This week, I worked on setting up the user interface for the project and running the server on the Jetson. I was successfully able to transmit user input for speed (via the sliding bar on the monitor connected to the Jetson) to the Arduino, which consequently sends the appropriate PWM signal to the motor driver, resulting in setting the speed. I experimented with the different minimum and maximum speeds that the motor could handle, and accordingly constrained the user input to within reasonable bounds that do not provide current issues. The power supply we previously used for the demo had a current limit of 0.25A when supplying voltages greater than 6V, so we switched to using a different power supply with a greater current limit, which also allowed the motor to spin faster. Upon initial testing, we are able to get an object from end to end of the belt within the 5 seconds that was specified in our use-case requirements. With further testing this weekend, we will gauge whether we can also classify an object in time, and will accordingly modify the speed constraints. In addition to this, I also worked with Mohammed on getting some sort of live video stream of the inference and classification on the website, which eliminates the need to have another window open with the live inference. Over the weekend, once the ramp is built, I will be working with Mohammed to integrate the control logic of the servo with model classification results, unit-testing the different subsystems of the project, and also fine-tuning and synchronization to make sure the ramp moves at the right time.
Additional Questions
Throughout the course of this project, I watched tutorial videos online to learn how to accomplish tasks that I was previously unfamiliar with. For example, when figuring out how to drive a motor with custom specifications, the video on the GoBilda website walked me through how to use the motor specifications to send out PWM signals. In addition, I’ve also had to look into open forums online when running into specific problems, which has also been helpful. For the User Interface, I took a Web Applications course last semester, which gave me a lot of the background I needed to be able to design and interface with the website.