Deployed
The Goal
Fix my speaker and pair it with another speaker so both could work together. I burned my circuit board while trying to fix it — so I ended up learning to build a speaker from scratch instead.
Video / Photos
Reference Kit
The GikFun USB Mini Amplifier kit — the starting point before things went sideways.
gikfun.com — USB Mini Amplifier DIY Kit ↗Top 3 Learnings
Email Profs Faster
Write to 10 people for help as soon as you're done with the 3rd test — less than halfway through your journey. Share your thoughts, worries, and problems with them. Seek wisdom from people who've already walked the path.
Learn 1 Thing Well
Pick just one core skill per project — PCB design, acoustics, CAD, or some other engineering skill — and go deep on it. Find people good at it through campus club events (Hack Purdue Hack Nights on Friday evenings) or LinkedIn.
Document Every Day
Log what you learn in a word doc as you build — every day. Each YouTube video, research paper, article. Like a journal. You'll almost invariably forget everything 7 days out. This is the single biggest learning from this whole project.
Mental Note
Personal reminder
Do not post your building process with crazy production quality when you're just starting to build a skill. It's personally very all-consumingly-stressful — and distracts from the actual building.
Grateful For
People who gave their time, expertise, or encouragement to this project.
Potential Improvements