Design Preview: Record Player

Project Plan

For my project I plan on making a scaled down turntable model that incorporates aesthetics from some of my favorite bands from the 1960’s to the 1990’s. This would include Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Van Halen, and Queen to name a few. The turntable will be driven by a small motor and a knob to control the speed of rotation. I want to incorporate aspects of the bands famous album art work as well as aspects that makes each band recognizable and unique. I plan on including led lights to incorporate and highlight certain elements. I know I want to incorporate the Dark Side of the Moon album artwork by Pink Floyd by ideally using a real prism and finding a way to shine white light through it to produce a rainbow. I want elements like this to cover the turntable and the vinyl itself and rotate to give the audience a full view of the piece. If time permits I’d love to turn it into a Bluetooth speaker that spins while playing music but this may be too advanced for the time I have to complete this.

Specifications:

1. The main specification that I have for my project is recognizability of the band aesthetics that I choose to include. The aesthetic is the main aspect of my project and will make the project more than just a record player replica. Being able to recognize what each design choice is supposed to represent will catch the eye of those who know the reference and will help tie together why I choose to make a record player as the “canvas” for these aesthetics.
2. For the moving component of my project I have decided to include a motor that will spin the vinyl . This aspect of my project is important for me to complete because it will add a little suprise to those who are seeing it for the first time. At first it will just look like a small record player model but once it begins to spin with variable speeds it will become something more that just an eye-catcher, but rather something to interact with too.
3. I want to add pops of color to draw the eye of the audience. I intend to use a prism to try to project a rainbow to resemble Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon album cover. Adding LED lights is also a way I would like to accent some of these aesthetic choices as well.
4. I want to include a volume knob on the front of the project that can vary the speed of the spinning record to increase the interactive aspect of the project.
5. A lid that closes to protect the fragile pieces of the project while not in use while also adding to the accuracy of the replica of a record player.

Constraints:

1. My final constraint would likely be time. With many other assignments and projects going on for my this semester it sill be difficult to find time to allocate to my project. Ideally I want to make a schedule or a list of goals to accomplish toward my project each week up till the due date to keep myself on track to finish
2. Ideally I would like to keep the budget for this project below $100. I think the most expensive parts of the project will be the motor,LED lights, and Arduino. However, this should still leave me some breathing room for the raining materials while not making me have to cut corners.
3. I want the finished project to be relatively light-weight (less than 5 lbs). The use of 3D printing the main structure of the build should help with this greatly and making the model as hallow as possible without compromising structural integrity.
4. I currently am constrained on 3D printing because I have never had to do it for a project, so I plan on taking the 3D printing workshop through the ITLL to be able to use the 3D printers in the ITLL and Idea Forge.
5. I am also contained on the use of motors and LED’s with Arduino. I have played around with these before, but implementing them to control certain aspects of a project will be new to me and involve some internet research to achieve my ideal final project.

Current Progress

I currently have developed a rough CAD model of the base record player.I have implemented a white brick design to resemble Pink Floyd’s “The Wall” album. I am yet to add the record needle and the other decretive elements I will add in the future.

Timeline

Fabrication Process

I will begin by completing my CAD design to match the measurements of the parts I plan on ordering. I will then print the elements of the record player at the ITLL or Idea Forge. Next, I want to construct a working motor and LED circuit on a breadboard to test Arduino code and make sure the elements are functioning properly.

Once I have the circuit working I will solder the elements together to make a compact and durable circuit. Before I mount the circuit inside the record player I want to complete the exterior decorations of the recod so that I don’t interfere with the circuit while im moving it around. I plan on painting designs all around the record player and making small 3D decorations to place around the record player as well. Once I am done with the aesthetic and decorations I will mount the electronics on the interior of the record player and begin testing to make sure all the aspects work properly. From there I will be ready to present my project!

References

Classic Rock Bands Of The 70s

Arduino Nano 33 IoT

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11696

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dark_Side_of_the_Moon

https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9288