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Team Status Report for 10/4

As a team earlier this week, we mainly worked on the design presentation. Since there was a lot of material to cover about Passing Partner, going through the slides together helped John prepare what to say within the time limit. After we went through our design change last week by having the vertical tilt function static at 45º, our biggest risk that could jeopardize our success is still likely the wheel launching mechanism. We have been mitigating this risk as much as we can by thoroughly outlining calculations and selecting parts that overshoot our quantitative specifications to have room for flexibility.

We are currently on schedule, so there are no updates to report. Besides the change made last week to implement a 45º vertical angle instead, we have not had any other significant changes to the existing design of the system. We have shifted our focus entirely to the design report for next week, which is our main deliverable.

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Miles’ Status Report for 10/4

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.

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Miles’ Status Report for 9/27

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.

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Team Status Report for 9/27

As a team we have spent a lot of this week collaborating on the Design Review Presentation and searching for essential components (Oak-D Camera, motor board, Raspberry Pi) for our launcher. Our biggest risk we think this week after more design is the tilt adjustment. We realized that adjusting the vertical angles ties to our stretch goals of launching different curves/launches. To mitigate this, the vertical tilting is now a stretch goal and the launcher will stay at a constant 45 degree angle for now. To adjust distance we will instead adjust the power, RPM, and torque of the motor. Because 45º is the optimal angle, at max motor power, it will get us our max distance, and if we want to shoot closer we can decrease the parameters of the motors. This overall is a minimal design change, and if anything it simplifies our design. If we in the future want to add the tilt back in, it will not be a major change: just implementing a rack and pinion mechanism.

We are still on track with our schedule, so no changes have occurred.

Below is a still WIP but more complete CAD diagram of what our launcher is now like. Some of the parts are to scale placeholders for our actual parts(motors, rollers, etc.)

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Andrew’s Status Report for 9/27/2025

This week, I helped John and Miles in completing the Design Review Presentation. Since John is chosen to present, I also went through all the slides to ensure they were of high quality, concise, and included helpful images/diagrams to allow the audience to interpret more thoroughly. I also completed final calculations on ball exit speed, RPM, ball exit energy, torque, and power to determine what major motor we need to spin the wheels to launch the tennis ball 20+ feet at 45º.  I have attached a pdf file of my math below to demonstrate my progress.

Design Presentation Calculations

Alongside assisting Miles and John to identify the specific motor we need to spin the wheels sufficiently, I also helped fill out the form to borrow a Raspberry Pi, motor board, and Oak-D Pro camera.

I feel like our progress is on schedule, and we may be a little ahead due to changes in our structural design. Instead of a titling mechanism to shoot the ball at different vertical angles, which correlates into our stretch goal of launching different shot types, we are going to keep the launcher static at 45º. This ensures that my calculations will maintain consistency and the tennis ball will truly reach the 20+ feet mark.

Next week, I hope to help complete the BOM since we have already acquired most of our major components through the ECE department. I also hope to help John and Miles get started on the CV and maybe motor control.

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John Pedraza Status Report for 9/27/2025

This past week, my main responsibility has been putting together our presentation. However, I have also focused on researching materials, helping determine specifics for our calculations, and making design decisions. Since I am the one in charge of the CV, I researched multiple cameras and decided to get the Oak D Pro Robotics Camera. I am also working on learning how to use OpenCV since that’s what we’re using to identify people with our camera. I have no deliverables yet, as the first goal of mine is to get the launcher built and working before the break. I have not finished any code, although I have started interfacing with the Camera.

I think we have fallen slightly behind schedule, primarily because we had to pivot part of our design at the last minute due to unforeseen physical constraints that we discovered with our current design. For next week, I would like to have some code deliverable as I continue to work on the CV, and potentially also have proof that I can successfully interface with the Oak D camera. I would also like to have our motors ordered and parts of our launcher 3d printed.

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Team Status Report for 9/20

Our biggest risk for the project going forward will be the main ball launch mechanism. We are confident in the design itself, but we are just not sure of exactly how far we will be able to launch the tennis ball. We are mitigating this risk by trying to overestimate the launch force, energy, power, and exit speed needed from the spinning wheels so that we will have some wiggle room, while also having backup plans in case it fails (spring load mechanism for guaranteed energy).

No changes in design nor schedule have been made thus far. Our main goal as a team for next week is to complete the design presentation for 9/28 and get a more complete Bill of Materials.

Very Rough Draft of CAD Modeling(WIP) of the launcher base (x-axis rotation):

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Miles’ Status Report for 9/20

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.

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John’s Status Report for 9/20/2025

Worked on the Presentation. Focused on Use-Case requirements, Technical Challenges, and the Testing methods. This week, for design, I looked into potentially being able to add more force to the launch by having the launcher’s wheels pinch the ball when it is pushed through. Additionally, I’ve been researching methods to assist with CV targeting. Currently thinking of having a box lineup with the person and for our machine to target around 4/5 the height of the box in the middle, which would be the chest. I think that we should be able to determine distance with CV; however, if we find this to be an issue, we could use the box around the person, along with a reference, in order to determine distance as well. This is in hopes of helping finish the CV portion of our design presentation as I work on specifics. Within the next week, I’m going to have to select a camera that is compatible with our Raspberry Pi, figure out how exactly this camera is going to work with our Raspberry Pi, and exactly how I plan on integrating CV. Outside of this, we’ve been researching what components to use and are working on our bill of materials. My progress, as well as my teams, is currently on schedule.

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Andrew’s Status Report for 9/20/2025

This week, I worked on the proposal presentation slides along with Miles and John.  I helped work on the content in Use Case, Use-Case Requirements, Technical Challenges, Solution Approach, Testing, Tasks and Division of Labor, and Stretch Goals. I also drew the block diagrams and blueprint of the overall launcher mechanism/structure for the class and staff to interpret. Since I was chosen to present, I added images and made slide texts concise for better quality, appearance, and readability. The slides are posted under the “Proposal” menu. After the proposal presentation, I did some initial calculations on a Wilson US Open tennis ball and the amount of energy, force, power, and exit speed needed for our desired launch distance of 20+ feet. This will help us determine the wheel size, RPM, and motor power needed later on.

My progress, as well as my team’s, is on schedule and everything is moving smoothly at the moment. Everyone is doing their part to ensure we accomplish each major step on time.

Next week, I hope to work on the Bill of Materials for all the components that we need for Passing Partner. I also will assist in completing the design presentation and hopefully accomplish more calculations on our physical constraints.