Caroline’s Status Report for 3/11

Last week, I worked on testing the motors when assembled in the robot chassis. After installing new fasteners for the motors, the range of motion of motors was reduced and the wheels were able to support the robots weight. However, there was still wiggle room which allowed the wheels to become a bit unstable. Because of this, the robot moved somewhat unpredictably when directed to move in a straight line. When testing, the robot often curved slightly to the left which we hypothesize is due to a small, expected miscallibration of the motors as well. Next week, I will try securing the motors with a stronger fastener and test the motion again to determine if further tuning is necessary. I will also help work on the sensor system assembly. One key concern we have is how sensitive the sensors will be when installed inside our robot, and determining the maximum distance at which scents can be detected with our testing setup. After more experimentation with the sensor sensitivity next week, I will determine if any modifications need to be made to the robot to help increase the range at which scents can be detected.