Category: Alex’s Status Reports

This week was full on integration. Right after Thanksgiving break, I started writing and debugging our software pipeline. I tested and fixed the Arduino movement code to ensure it moved the right distance every time. I also worked on the PDF to PNG to slices of GCode. I helped our team go from hopes and dreams of a functioning project to a fully operational system. I got the gantry working reliably, able to cover the full area by fixing our code and messing with some of the config. This also involved editing the GRBL firmware so we could enable soft limits without the ability to home with limit switches. I also programmed it to automatically move forward after finishing a section, so it can cover the entire whiteboard autonomously. Yesterday I started trying to optimize our G-code output, but Ethan was the one able to successfully complete that task. Today I moved our entire pipeline over to the Raspberry Pi, so everything can be controlled remotely over the website.

We are currently on schedule, the system integration is essentially complete, with just a few optional avenues for improvement tomorrow before the demo. I also plan on testing the system tomorrow and before the demo Monday to ensure reliability. The rest of the week I will be working on the video submission and final project writeup.

This week was big for building and pulling everything together. At the beginning of the week we finalized the design plan and started working on bringing the cart and gantry together. I measured and drilled the attachment points, and attached the gantry to the cart. Later in the week, I also added the  drive motors to the cart and hooked them up to the wheels. I then created the Arduino code that would allow us to drive the cart over USB serial communication from the Pi. At the end of the week I worked with Ethan on trying to improve our software pipeline. A lot of the focus was on increasing the accuracy and simplicity of the g-code output.

We are currently on schedule. All of the motor control is complete, and we just finished the structure and are now moving to the final integration. Though next week is short, I plan on fixing any issues in the structure and finalizing the software pipeline.

I had to learn a lot about new software and packages that I hadn’t seen before. For the software, like UGS, I relied mostly on quick-start tutorials and forum posts from people using the same software. Most of the software tasks we needed to complete relied on libraries and packages that I had never seen before, and many were small API ports that had limited use. For these, I had to focus mostly on the provided documentation for the package or the original software.

At the start of this week I worked with Andrew to get our gantry fully prepared for the interim demo. I spent time particularly on fine tuning the motors and writing software to convert SVG files to g-code. There’s multiple different packages to do this, and I’m figuring out which one we will do the best job. Later in the week I finalized a list of parts we needed to order and sent in the order requests. Once they arrived, I worked with the team to plan our next steps and the final configuration of the robot. I also continued to work on finding ways to get g-code files and worked a bit on the PDF to SVG software as well.

Next week I hope to help the team finish constructing our system and start testing its operation. I also plan on finishing the manual motor control code for the wheels.

This week started with building the gantry. I helped Andrew with part of it on Wednesday before we finally finished it. After that, I worked on getting the motors to function properly. I did a lot of tuning for the motor control to make sure real world distances matched the program distances. Ethan and I also tried to set up the Pi but we ran into a couple different connection issues. After spending a lot of our day on that, we decided that it was a better use of our time to get everything working on a computer, and we could fix the Pi after the interim demo.

Next week I will help finalize our interim demo preparations. I also plan on flashing the Pi again to see if we can get it working. After that I will work with my team to start ordering the parts for the final structure, and we will hopefully be able to start building that soon. I am fairly on track schedule-wise

This week I continued working with the motors. Since only the gantry motors need to be controlled by GRBL, I researched methods to control the other 3 stepper motors. Then, based on that research, I started testing further motor control methods. Later in the week we started building the gantry but then realized some of the parts were mismatched in sizes. I ordered some PLA printer filament so we could reprint those incorrect parts and continue building.

Next week we should be able to fully build the gantry and start integrating full software pipeline with motor control before the early demo. This week I continue to remain on schedule and should be all set for next week to go well.

This week was largely successful in terms of my work. After finally getting all of the different pieces required to get the motors working, I was able to started with the motors. I assembled the hardware together, and I was able to get GRBL software on the Arduino connected to software on my computer.  I ran some tests to verify that the parts still worked, and everything appeared to be in order. I also helped Ethan procure some 3D printed parts and was able to get them delivered to me today (10/25).

This week was a week of returning to schedule. I blasted through my backlog of work and I believe I’m currently on schedule. Next week, I hope to help finalize the smaller gantry construction so I can begin testing the motors in their final configuration. As we near partial completion of this section of the project, I also plan on ordering more parts as we confirm exactly what we need.

This week was mainly focused on system design. I spent lot of my time attempting to integrate feedback from the design presentation, and incorporate that into the design document. One such example is the wheels that we now need to put back in the design.  I did a lot of research and found some possible implementations that would keep us barely in budget. I personally worked on the system architecture and system implementation sections of the document. This meant that I had to spend a lot of time figuring out everything we hadn’t quite gotten to yet, meaning I had a lot less time to work on the motors. I also ordered a lot of the miscellaneous pieces for the gantry system.

Next week will be a big one for me. I now have all of the parts and pieces I need to get the motors on the gantry working, so I’ll spend most of the week working on those. I need to get the Arduino talking to the motors and moving them accurately, and controlling that movement with the Raspberry Pi.

I’m a little behind schedule due to the backlog of design work, but with a forgiving schedule, I should be able to get back on track quickly.

I started this week by working on the design presentation slides, updating the requirements and solution slides after I helped the team make some major design changes to the wheels (by removing them). Later in the week, I received most of the parts necessary to start work on controlling the motors. To that end I got the Raspberry Pi working and started wiring the stepper motors and the Arduino/CNC shield. I also ordered a few more parts from our BOM that would continue to help me get this all set up.

This puts me a bit behind schedule, but I remain confident that I’ll be able to fairly easily catch back up, as there is some leeway in getting the motor control to work.

Next week, I will work on the design document to help fully flesh out our plan. I also hope to finish setting up and evaluating the motors to make sure we can control them well using the Pi and Arduino.

This week I focused mainly on the design of our robot. I researched parts to help Ethan with his CAD design and helped make decisions on the form of our project. I worked with the BOM to fit everything we could within budget constraints. I also ordered  some of the preliminary parts, like the motors, Pi, and necessary pieces to make them work. I started the setup of the Pi, but due to the lack of an SD card, it couldn’t be completed. Finally, I helped work on the design slides for our presentation next week.

This is slightly behind schedule, as I had planned on gaining access to motors this week, but I worked ahead a little on other parts, so I should get back on track easily. Next week I should have a full setup to begin working with the motors. I plan on setting up the motor control software suite we planned on using, and verifying that everything is functional.