Author: anmills

This week, I worked on debugging the UWB two-anchor system along with LiDAR obstacle detection pathfinding.  Since most of our debugging for this was a group effort, there was nothing specific I worked on, but rather everything as a whole. I figured out that our meccanum wheels were on backwards, which caused the robot’s movements to be weird. For example, when it turned, it stuttered and often didn’t move. With the wheels flipped in the correct direction, the robot’s movements are much smoother, and its turning is better. I also finalized the wiring for the robot, along with the placement of all components in the basket and on the robot.

Overall, I am not behind, but the team is, so I am helping other team members integrate and debug their subsystems so that our robot can reach final demo status. Next week, or really the next two days, I will be helping with debugging LiDAR obstacle detection and pathfinding, making a mock aisle obstacle course for the demo, and creating a script and possibly slides for the final demo on Monday. 

This week, I worked on fixing the encoders. I tested the encoders and found out that half of the encoders don’t work. I believe this is due to accidentally frying them when I was first testing them, and I plugged the power into the ground and ground into power. Since the internal encoders are broken, I decided to scrap using encoders for this project due to the upcoming final demo and because the encoders are built into the motors, meaning I would need to order new ones, which would likely not come in time or leave me with little to no time to integrate them into the project. I also helped other teammates with their work, such as helping with testing for the UWB direction, understanding the LiDAR test code, and integrating LiDAR obstacle detection into the project for initial testing. 

From this project, I’ve learned how to use Arduino microcontrollers, expanded my knowledge of embedded systems, and learned new technical details such as how LiDAR sensors work, Apple frameworks, and pathfinding. These skills were learned through researching them online, watching tutorials, and extensive debugging.

Overall, I am a bit behind compared to the Gantt chart. Luckily, due to the allocated slack week and the Thanksgiving break, I will be able to dedicate myself to progressing the project so that it can be ready for the final demo. In this upcoming week, I plan on doing the final wiring for the robot, attaching the shopping basket to the robot, and helping with final testing.

This week, I worked on fixing the encoders. I connected the raw motor wires to DuPont-style wire connectors, allowing them to establish a better connection with the breadboard. I wrote a program that utilizes the encoder’s interrupts to calculate the speed and direction of the robot. Unfortunately, I found an issue where only one of the AB phase encoders works; thus, I need to conduct further testing to determine if this issue is specific to one motor or all of them. I also helped other teammates with their work, such as reading into the UWB direction issue. I also worked on the interim demo, ensuring the robot was ready for its first showcase to the world!

In terms of verification for the robot subsystem, I have been extensively testing individual components such as motors, encoders, and communication between microcontrollers or from a microcontroller to a computer. In the upcoming weeks, the robot subsystem will hopefully be fully verified.

Overall, I am a week behind compared to the Gantt chart. Due to the encoders not working properly, I will spend the first half of next week working on them. If the issue persists or the encoders don’t work by then, I will turn my focus to other aspects of the project, such as LiDAR integration, to help make faster progress in time for our final demo.

This week, I worked on the robot’s movement. I received new H-Bridges this week that replaced the faulty ones I was using last week. I tested connection points between the Teensy microcontroller and the motors. I got all 4 motors to work synchronously. I wrote functions to make the robot move in various directions. I tested the motors’ encoders and found that there was an error with them.  I believe it was due to the connection between the Teensy microcontroller and the motors, so I ordered a Dupont connector kit that I hope will solve this issue. I also wrote code that handles interrupts and reads commands from a USB device to control the movements of the robot. This mimics the communication between the Raspberry Pi 5 and Teensy controller, considering we don’t have a Raspberry Pi 5 yet. 

Overall, I am a week behind compared to the Gantt chart. I realized that encoders and PID control aren’t needed for the interim demo, so I am focusing on other aspects of the project in order to be demo-ready. Next week, I will work on presenting our interim demo, along with regaining progress when the Raspberry Pi 5 arrives, in regards to the communication between the microcontrollers. Also, I plan on figuring out the issue with the encoders.

This week, I worked on getting the motors to move. Unfortunately, I found out the H-Bridges for the motor control are not working. I believe it is an issue with the shipping or manufacturing of the component. I received the H-Bridges with the same electrical components on the board, either capacitors or transistors, bent flat. I bent them back into an upright position, but I think this bending loosened the connections. When I was testing my code, the H-Bridges were making a buzzing sound and heating up significantly. Thus, I ordered new H-Bridges and am hoping this will fix the issue. If this doesn’t work, I will consider buying a robot car kit online to remove the risk of compatibility issues between components. Other than this issue, I worked on wiring the robot and connecting all the components together, as well as further developing the Arduino code for the robot. 

Overall, I remain behind compared to the Gantt chart. Next week, when the new H-Bridges arrive, I hope that the motors will work and that I can continue to regain progress so that other aspects of the project can be implemented and tested according to the schedule in a timely manner.

This week, I worked on getting the robot car to move. I assembled the robot car kit and set up the Teensy 4.1 Board. I had to solder pins onto the Teensy board, as we plan to use jumper wires for the connection points. I followed a tutorial from the PJRC website (https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/first_use.html) to set up the Teensy board, as this was my first time working with it. I also worked on developing the PWM and UART modules. For the UART module, I referenced source code from the PJRC website (https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/uart.html). Although there was no C source code for the PWM module, I used the detailed documentation provided on the PJRC website (https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_pulse.html) and wrote the module in Arduino code for simplicity. Since this was my first time using Arduino, the process took longer than expected. I have not tested either module, but I plan to do so next week. I also spent time completing the ethics assignment, which took longer than anticipated and limited the time I was able to dedicate to testing.

As mentioned in last week’s status report, due to the communication error regarding ordering parts, my timeline in the Gantt chart was pushed back a week. I am still about a week behind schedule, and the limited time available for testing the modules I’ve written has contributed to this delay. I plan to catch up on this work during the slack week we allocated for ourselves before the Intermin Demo.

This week, I focused on the design report. I finalized all aspects of communication and physical connections between all hardware components on the robot. I also roughly laid out where all hardware components will be on the robot in the robot’s block diagram. I redid all calculations for numbers in the design report, and I rechecked these numbers with my previous work I used in the design presentation.

Due to the robot car kit, Teensy 4.1 microcontroller, and H-Bridges being ordered last week and the following week being a break, I am behind. This upcoming week, I plan on working extra hard to finish assembling the robot car kit and finishing the core programming of the robot. This includes the communication between the Teensy 4.1 and Raspberry Pi (UART communication) and the naive movement of the wheels (PWM module). I plan on pushing the encoder module and PID control back a week since it isn’t a part of the key functionality of the robot car. Pushing these modules back a week ensures that Rose and Elly can work on their parts without falling behind due to my error.

This week, I set up the Raspberry Pi 5. We realized the Raspberry Pi 5 kit we got didn’t include a micro SD card, so I placed an order for one, but in the meantime, I borrowed a friend’s micro SD card. Since the Raspberry Pi 5 doesn’t naturally support VS Code, I looked into remote-SSHing into the Raspberry Pi 5 to upload code and got that system working. Since I am mostly waiting on parts to arrive to continue working, I also looked more into the compatibility of other parts and more about the Teensy 4.1 firmware/manual pages. Due to the majority of my work needing to be done next week, I tried to offload some of the work by looking into any potential issues I might face ahead of time. I also presented the Design Presentation to the class and reviewed the feedback from the Q&A section we received. 

Since this week is mostly dedicated to early software development and the Design Presentation, the hardware/firmware section I am working on is still on track for the project schedule.

Next week, I hope to build the basics for the robot car kit. I also hope to get the motors to start moving so that the car can move forward and backward, and potentially side to side or turning.