This week, I spent a significant amount of time putting together the project and ensuring it is in a demo-able state. I mainly worked with Chris this week to improve and test various areas of the project. One thing we noticed about our current color selection algorithm was difficulty in accurately choosing extreme cases of HSV values, which included black, white, and red, as these colors were represented by a minimum or maximum value for one of the three properties defining it. Chris and I optimized and refined the algorithm by weighting the three different properties of HSV colors so that our system would more accurately pick colors. Another important item that Chris and I worked on was reducing the jamming of the motors while optimizing the accuracy and routines of the gantry system. Using testing scripts, we tested various parts of our system individually and in conjunction with each other in order to optimize timings and spacings in the painting routine. This week was also the first time we tested our robot running a routine that involved the paints and water. Through our testing and refinement, we were able to accomplish the robot automatically completing a painting routine.
My progress is on schedule, as I am in the testing and refinement phase of the project. Our project is in a complete, demo-able state, and the remaining work is continuing to optimize various aspects of the design as well as minimize errors and failures. Next week, we hope to eliminate a significant number of small issues and problems, such as the motors failing, finding a way to zero our gantry, optimizing the color selection algorithm even more, and reduce the extra line drawn by the brush when rotating on the servomotor.