Super Students! Meet John Nye

Hello everyone! We wanted to spotlight some of our super students who have made some very cool creations here at the Spark! The Spark Makerspace is an excellent resource for students to learn various skills outside the classroom for educational and personal creative purposes. Without them, the Spark wouldn’t shine as brightly! With that, we are proud to introduce our first super student: John Nye! Also, be sure to check out our podcast, UNT MindSpark, with our episode featuring John where he talks about his project a little more!
 

Please describe the project you completed using Spark.

• The project I built is a stepper motor-controlled spinning wheel resting on my head. The Mahoraga Wheel from the series Jujutsu Kaisen inspired the wheel.

Was the project for class or personal purposes?

• The project was for personal purposes, specifically to complement the costume I created for Halloween.

What materials did you use for the project?

• Nema 17 Stepper Motor and A4988 Stepper Motor Driver

• Arduino Nano

• Breadboard circuit setup

• Portable charger to power the Nano and a 12V battery pack to power the stepper motor

• PLA filament for the 3D prints, along with superglue to assemble the wheel

• Primer and spray paint for the gold finish

• 12-gauge galvanized wire to form a headband

Are there any free resources you can recommend for people trying to replicate this or similar projects?

• Free resources to recreate this project include Tinkercad, YouTube, Arduino IDE, and ChatGPT. I used Tinkercad to design the 3D model for the wheel and Arduino IDE to write the code controlling its operation. Before starting this project, I had not gained experience working with electronics. However, with the help of YouTube videos demonstrating circuit implementation and ChatGPT explaining how to write code to control the motor, I was able to integrate this knowledge into my design process.

What training did you receive from Spark staff related to this project?

• I received training from the Spark staff on properly using the Ender 3D printers.

What equipment in the Spark did you use to execute your project?

• I used the Ender 3D printers at the Spark to print each part of the Mahoraga wheel.

What a neat project, the results are great! Can we have a round of applause to John for sharing his Mahoraga wheel project with us today! Come by the Spark Makerspace and you can be a super student too!