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David’s Status Report 2/10/2024

This week I made and finalized the parts list and wrote up all of the necessary information for submitting the purchase requests. Choosing the particular motors was very important as we had to take into account the current limitations on the Adafruit Motor Shield V2. I will formally submit the requests before the end of class on Monday to ensure we can get our parts ordered in the Tuesday batch. I also assisted Thomas in designing the enclosure and fleshing out the card dealing system. I did research on controlling the stepper and servo motors using the motor shield: https://cdn-learn.adafruit.com/downloads/pdf/adafruit-motor-shield-v2-for-arduino.pdf.

I also powered on the RPI 5 and determined that 5V 5A can be supplied through the GPIO pins. This allowed us to finalize the power delivery system to the RPI 5 using a buck convertor to step down 12V DC from the battery to 5V 5A dc output, instead of using a separate power supply which would have required a slip ring in our design.

I am currently on track, and once we get parts delivered, I will be able to start implementing motor drivers and calibrating the movement as well as getting images using the RPI 5 and raspberry pi cameras. I am most heavily prioritizing getting motors power on so we can test if our gear system for rotating our platform is sufficient as well as estimate battery life.

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Thomas’s Status Report 2/10/2024

The majority of this week was dedicated to learning how to use Onshape (CAD tool) and developing multiple CAD models of the lower case design. I imported all the relevant parts to determine the optimal size for the chassis when assembled, which is 25cm x 25cm x 20cm. This assembly includes the internal gear responsible for turning the entire body from the bottom. Subsequently, we laser cut and 3D printed the models to evaluate the most suitable materials for each component. Currently, we have decided to laser cut the entire body with wood and 3D print the gears. While laser cutting is feasible for the gears, 3D printing appears to be the better option considering the desired thickness. We also looked into metal gears, but they seem to be too pricey for the size we want.

I am currently on track, and depending on the parts delivery schedule for next week, I anticipate possibly shifting my focus to designing the upper body/card dispenser instead of assembly since we at least need the stepper motor and motor shield.

If I have the parts next week, I plan to test the stepper motor to verify its capability to handle the weight of the platform and possibly making the platform turn. If the parts do not arrive on time, I intend to have a preliminary design of the card dispenser in CAD and potentially 3D print it by end of next week.