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Vince Walker had a simple reason for why he spent two months this spring working on one project.
“I had too much free time,” said Walker, then a freshman in mechanical engineering. “I realized I was on Facebook too much, when I could have been doing something better with my time.”
So, when Walker saw plans for a solar-powered xylophone in an issue of Make Magazine, a do-it-yourself technology magazine, he decided to take a crack at making one of his own. Walker worked on his “skylophone” for the next two months before giving the final product to his girlfriend as a gift.
The skylophone operates on the energy collected by eight solar cells connected to tiny motors and circuit boards. When light shines on a solar cell, energy is collected in a capacitor. Once the capacitor collection reaches a threshold, it activates the motor and a small arm connected to the string pulls down the mallet, striking the chime. The motor then returns to its cocked position and the system resumes gathering energy.
As a result, the xylophone plays random series of notes, similar to how a wind chime might ring in the wind. The notes change speed and intensity with varying amounts of energy from the sun.
The project required Walker to learn a lot about electrical engineering, something he had little background in.
“Getting the first circuit to work was definitely the biggest hurdle for me,” Walker said. “The first time I got it to activate the motor was the best feeling ever.”
While Walker said that the Make Magazine design influenced his project, he made several modifications. He removed the sticks that were used to pull the mallets and replaced them with pieces of string, which he chose to use because of their flexibility. Walker also designed an insulated wooden frame to cut down on the amount of noise made by the motors.
In the end, Walker said that he felt he had given his xylophone a personal touch.
“The xylophone was about half me, and half the magazine,” Walker said.
The instrument cost Walker about $280 to make, as many of the parts had to be ordered from specialty stores online. Since he lives in a dorm room, Walker was also unable to use power tools to help him make the wooden base for the device, making the manufacturing process more difficult.
The skylophone isn't the only innovative product Walker has created. His spinning, wobbling water fountain won first place in its category at NC State's Freshman Engineering Design Day last fall.
While he invested a lot of his own time, money and energy into the skylophone project, Walker said that he really enjoyed it — particularly the end result.
“Giving it to my girlfriend was definitely the best part,” Walker said. “It had been this big secret for two months, and I was always having to lie to her and tell her I was studying.”
Walker said his gift went over very well with his girlfriend. He did, however, tell her that the next present might not take as much time to create.
“Maybe the next gift will be flowers,” he said.
-daniel-
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