Tag: Miles’ Status Report

This week, I was working a lot with the Raspberry Pi and integrating some of our systems together. Earlier in the week I spent a lot of time downloading the libraries we need for our code. Then later in the week once the new hbridge came I was able to get the robot base turning. Once it was able to turn, I then integrated it with John’s main CV code which gives commands to turn left and right. I also got our servo motor working and turning, so I was able to integrate it with the CV code as well in order to release the ball to the ramp.

This week all of our new parts came recently. We spent most of the week as a team building our structure where we did a few test launches. Our new motor control board also came in this week, and it seems to be promising. I’m still debugging some of the software control, but I was able to connect to it and it is getting power, so it should work for us. I will be spending some more time the rest of this week debugging it and getting it working.

The main skills I’ve had to learn and brush up on throughout this project is 3d modeling/printing and motor control. I had done some 3d modeling in a different software, but I still had to review it and it is the first time I had actually 3d printed. I learned mostly through trial and error and well as online tutorials. I had also done some motor control in 349, but it was all on an STM, so this is my first time using a different platform for motor control. While the actual flow of coding is very similar, I have had to read lots of datasheets and use online tutorials to debug certain things.

Throughout this week we spent a lot of time preparing for the interim demo. As stated last week, I had some issues with the motor control board we bought last week, so for the demos we used a lower power substitute to simply get the wheels spinning to show for demo. I have ordered a new motor board that when it arrives should fulfill our needs. We are also considering pivoting to using a robot kit for the turning instead of the turret from the suggestion of Tamal, as that will be much faster and more reliable to implement, but we are still doing some research.

Over the next week, once the motor board arrives we hope to start doing some integration with the camera as well as start building our structure now that the pvc has arrived.

In terms of verification and validation, the main tests relating to the motors will simply be running more launch tests once we have the structure finalized and the new motor board arrives. We have already seen in our preliminary tests that the launch seems promising, so once it is finalized and further testing will be able to verify whether or not we can meet the requirements. We will also have to conduct tests on the turning and targeting once everything has been fully integrated.

This week I have mostly been working on getting the motors working. I spent a lot of the week first getting a proper connection, as the motors came with a very niche connector so I had to make a custom adapter for it. Also, after some more testing we realized that the flipsky motor board we borrowed seems to be dead. We were waiting on a battery charger for a while so we couldn’t fully test the board until recently, but after probing some of the power pins it seems that the board is receiving no power from either USB or the battery. Its possible the board is just bricked and may just need to be reflashed with new firmware, but I think its more likely that there is some component on the board that’s dead. We’ll try more repair efforts next week, but we’ll likely just need a replacement control board, which we still have the budget for. For demo, we plan to use some manual drivers just to get a launch going.

For next week we will mostly be focusing on demo, but we also will get our replacement permanent parts installed and start working on the turning component as well.

This week i was mainly working on getting a skeleton of the motor code working as well as working on the launcher structure. We received some of our parts this week, and I was able to get the raspberry pi set up and running and get ssh to it working. I was also working on the 3d printing when we realized we should make a design change, which is described in the team report.

Throughout this next week, we plan to have a skeleton prototype that can at least launch the ball the required distance we want it to for the interim demo.

This week as a team we put in some of our orders for parts that will hopefully arrive within this week so we can begin working  on assembling our launcher. Throughout this week I have also been working on polishing our cad model to be ready for printing. I plan to put in the 3d print request tomorrow so that it should also be ready by the time our other parts also arrive.

For next week, once the motors arrive I plan to start the motor control code for the launcher, as we hope to have the main launch mechanism done by the interim demo.

In the week of 10/4-10/11, we were mostly working on the Design Report as a team. Personally, I mostly worked on the system implementation section, as well as some of the smaller ending sections like the scheduling and summary. This took the majority of the week, as we tried to be as detailed and thorough as possible in our report.

Our main goal last week was to complete all the deliverables needed for the report, which we did complete. Our goal for this upcoming week will be to get all of our parts ordered now that we have our BOM and start our 3d print so we can begin assembling and testing our project as soon as possible.

At the start of this week the team spent a lot of time collaborating on the design presentation. Towards the middle of this week we also began working on the design report. I have mostly been working on the architecture and system implementation sections.

In addition to the report, I have been continuing to research the other motors, as well as prepping the cad model to be printed. I was hoping to get it printed this week, but there were some tweaks I wanted to make to the model, and I’d rather only print it once than have to reprint it multiple times and waste money, especially when we are still working out our final bill of materials. Our main deliverable for next week will be the design report, which will also have out completed bill of materials and our finalized cad model.

This past week, I have mostly focused on researching materials and working on our CAD model of the launcher. I have been spending a lot of time researching the DC motors we’re going to use to launch, since that is the crux of our project. I’ve been trying to find a balance between getting something powerful enough, but also at a reasonable price and footprint. We also have been working together on the design presentation.

I believe we are still on schedule, and I finished the CAD model like I had planned last week. For next week, I’d like to at least get the motors ordered and have a few pieces 3d printed.

At the start of this week we mainly focused on the presentation. While Andrew was the one presenting, we all worked on the slides and plan for the presentation. We all contributed to different parts of the slides while also working together and discussing them. The main thing I contributed to the presentation was the Gannt Chart and Task List/Schedule I created. Later on this week, I researched more parts we could potentially use for our project.
Tentative Links:
2.5 in. CIM Motor
https://www.omc-stepperonline.com/3pcs-e-series-nema-17-bipolar-1-8deg-17ncm-24-07oz-in-1a-42x42x23mm-4-wires-3-17he08-1004s
design inspiration for base:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5213801

I have also started a CAD model in fusion for the housing of the launcher(more in team report)

I believe we are on schedule for now. The main deliverable for next week I want to complete is at least a rough draft of the CAD model, and a more complete list of materials.