This week, I worked on practicing for Design Presentation (and actually delivering), and working on the construction of the radial aiming system. The stepper motor was delivered early this week, so I took some time to iterate on the prototype to think about the actual connections of the individual laser-cut components, and how to attach the base to the shaft of the motor.
The stepper motor house came out nicely – I am a little worried about the flatness of the motor, so I will probably end up adding a bottom plate for the motor house. The lazy susan plate poses a bigger mechanical challenge as it doesn’t fit very tightly to the shaft. To mitigate this, I’ve ordered a Flange Coupler, which will be fastened onto the shaft, and the next version of the plate will have holes cut into it so that it can attach with the flat part of the coupler.
While trying to test driving the motor, I’ve realized I need a stepper motor driver (DRV8825) on top of the motor to actually interface with it, and also to protect the hardware from current surge – I’ve ordered stepper motor driver this week so I can start trying to control it on the Pi.
My schedule is still on track as this week and next week is building the first version of the vertical and radial aiming system and finding out what problems I might encounter, as I have done this week.
Next week should be relatively busy with the Design Report, along with additional parts such as the ones I’ve ordered this week and the servo motor should be delivered. I aim to deliver vertical aiming system’s prototype and finalize the radial aiming system’s mechanical portions.
