Author: Yehyun Lee, Email: leey93@unlv.nevada.edu
Date Last Modified: 02/09/2025

This is my first CNC project that I designed and created myself! Inspired by Zahir’s suggestion, I added a small pocket on the side to hold pens or small items, instead of just making a simple phone holder. I also carved a slot at the back to insert a whiteboard, which I plan to make later using a laser cutter. Since it was my first project, I made several mistakes during the setup, but Ethan helped me fix them. He even stayed with me for over an hour during the machining process to ensure everything went smoothly. I’m really grateful for his support!

I met a new friend, Jessy, at a UNLV program where you can make your own home decor items. She was with my friends, so I introduced myself to her. Later, I found out that Jessy had approached my Korean friends at the dining commons and told them she’s really interested in Korean culture and wanted to be friends. Thanks to her courage, she already has many Korean friends and is practicing the Korean she learned from dramas. I think it’s amazing how she takes the first step to talk to people and create chances to get closer to them.

I found it interesting that the legal drinking age here is much higher than in Korea. In Korea, people can legally drink at the age of 19 (international age), and it’s common for university students to celebrate by drinking heavily in group gatherings. Here, however, 18-year-olds aren’t allowed to drink legally, so that kind of culture doesn’t seem to exist. In contrast, I thought it was cool that many students here start driving their own cars to school from the age of 18. While it’s possible to get a driver’s license in Korea at a similar age, most students rely on public transportation due to traffic and costs.

I realized that I get very stressed when I don’t meet my own expectations. This week, I worked on several tasks at the same time, including laser cutting and CNC machining designs, soap making, and the quadcopter project. I struggled with prioritizing tasks and spent too much time trying to perfect my designs. This caused delays in other tasks and disrupted the overall progress.

From this experience, I learned the importance of setting clear priorities and managing my time better. I need to avoid obsessing over minor details and stick to the time I allocate for each task to prevent delays in others. Moving forward, I plan to schedule tasks carefully and focus on balance to manage multiple projects more effectively.

I studied the quadcopter MATLAB Simulink simulator and started modifying it for Koreen’s Lego-based quadcopter. First, I removed unnecessary settings, such as sensor-related components that aren’t used in the Lego quadcopter. Then, I inputted the weight, inertia, and propulsion system values specific to the Lego-based quadcopter to check if it operates correctly. Next, I plan to tune the PID controller to match the Lego-based quadcopter and test if the control works as expected.