This week, my main focus was getting the motor running predictably. After digging through the ESC documentation, I figured out it’s controlled by a 50 Hz PWM signal (1ms for minimum power, 2ms for maximum). With that in mind, I wrote an Arduino program that lets us customize the motor speed using a simple percentage input. I also wired up a two-button setup on a breadboard: one to turn the motor on, and one to turn it off, which safely lets the motor coast to a slow stop at any point during operation.
Hardware-wise, I think we are finally back on track. Andrew and Kendric did some great work on the CAD side this week. The 3D-printed clamps are working surprisingly well and have pretty much solved the mechanical fit issues we were stressing about last week. We also finally got our microSD card, so the Pi is fully functional. But, ironically, we hit a massive new roadblock: both of our displays are dead (one is bricked, the other shorted out). So even though the Pi is ready to go, we can’t actually test any of our display code. We’ve express-ordered new 64×128 LED panels from China, but they definitely won’t be here in time for the interim demo.
Even without the physical screens, my goal for next week is to keep pushing forward on the software side. I’ll be writing the display code blind and working on integrating the Jetson Nano output so we’re completely ready to display real images the second those new panels arrive.