I estimate that I’m 1 week behind on the user interface board design and the layout for the motor controller board. I was also meant to start working on the test setup with Kenny, but he’s been bogged down with the mechanical portion of the project. This isn’t entirely unexpected, as I’ve been gone for almost half the week for a graduate student recruitment event. That, and course logistics have taken up a great deal of time (i.e. preparing for the design review presentation and the design report).
This week, I’ve only managed to setup my layout software with component symbols and footprints in preparation for laying out the motor driver board. Motor driver layout is precarious at best, so I’ve spent most of my time reading up on board design guidelines so that we don’t waste time re-spinning a board. I’ve also compiled a Digikey cart for the driver board: https://www.digikey.com/short/zq07q2 as a price estimate. Disregarding the cost of the PCB, the components for a single unit cost $18.91. This high price point is mainly due to the MOSFET gate drivers and H-bridge FETs, so it’s difficult to ameliorate.
To get back on track next week, I’ll first need to work with my team to get the design report done ASAP. Then, I’ll need to finalize the layout for the motor driver board and 8V power supply in the first half of next week so that we can send the orders out. In the remainder of the week, I’ll work with Kenny on the circuitry and layout for the equatorial mount’s test setup. The layout for the user interface board can be pushed back to Spring Break, since there hasn’t been much progress on the software component of the project.