Finalized...

It has been quite a road to get to the finish and I have to say that the backpack looks pretty good for what we had to go through to get it all together and working. Ali did great work getting the guts of the radio Rickey donated into the backpack and Ankhoa did some soldering to make sure the wires all stayed together. Jon, Jen and myself did the final bracing and drilling this past week to make sure the backpack won't wobble when worn and to get the LED panel attached to the backpack. The following are some pics of the various stages. We also applied another coat of paint to the panels to give a smoother finish. The speakers were also attached and everything was tested to make sure it works.

Onwards!

Productive day, in my mind at least. The advanced group as a whole had to present our progress to the class. Ali led off with a general synopsis of what we have all been working on followed by individual input on the areas we've all worked on and ideas we have discussed.

Afterward the backpack group huddled together and discussed the next phase: construction. We've decided to meet next Monday and Wednesday to assemble, map out fastener/bracket placement and decide on how best to paint the beast of a backpack we are working on. I made some basic sketches of how the doors will go on with the new idea out forth today. There will be hinges on the ends and a short wooden piece in the center to hold magnetic fasteners so the doors will be able to swing open in an outward direction.