This week, our Raspberry Pi finally came in, which allowed me to work directly with the Pi. To prepare for working with the Pi, I partitioned my hard drive to install Linux alongside Windows on my laptop. Once I received the Pi, I set it up by installing Raspbian on it. I successfully connected the motor shield to the Pi, and the stepper motors to the motor shield. I tested the functionality of our stepper motors by running some test code, which was a success. This successful test shows that we are able to finely control the stepper motors as we wish, as well as that the libraries we chose to use for the motor shield are working correctly. I also updated the framework for the motor control code.
My progress is slightly behind schedule. I was able to set up the Pi, the motor shield, and the stepper motors, but I have not yet tested our servomotors with the Pi. I also have not made significant progress on the gantry control code, as most of my week was spent on setting up the Pi and testing the functionality of our parts. However, this is not a large setback, as the work done this week was still significant progress and helps facilitate the future tasks related to the Pi.
Early in the next week, I will complete a preliminary test of the servomotor. Following that, I will continue working on the code for the gantry control routines. By the end of the week, I should have a basic version of the control routines completed, which I will be able to test on the motors using the Pi.