab would require tools that interact as a system and be utilized easily and effectively. Objectives Space for this lab has already been granted and funding for equipment has been received. The objectives of this project are to choose equipment to install in the lab, to configure the lab space in a way that promotes efficient design and fabrication, to choose and configure a software tool chain that is flexible enough to cover student’s needs, and to provide documentation for the use of the lab. Final Design Info The lab will be based around two computer workstations in room B111 in the Engineering building at the Fort Collins Campus of Colorado State University. These machines will host a suite of applications that will be used to design hardware pieces and control the equipment that will produce the designs. This equipment includes: two LulzBot Mini 3-D printers, two Cubex Duo 3-D printers, two X4-800L tabletop CNC machines, one with 4-axis capability, a printed circuit board printer, a drill press, and two soldering stations. The final lab design includes all equipment functioning as a system controlled by the two workstations. The lab space will display documentation explaining correct use of the equipment in the form of posters as well as manuals. The project will be completed in three stages.

17

Stage 1. The equipment and furniture will be purchased and delivered to the lab space. The equipment will be assembled and calibrated. Software packages will be installed on lab computers and a tool chain will be chosen. Software/equipment interface will be configured and debugged. One LulzBot Mini and one X4-800L machine will be available for student use Stage 2. Information posters will be created. Dust and noise solution for X4-800L machines will be implemented. Second Lulzbot Mini and X4-800L will be available for use. Cubex Duo printers will be modified and calibrated. Stage 3. Cubex Duo printers will be available for student use. More extensive documentation will be provided (manuals/website). Raspberry Pi wireless print servers running OctoPrint installed. Addition of webcam. Design Constraints The ECE Design Lab project is constrained by the space we are given to install the lab, the budget for purchasing the equipment and the tradeoff of complexity versus functionality. I feel that a lab that meets the needs of the students can be achieved within these constraints. Estimated budget Description Pcs Income Per unit ESTC 6,830 Keysight 3,425 ECE Department 400 PCB printer 1 899 CNC 3-axis 1 1867.02 CNC 4-axis 1 2132.8 LulzBot Mini 2 1,282.50 Wiper replacement kit 2 11.40 Cleaning filament 2 9.46 3D filaments Misc. 660 Grizzly drill + tools 505 Rotary tool set 40.91 RaspberryPi 2 40 CNC Hardware Misc. 200 Cables & Adapters 100

18

Risk Analysis The risk associated with building a lab like this may include: Lab is too complicated and students do not use it. Equipment does not perform well or requires more maintenance than expected. Modification of donated printers requires more parts than expected. The equipment contains dangerous moving parts and may pose a safety hazard. These risks can be lessened through good documentation, using student feedback during Stage 1 and requiring some sort of training prior to use. Lab safety will be addressed by using plexi glass dividers and protective eye wear. The modification of the Cubex Duo printers will require detailed research of stepper motors and electrical characteristics of other components. These risks as well as other potential risks will be monitored throughout the project. Timeline The following timeline shows the stages of completion as well as deliverables for this project. Please see the Final Design Info section for details on each stage. Date Stage Deliverables Sept 2, 2015 Stage 1 Picture day 9/16 Preliminary Project Plan 9/21 Website, Notebook Collection 9/28 Revised Project Plan 10/14-10/21 Project Plan Review 11/2 Stage 2 Notebook Collection 11/7 DTVC document 11/9 Notebook Collection 11/11 Stage 3 DTVC Review 12/9 Oral Presentations

19

Test, Validation, and Characterization Plan The ECE Creation Lab – 3-D Printing and Electronics Prototyping By: Zeb Benham on 11/4/2015 Team Members Zeb Benham – Senior, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Senior Design project Jason Gardner – Senior, Electrical and Computer Engineering, Open Option Project Edwin Chong – Supervising Professor Project Summary The ECE Creation Lab is a hardware development space for students in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department of Colorado State University. Its purpose is to enable Senior design and open-option students to design and build hardware for projects using state-of-the-art tools such as 3-D modeling software, 3-D printers, and CNC machines. Why is This Project Important? This project is important because it provides students with a solution for rapid prototype creation. This will be a very useful tool for students working on Senior Design projects as it will allow for hardware to be created “in house” and also for students to learn about and have control over all aspects of their projects.

20

Timeline The following timeline shows the stages of completion as well as deliverables for this project. Please see below for details on each stage. Date Stage Deliverables Sept 2, 2015 Stage 1 Picture day 9/16 Preliminary Project Plan 9/21 Website, Notebook Collection 9/28 Revised Project Plan 10/14-10/21 Project Plan Review 11/2 Stage 2 Notebook Collection 11/7 DTVC document 11/9 Notebook Collection 11/11 Stage 3 DTVC Review 12/9 Oral Presentations Stage 1. The equipment and furniture will be purchased and delivered to the lab space. The equipment will be assembled and calibrated. Software packages will be installed on lab computers and a tool chain will be chosen. Software/equipment interface will be configured and debugged. One LulzBot Mini and one X4-800L machine will be available for student use Stage 2. Tools for CNC machines ordered. Information posters will be created. Sample materials display will be created. Second Lulzbot Mini and one X4-800L will be available for use. Dust and noise solution for X4-800L machines will be implemented. Cubex Duo printers will be modified and calibrated. Stage 3. Cubex Duo printers will be available for student use. Second X4-800L will be available for use. More extensive documentation will be provided (manuals/website). Raspberry Pi wireless print servers running OctoPrint installed.

21

Test Plan The ECE Creation Lab has different facets to its design. First, there is the equipment housed in the lab. The equipment consists of computer controlled machines that require a suite of applications (tool chain) to use them effectively. Part of the design of the lab is in the selecting of this tool chain so that results can be obtained easily by users with little experience using this type of equipment. Second there is the design and creation of documentation and user guides for fabricating components using the equipment. Third is the modification of two of our 3-D printers. We will be replacing the stock electronic control boards in two of our printers so that they run on an open-source platform. Each of these parts of out design will require different types of testing to ensure that they operate as we expect. As the final product, we expect to have a 3-D printing and electronics prototyping lab that is capable of producing mechanical/structural components as well as etched circuit boards that students will need for their projects. The equipment in the lab will be tested as follows: • Lulzbot Mini (X2) – Stages 1 and 2

- Ensure machines are setup properly and that they operate correctly. - All types of material that we stock will be tested in the machine. - Various objects will be printed to demonstrate that the software controls the machine

as expected. • Modified Cubex Duo printers (X2) – Stages 2 and 3

- Ensure machines are setup properly and that they operate correctly. - All types of material that we stock will be tested in the machine. - Various objects will be printed to demonstrate that the software controls the machine

as expected. • X4-800L 3-axis/ X4-800L 4-axis – Stages 2 and 3

- Ensure machines are setup properly and that they operate correctly. - The CNC machines will be tested to route/etch multiple types of material to ensure

that the machines can handle the materials users will need. - Dust and noise control will be tested to ensure lab safety.

• Entire software tool chain will be tested by creating pieces of hardware from scratch

showing that the software tools provided can effectively produce the desired results. - Stages 1-3

• Various other equipment in the lab (drill press, print server, etc.) will undergo a

functional test to ensure correct and safe operation. - Stages 1-3

22

The documentation and user guides will be tested as follows: • Quick start guides – Stages 1-3

- Each type of machine will have a quick start user guide that is in the form of a printed document that will explain the basics of how to use the equipment. The effectiveness and usefulness of this document will be tested by new users whose feedback and questions will go into a revised version of the document.

• At-a-glance Posters – Stages 2 and 3

- Posters will be tested through feedback from new users on how helpful and effective the information is.

• Website Video/Slides – Stage 3

- A web resource for learning various aspects of the equipment and software will be implemented. This resource will be tested by requesting feedback from new users.

The modified Cubex Duo 3-D printers will be tested as follows: • Installation of open-source controller board – Stages 2 and 3

- Power supply will be tested to provide correct supply voltages. - Input/output voltages for the board will be tested using Digital Multimeter (DMM). - Components of the machine (stepper motors, hot ends, end stops, heat bed) will be

tested for correct mechanical operation and electrical operation by calibrating control board firmware and verified using DMM.

• Operating current draw – Stage 2

- Will be tested by measuring current draw at the power supply when machine is in operation.

Due to the incremental nature of how we are setting the lab up, testing will also be done incrementally. The machine setup testing and tool chain testing will be done as each machine comes online starting with the 3-D printers and moving to the CNC machines. Along the way, we will be constructing the documentation for the machines that are close to being ready to use and have students try to make objects using our guides. The characterization of this lab will be the extent of the materials it is possible to use in the machines as well as the size of piece the machines are capable of producing. This is fairly straight forward as the manufacturers have already defined these parameters. There will be a learning curve for new users of the lab as 3-D modeling and circuit board layout tutorials are out of the scope of this project.

23

Quick Start Guide to Lulzbot Mini 3D Printer

*Please take Idea2Product 3D printing training if you are unfamiliar with how to 3D print. This quick start guide is for people who have 3D printed before.

Preparing the Print Software 1. Open Cura and click the Load Model button in the top left of the screen or go to File -> Load Model file and load in the gcode for your 3D print.

2. Select the quality of your print in the left side of the screen under “Select a quickprint profile” and then select the material you wish to use under “Material.” These profiles will adjust the number of layers, temperature of the bed and temperature of the nozzle for the filament you choose.

3. If your model has overhangs or angles to your print, select print support structure to add support while the print is happening.

Preparing the Printer 1. First you must purge the old filament. You have to heat up the hot end of the nozzle. To the best of your ability, identify the type of filament remaining in the hot end. Choose the higher of the temperatures between the residual filament and the filament you are going to use (see the table at the end of this guide).

2. Using the Printer Interface Window, raise the hot end temperature to the higher temperature by typing in the value under “Temperature,” and click “Set.”

3. Monitor the current printer temperature in the status bar.

Warning – the hot end is set to a temperature the will burn your skin 4. On the printer head, compress the springs and lift up gently to allow the hinged

idler to move freely, and lower the hinged idler counter-clockwise. 5. Once the hot end temperature has reached the set temperature, remove the

remaining filament. 6. From the feed hole that the filament came out of, push your new filament into the

feed hole until you see a small amount of filament comes out (about 4 inches down through the feed hole).

7. Compress the springs and rotate the hinged idler clockwise into the upright position and lock it into position by sliding the compressed springs back down.

8. To ensure that the Luzlbot mini is ready to print, test its ability to extrude filament. On the Printer Interface window, click the Extrude 10 button. Verify that filament is extruded. If no filament is extruded and the drive has stopped moving, reclick

24

Extrude 10. Continue this process until a consistent filament extrusion is verified and then remove the extrusion.

Starting Your 3D Print Job Once you take the above steps, verify that your hot end temperature is set for the the type of filament that you are using and click Print. The Lulzbot Mini will then begin heating up the hot end and the bead to the settings for the filament that you selected. When the the correct temperatures have been reached, the Lulzbot will begin auto-leveling the bed and clean off the hot end. The Lulzbot will begin by printing an outline ring and will then start your 3D print.

Finishing Your 3D Print Job Once the 3D printer has finished it will start to cool. After cooling the printer board will slide forward. After this you can take the knife and gently pry your completed work off the board. Filament Type Printing Temp (C) Print Bed Temp (C) HIPS 240 100

ABS 240 110

PLA 200 65

25

Spreadsheet of itemized donation

Cubex Duo 3D Printer Donation

Price Each

Quantity Total Link

Cubex Duo Printer 1899.99 2 3799.98 http://www.amazon.com/The-CubeX%C2%99-Duo-3D-Printer/dp/B00D45ZNKA

Assorted Filament 99 16 1584 http://cubify.com/cartridges#/cubex

Extra Hot End 43 2 86 http://www.amazon.com/RepRapDiscount-Hexagon-Hotend…

5469.98 Itemized donation by Coby Leuschke

27

ECE Creation Lab 3D Printing Workshop Monday February 8, 2016 5-7pm Host: Zeb Benham, Senior Welcome to the ECE Creation Lab! This workshop will provide you with information on the process of using our 3D printers for your projects. The first 15-20 minutes will be a brief introduction to the software used in the lab. The remainder of the workshop is a hands-on exercise to familiarize yourselves with working with 3D models and our printer software. It is encouraged that you take notes during the workshop so that you have a reference for the future. Open a web browser and go to www.thingiverse.com Find an object that interests you. This could be a figurine, a shape, letters or numbers. Try to find something relatively small (roughly a 2-3” piece). Raise your hand when you find an object so I can check what you have selected. Click on “Download This Thing!” to download the file. Navigate to your Downloads folder and unzip the file. Open Blender. Click the Blender version screen to get rid of it. Delete the cube by placing the cursor over it and pressing the x key. A menu will pop up. Choose delete. Select File > Import > Stl (.stl). Navigate to your unzipped file and select it. Click the “Import STL” button in the upper right. Your object is now loaded on the stage. Use the mouse scroll wheel to zoom in and click the scroll wheel and drag to rotate your perspective around the object. With the cursor over your object, press the n key to reveal a properties menu. Under “Scale” you can change the size of the object. Feel free to explore Blender and experiment with modifying your model. There are menus to the left that you can use to transform and add shapes to your model. Raise your hand if you get lost or need help. You can also follow the previous steps and reload your model if you wish. Once you are happy with your model, raise your hand to get approved and save your model by choosing File > Export > Stl (.stl). Save the file to the desktop or flash drive.

28

Move over to the printer workstations to print your model. Open Cura. Click on “Load Model” and navigate to your Stl file. The model will be loaded on the stage. Check that your model has the correct dimensions. Once everyone has loaded their models, you will see how to prepare the machines for printing and how to start a print. The workshop is only 2 hours long so if we run out of time you will have to pick up your models at a later time or perhaps the next day. Thank you for attending this workshop and we hope that you find these tools useful for your future projects! You can find guides and tutorials on the ECE Creation Lab website: http://projects-web.engr.colostate.edu/ece-sr-design/AY15/lab/ in the “Documents” section.

29

ECE Creation Lab CNC/Circuit Board Workshop Monday February 15, 2016 5-7pm Host: Zeb Benham, Senior

Welcome to the ECE Creation Lab! This workshop will provide you with information on the process of using our software and CNC machines to make circuit boards for your projects. The first 15-20 minutes will be a brief introduction to the software used in the lab. The remainder of the workshop is a hands-on exercise to familiarize yourselves with working with circuit design software and CNC machines. It is encouraged that you take notes during the workshop so that you can have a reference for the future. Design a circuit!

KiCad – Schematic capture and circuit board layout software.

When you open KiCad you have a “Project” screen that shows your schematic, PCB layout and other components. We will be working with Eschema to define the functional schematic of our circuit and Pcbnew to design a circuit board layout. The “Project” screen has buttons that look like this:

Load the given project and click on

Eschema to make your schematic.

Using the tools to the right, recreate the schematic on the following page.

Use M key to move a component and R key to rotate.

The tools look like this:

31

Once your schematic is all connected, save the file and click “Annotate schematic components” on the top tool bar. This gives each component a unique name/number. Click “annotate” then “ok”.

On the schematic window, click “Generate Netlist”. Click “generate” then save. This defines each net (node) in your schematic and gives it a unique name/number. Save again.

Click CvPcb to choose the footprints for your components. The footprints are the dimensions of the actual physical parts that we’ll use for the board layout.

Click save and close this window. We are now ready to design our circuit board layout. Close the schematic window and click on Pcbnew on the “Project” window.

Click “Read Netlist” on the top tool bar to load the netlist that you saved earlier.

Choose “Read Current Netlist” then close. The components are loaded onto the layout window. Move the components to design your layout. Use M key to move and R key to rotate. The tools to the right contain an “add tracks and vias” tool to connect the components. Just follow the air wires!

32

Once you are done with your layout, you will need to save your board artwork. The board design needs to be saved in multiple files. One for each layer of copper traces, one for the holes to be drilled, one for the edge of the board to be cut and possibly many more depending on how you design your board. Three files are common for a one-sided board. Front copper, drill and edge cuts. To save the files, choose File > Plot. The plot format should be: Gerber, and check the boxes next to the layers that you want to plot (F.Cu = front copper, edge cuts etc.) and click “plot”. Click “Generate Drill File” then “Drill File” to generate your drilled holes file. Close KiCad. You are now ready to convert your Gerber files to G-Code using FlatCAM.

FlatCAM loads various file types and converts them to G-Code (the language that the CNC controller speaks). In FlatCAM, choose File > Open Gerber. Select the Gerber files that you plotted in KiCad. They should load in the window to the left. You will have to do the following process to each file (F.Cu, Drill file and edge cuts etc.): Select the file then choose the “selected” tab. Click “generate geometry”. Click back to the project tab and see that there is now a .iso file. Select this file and choose the “selected” tab again. In this window we can select options for our CNC job such as tool tip diameter and machine control settings. Click the first from the top “generate” button. Again back to the “project” tab and select the new gbr_iso.cnc file and choose the “selected” tab again. We can set other CNC parameters here as well. Finally click the “export g-code” button. This is the file we need to use the CNC machine. I will now walk everyone through the process of how to set up and use the CNC machine.

33

Using the CNC machines can be dangerous and you can get hurt if you do not set them up properly. Always remember to wear safety glasses and know how to stop the machine using the manual override. This is where you’ll want to take notes as it can be a complicated potentially dangerous process! Thank you for attending this workshop and we hope that you find these tools useful for your future projects! You can find guides and tutorials on the ECE Creation Lab website: http://projects-web.engr.colostate.edu/ece-sr-design/AY15/lab/ in the “Documents” section.

34

ECE Creation Lab Ethics Paper

Zeb Benham

Supervisor: Edwin Chong

Topic: Toyota Quality Control

Project Summary The ECE Creation Lab is a hardware development space for students in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department of Colorado State University. Its purpose is to enable Senior design and open-option students to design and build hardware for projects using state-of-the-art tools such as 3-D modeling software, 3-D printers, and CNC machines. Why is This Project Important? This project is important because it provides students with a solution for rapid prototype creation. This will be a very useful tool for students working on Senior Design and Open Option projects as it will allow for hardware to be created “in house” and also for students to have control over all aspects of their projects.

35

The Toyota recalls of 2009 were in response to certain models of vehicles “accelerating out of control”. This malfunction is reported to be caused by either the drive-by-wire electronic acceleration system (software) or floor mats that could trap the accelerator pedal down while driving. There were supposedly over 20 deaths attributed to the faulty acceleration system in these cars. The solution to the problem came in the form of shortened accelerator pedals alternative floor mats and a software update that allows the brake pedal to override the accelerator. The main ethical problem is how Toyota handled the situation. From sources online, it seems that Toyota was hesitant to accept responsibility and people may have died due to their delay in replacing parts. It seems that the ethical issue here is the apparent lack of testing and quality control regarding these components. A system that can potentially injure or kill is one that should pass the most stringent requirements and evaluation. I do not think this is a case where Toyota is intentionally misleading consumers. I feel that this is a situation where Toyota had to make a decision about how these components were tested and perhaps cut corners in order to push a product out to market. There were reportedly millions of vehicles recalled and I believe that Toyota could have handled the situation better. From the media coverage on this topic, it seems that Toyota was skeptical about the cause of these uncontrolled accelerations. To me it seems like they just did not want to admit that there was an engineering mistake on their part and that the company that produced the pedal assembly (CTS) is at fault. It is unfortunate however that there were individuals that potentially lost their lives because of these failing components. Something so critical as the acceleration system in a motor vehicle should be one of the top priorities when testing for safety. Even if it is manufactured by another company. Toyota does have the right to produce any product they wish as long as it passes health and safety regulations. I believe that it would be negligent for them to allow a product to market with a malfunction such as the acceleration system even if they disclosed that information on all new vehicles. Just disclosing the faulty gas pedal would mean two things: 1, it makes the company appear to produce shoddy work and 2, it does not address the problem of safety to not only the operator of the vehicle but the other drivers on the road. Toyota’s response to the issue did indeed create a bad public relation situation. A company with such a good reputation is unwise to handle the problem as they did. Perhaps they had inflated egos and forgot that they participate in a market driven business. In my opinion, it shouldn’t have happened at all but we are human and mistakes happen. There should have been an immediate recall and no blame game. Lessons that I can take away from this are that it can be quite easy to tarnish a business’ image. Great care should be taken when dealing with issues like this. In this particular case, the recalls were very costly to the company and it is easy to see why they would be hesitant to accept responsibility. Another lesson is that when dealing with crucial (life critical) systems, there needs to be stringent regulation and rigorous testing. There should be plenty of funding to provide adequate testing so this should be worked into the budget from the beginning of the project. This Toyota recall is new information for me and I have always thought of them as one of the best car manufacturers out there. I suppose they still are, but knowing that they deal with mistakes in this way is a major turn off.

36

The ECE Creation Lab is built upon existing technologies. The lab consists of machinery and other tools that when combined, make a space to produce hardware for electronics projects. These pieces of equipment have each passed their respective quality control processes so the potential ethical issues regarding this project will not have much to do with the pieces of equipment but with the arrangement, documentation, training and safety of this equipment. I can see right away that safety is of utmost importance. A properly configured lab will have provisions and procedures for the safety of its operators. Failure to disclose potential risks and dangers can result in injury or perhaps death. Safety provisions in the form of eye protection and first aid are very important as the safety and well being of our students is more important than making a printed circuit board. The correct use of this equipment is dependent on its operators having access to informative documentation. A thorough understanding of the manufacturing process is key to success so training and manuals should be available to ensure this. The workflow of the lab should also be simple enough to get started quickly but robust enough to create complex projects. The documentation should reflect this. Funding for the lab came from various sources. The expectation is to use the funds efficiently to provide the students with state-of-the-art tools for prototyping. This could be another topic for ethics as the misuse of these funds could be detrimental to our students’ education. The software that came with our CNC machines appears (to me) to be pirated. We ordered these machines from China and I do not know for sure if there is a legal license included with the software. This is an ethical issue because it may not only be illegal but could also bring negative attention to our department and University. Because the software was included with our purchase, we have decided to use it as we do not know for sure if it is indeed pirated and also our budget can not support a software purchase like this. The rest of the software tool chain consists of open-source applications that help to keep the cost of the lab in line with our budget. Ethical issues are important regardless of the project. To me, some ethical topics are very hard to work out. In engineering, there can be many points during a project where ethical decisions need to be made. It is my hope that through education and accountability our new generation of engineers will be prepared to make good choices and that these good choices will be rewarded.

37

ECE Creation Lab Intellectual Property

Zeb Benham

Supervisor: Edwin Chong

Project Summary The ECE Creation Lab is a hardware development space for students in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department of Colorado State University. Its purpose is to enable Senior design and open-option students to design and build hardware for projects using state-of-the-art tools such as 3-D modeling software, 3-D printers, and CNC machines. Why is This Project Important? This project is important because it provides students with a solution for rapid prototype creation. This will be a very useful tool for students working on Senior Design and Open Option projects as it will allow for hardware to be created “in house” and also for students to have control over all aspects of their projects.

38

Types of IP: Type of IP Brief description Patent Exclusive rights given by the government to an inventor for a period of time in

exchange for a full disclosure of the invention. It gives the inventor the right to exclude others from making or selling the patented invention. Examples include designs that are unique. Patents last different amounts of time in different countries. Around 20 years in the U.S. if fees are paid for utility patents and 14 years for design patents.

Trademark A sign, design or expression that identifies products or services. Usually located on labels, packaging or signage on buildings. Logos are an example of trademarks. Lasts as long as it is still being used in commerce.

Copyright A legal right granted to the creator of an original work that gives exclusive rights for its use and distribution for a period of time. Since 1978, copyrights last for 70 after the death of the author or possibly longer depending on which category it falls into.

Trade secret Information on processes, methods or designs that is generally not known to the public for the purpose of obtaining an economic advantage over competitors. Lasts for as long as the secret is valuable.

Intellectual property related to our project: Intellectual property relating to the ECE Creation Lab project is hard to define. I would say that perhaps the firmware that was modified for two of our 3D printers could be considered IP. There is currently no publically available working firmware for the particular machine that we have. The code and settings in the firmware is unique to our project. Another form of IP for the project could be the documents created for the lab including guides, posters and workshops. These are original methods/lessons and might be considered unique to the project.

43

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We would like to thank Coby Leuschke for his generous donation of two Cubex Duo 3D printers, Keysight for their continued support, John Seim for his help with acquiring equipment, and Olivera Notaros for proposing this lab as a Senior Design project as well as her color coordinating skills.