Week of Mar 3 – Mar 9
Administrivia
As a group, we spent nearly all of March 3 preparing our design review report and hashing out any last minute discrepancies we had about the project. This actually was a really could time for our group to catch up with the entire team, and justify each of the design decisions we had made on our respective parts to each other. For instance, some of the design decisions that I had the greatest influence on we the Li-Fi vs IR detection system and the differential vs Ackerman steering system.
This week, I also finished the first deliverable for the ethics assignment. I chose a case study on on a group with three members that all did research and chose to form a start-up after they all graduated.
Project
On the project, I finished the fist draft of the 3D model of the car. I completely redid the camera housing again, to allow for wire routing and a more elevated view angle. I also made the car more compact by reducing the overall size of the car to 9″ long by 7.12″ wide by 5.5″ high. Moved the L298n Motor Driver PCB from the underside of the car to the above side on top of the battery pack. Also, planned on putting the IR PCB there as well with the raspberry pi. Added in a honeycomb mesh pattern to allow air circulation to the battery and also help reduce the weight. Switched from 8 AA batteries for the IR circuits to 9Vs as they are more compact and easier to fit. While this does reduce the longevity of the IR detection system, after considering the use when on and off, I don’t believe that this trade-off will affect the performance of the car.
Additionally, I reworked the budget and design of the IR circuit to use transistors that can be found in the 18-220 lab, so that we don’t have to buy our own. This will help us save around $40-$45 on the overall cost of the project.
Scheduling
I am currently behind on my tasks as a significant portion of time was dedicated to preparing the report of Sunday, and working on the ethics paper for this class. Also, I had to work on Lab 2 for embedded this week as it was due on Wednesday. I get back from spring break a few days early, so I plan to catch up and get back on schedule then.
| New Schedule | |
| Dates | Task |
| Feb 4 – Feb 6 | Come up with a first draft of the bill of materials for three cars |
| Feb 6 – Feb 8 | Started design of RFID and IR circuits |
| Feb 8 – Feb 15 | Started design the physical layout of a car |
| Feb 15 – Feb 22 | Finish first draft of circuit designs |
| Feb 22 – Feb 25 | Design the PCB that goes in the car |
| Feb 25 – Feb 28 | Find appropriate battery and power system parts |
| Feb 28 – Mar 3 | Work on preparing for the design review presentation and report |
| Mar 3 – Mar 9 | Finish first draft of 3D model for the car |
| Mar 17 – Mar 19 | Assemble frame and enough so sourav can test driving the car. |
| Mar 19 – Mar 25 | Place circuit on the base of the car and wire scanner with the PCB |
| Mar 25 – Mar 31 | Mount IR pulse gun on car |
| Mar 31 – Apr 4 | Add colored LEDs for visual display of interaction |
| Apr 4 – Apr 9 | Attach camera and finish car |
Deliverables for Next Week:
- Cars with attached motors
- Updated IR circuit diagrams