Cubby Buddies Week 5

This week, after finishing a model of the Cubby Buddy, we added the technical parts for the Cubby Buddy including lights and a button, and included a bottom piece to the Cubby Buddy we call "feet."

Because the Cubby Buddy is not the length of the depth of the Cubby, we had to make a few adjustments with the button.  First, we found a larger button, and second, we added a small plank of wood behind the button for the Cubby Buddy to fully press on the button when closed.

Our final product can withstand the force of fully grown adults and can be roughly kicked in and out.

Lights:

We had to add lights to the top front of the cubby as well as lights behind a photo Vivian drew to remind kids to remember safety and push or kick the Cubby Buddy back in place once pulled out.

Our challenge while making the lights was the sautering.  And like Christmas lights, if one goes out, all will because we wired them in series with one another.

Our second challenge once completing making lights were to install them onto our cubby.  We had to drill holes in corners of the cubby, which with a big drill, was difficult.  We fed long wires through the holes and sautered them onto a small breadboard.  The breadboard, arduino and batteries lie in a wooden box we made out of scrap, leftover wood (right picture).  The battery pack is not covered or easy access in case new batteries are needed.  The box is used to hide a majority of the wires so kids won't be distracted or tempted to touch and accidentally hurt themselves.  The box sits on top of the entire cubby out of reach for the children.

Here is a video of our Cubby Buddy in action with lights.

Button:

Putting wood pieces in the back of the cubby and inserting the button with wires sauntered on took a lot of trail and error wood cuts and button placement.  After Magnolia sautered the wires onto the button, in order to feed the wires to the top of the cubby and connect them to the breadboard, we had to cut a wedge out of a piece of wood in the back of the cubby for the wires to fit in the corner.

After jamming the button into the back of the cubby, we realized when the Cubby Buddy was pushed all the way in, the button was not fully pressed.  Using a thin sheet of cut wood, I glued it to the back of the cubby for the button.  Now, the button is fully pressed when the Cubby Buddy is pushed in.

Feet:

By adding feet to our Cubby Buddy, the weight of children will not force the drawer slides to bend.  We cut a U-shape out of a slab of the wood and attached a sheet of delrin to the bottom of it.  The U-shape is to reduce cutting down the space for children to put their shoes in the cubby.  The delrin is to reduce friction between the feet of the Cubby Buddy and the carpet floor in the Children Study Center.