This week was much more successful than the last! I was able to get the proper materials to build the mechanical features of the project, and made a test flower. Below you can see the flower functioning!

There are still a few kinks to iron out:

1. I’m slowly improving at soldering, but the soldering I have done could definitely be better. Joints sometimes come loose.
2. The dimensions of some parts were not ideal for their function, but it was only found out after installing them, leading to clunky movement. Through trial and error in soldering the design I found better ways to go about putting the project together for ease of the process, but I don’t have the skill is soldering currently to get the measurements exact.
3. More petals need to be added, but the shape has to change. I have a design ready for them but it is still untested.
4. The electronics still need to be added to this system. Testing has been done for programming the lights, but the wiring needs to be incorporated into the mechanical design and servo.
5. Lastly, the covers for the petals need to be added.

The design is very delicate, more than I anticipated. After walking into multiple doors (I’m clumsy) while holding the project, multiple joints came loose and had to be reconnected. A new way of transporting these projects and making sure the parts are supported properly is needed.