Lessons Learned

Over the course of the semester, 2.008 has been both a rocky and rewarding experience.

In light of a half-in person 2.007, I had hoped 2.008 would’ve been a nice change of pace from the online classes I’ve grown accustomed to, over the last year. Coming in to lab every week on a Thursday morning, and working with my team to produce a Yo-Yo I’m both proud of and satisfied with was an invaluable experience.

In spite of this, the road to functioning Yo-Yo’s wasn’t always to smoothest. With impending deadlines and bodies that wouldn’t press fit, we spent our last few weeks in a daze, trying our absolute hardest to put our best work forward, in the little time we were allotted. I found myself working on a different part every week, switching from bodies to the thermoformed letters. It was nice to learn a little bit of everything and see what everyone else was struggling with on a day to day basis.

Ultimately, 2.008’s taught me many things. First, nothing you build will ever be perfect on the first iteration. Early in the semester, when I was tasked with manufacturing Yo-Yo Bodies, I spent quite a bit of time trying to perfect my CAM and design. During my first run on the HAAS, I accidently faced my core twice, and turned my core into a cavity. It took nearly four iterations to get a product that we were happy with and met specification. 008’s given me an obsessive attention to detail, especially when the consequence is starting the machining process all over again. Regardless, the small mistakes I made have taught me a lot of cool work arounds, like when Paul used pins to replace the tiny tap holes I made for our PCB screws.

 

Another lesson, I learned was that fixing your mistakes on the computer is always better than fixing them after the fact. My initial design had a lot of small corners with tight tolerances especially at the parting line. Drafting my molds a little more, and worrying more about whether the part can be physically manufactured probably would’ve helped. My first mold didn’t even make a part, since the cooled Yo-Yo body stuck to the mold, and the ejector pins, pushed right though the design's thin walls.

 

Communication between team members was also incredibly important. For instance, when I scaled up my CAD for the Yo-Yo body by 0.03 to account for shrinkage, I forgot to switch it back. I suspect that everyone dimensioned their parts on the larger body, which was why we were left with oversized rims. Improved communication on my end, particularly when it came to dimensions on a part as important as the body, was something I could work on in the future, especially as a member of the Back Bae’s. All in all, we figured out the press fit, and managed to make a working product.

Maybe I’m a little weird, but listening to music for 3 hours and assembling 44 Yo-Yos isn’t the worst way to spend a Tuesday night.

And somehow, I remembered the 15-step process that involved working on the old HAAS, but not to put on safety goggles the moment I walked into the shop. I guess I still have a year to figure that one out.

-David