Cycle 1 Log

Date 2/13

Accomplished Worked on headphone amp circuit. Also designed a schematic in EAGLE. Added resistors to limit volume range of GC speakers. 5 LCD arrived today, ended up attaching it to the PGC instead of working on headphone jack. Planned out arrangement/layout of inside of case and where to put the disk drive. Worked on headphone amp, but audio issue prevented me from completing it. Moving on to next task for time being. Figured out problem with headphone jack, swapped out wires in regulators for much smaller ones to reduce size, removed a bunch of unnecessary wires / connections from regulators + case, reduced size of disk drive. Renewed UMBC books until May 1.

Goals Finish amp tomorrow and install headphone jack into PGC.

2/14

Finish headphone jack.

2/15

Finish headphone jack, etch momentary latching switch onto copper clad board, need to buy parts from RadioShack.

2/16

Finish headphone jack, buy parts from RadioShack this week. Jump ahead to attaching disk drive to motherboard + planning rechargeable battery layout till deposit arrives.

2/17

Rearranged audio amp layout Buy parts + solder + 3DS +

to save space. Did research on internal cooling options. Reduced size of heatsink to 8mm tall and made a lot of space. Cut space in metal for fan. 2/18 Motherboard failed, redid all necessary cuts and relocations (OMGWTF - cut). Relocated audio + video caps on motherboard 2/19 Cut a space in case for fan, however acrylic flying from cut got embedded in motherboard and audio amp. Caused smoke when turned on, motherboard failed? 5 boards left. No free time today, out all afternoon. Worked on charge and play circuit design. Bought more solder, 1 TIP32, 2 TIP42, worked on charge and play. Etched charge and play circuit. Includes support for a power button, charging batteries, playing off wall power, and playing off battery power. Fried a

battery + headphone jack.

Buy parts Friday + headphone jack + disk drive work.

Redo motherboard cuts and relocations, be more careful and protect board. Check amp, buy parts Friday.

2/20

Do everything tomorrow.

2/21

Buy solder and parts.

2/22

Etch the PCB tomorrow, begin preparations for next motherboard. Populate the PCB, test it, work on next motherboard and add DVD drive connections, thermoform grip, make a single circuit for amp and headphone jack

2/23

voltage regulator and ordered switching this week. Will a new one. Recorded 20+ likely not include embedded minutes of video. batteries for Cycle 1 PGC after all if I run out of time. Perform chip swap for regulator this week. 2/24 Cut a new motherboard, relocated everything except memory card, attached heatsink and thermal pads. Successfully attached Wii disk drive, relocated caps on disk board. Covered everything in electrical tape. Ordered 3DS slider for C-stick. Added memory card, added player controls, attached laser to drive, attempted to use alternative to thermoformed grip but failed. Recorded footage. 2/26 Bought original Wii laser grip/gear, populated latching switch PCB and it works. Cut holes in case for buttons, attach LCD to case. Redo audio / headphone switching circuit. Design top loading disk mechanism, work on buttons. Attach grip, laser, and play a game. Design and etch new audio amp / headphone jack circuit. Attach memory card, attach LCD + drill holes for buttons in case. Cut new player controller board and attach in case. Populate charge and play PCB.

2/25

Get original Wii laser grip to finish up DVD drive. Work on buttons, remaking audio amp, charge and play PCB.

2/27

Researched potential audio amp ICs. Attached LCD to case. Cleaned wires. up portable and removed

2/28

Audio IC research. Little free time today.

3/1

Successfully performed chip swap on voltage regulator. Audio IC research.

Audio IC research, disk mechanism, buttons.

3/2

Grip arrived, attached it to Investigate DVD drive board laser but GameCube displays for shorts/issues, Audio IC an error ~6 seconds after disk research, buttons. starts spinning. Removed and resoldered all DVD drive connections to mobo, verified wiring correct. Disk spinning motor makes strange noise, suspect a short on the motor cable from when I worked on it a few weeks ago. Accidentally ripped FFC cable. Ordered a new motor, DVD board, and cable. Will try again this weekend. Made all of the buttons and attached to PGC. Still need to make plastic covering + letter design for each button. Researched stereo / headphone amps and bought parts. Finished designing a new stereo amp with built in headphone switching. Reworked amp, disk drive parts except motor came in Design, order, and etch new audio amp this week, work on buttons, design + vacuum form final case at school.

3/3

3/4

Attach 3DS sliders for joystick and C-stick.

3/5

Attach 3DS sliders, design amp, design final case.

3/6

Work on disk loading mechanism + etch PCB + unfinished tasks. Attach board to PGC, redesign internal cooling

3/7

mail. Researched microcontrollers and started building low battery indicator light.

mechanism for maximum air flow (2 fans on heatsink). Cut heatsink more, use ceramic thermal paste, build internal overheating protection circuit(?)

3/8

Tried to resolder all disk drive Be more careful soldering, connections 3 times, but GC design and etch amp, freezes at start-up. heatsink + cooling. Successfully soldered disk drive connections and replaced Wii motor with top loading one. Disk spins without any indication of error / freezing. Accidentally shorted power to ground on player 1 controller board, so cannot play a game. Cut space in heatsink for second fan. Tested a game (Metroid Prime) successfully using dance pad as controller. Attached disk drive to DD controller board. Try to play a game, attach heatsink and dual fan, add shock absorbers to DD and secure to mobo. Design + etch amp. Add 2-player support.

3/9

3/10

Finish DD design, reduce height of DD, cooling solution, finish design of amp, get new P1 controller chip.

3/11

Mounted DD to motherboard Start programming with shock absorbers, microcontroller, finish amp secured heatsink to board. design. Added 2-player support, figured out problem with disk sensing. Finished designing, etching, Fix amp problems, attach

3/12

and populating amp. Hooked up volume slider and speakers, but sound only comes out the right channel amplifier. Volume slider acts strange. 3/13 Worked on setup of microcontroller / programming environment. Finished setting up microcontroller, troubleshooting amp problem. First attempt at vacuum forming a new case using polycarbonate.

headphone jack, program microcontroller, reattach finished controls. Redo ABXY buttons. Make battery power circuit smaller.

Finish setting up microcontroller.

3/14

Figure out problem with amp.

3/15

Fix soft edges of case, plastic research.