Emma Status Report (3/29/25)

This week, I spent time getting ready for the interim demo. Last week, I had finished a majority of my subsection, but I refined some of it to improve functionality, and thought about what there is left to do before the final demonstration. First, I worked on the live stream subsection. I was able to get the stream of images to save to a file on my computer, which will then be used in the image stitching algorithm to make a map of the landscape. I also improved the interface so that the user will write what they want to name the folder before they survey an area, and I made a special folder that saves images when the user wants to make a “screenshot.” The user will press the S key, and then the image being processed at that time will go to a predefined folder called “User Saved Photos.” This folder is not overwritten between runs. I also added instructions to the interface. 

I also updated the motor control system. I realized that the motor driver works a little differently than I thought it did. The ‘in’ pins control the direction of spinning, and the ‘enable’ pins control the motors being on or off. I had only wired the IN pin for the direction that I wanted to be logic high, rather than both, which was making the motor spin even when the enable was off. I then wired the other IN pins and adjusted the code so that these pins were always set, and the enable pins control the motors motion. I also wanted the user to be able to control the speed of the boat for turns. So I changed the enable pins to be PWM, the variables to be an integer rather than a boolean, and changed the dashboard to have a slider that controls the power going to the motors, and thus control the speed of the boat. I had to do quite a bit of debugging, but now the user can control the motor’s speed. 

Video of motors operating at a specific speed: Video 

I was also able to test whether my WiFi hotspot will be able to withstand both the Arduino and Raspberry Pi on it, which it does. Both the video stream and the motor control can happen at the same time. As a team, I helped build the boat with supplies from TechSpark to prepare for the interim demonstration. 

The next steps for me after the interim demonstration will be to improve the GUI of the live stream to be more professional looking, and to have better control of starting the live stream after stopping. I am also looking to integrate the XY motors I have with Maddie’s stepper motor into one Arduino and put it in the same Cloud dashboard. We also will be soldering our circuits together next week. I am currently working on schedule and do not see any risks ahead.