This week, I completed the mechanical assembly of the motor mount. After Mary-Rose designed the parts, I 3D printed them, multiple times due to printer failure, and drilled holes into the main mount piece so screws could secure the mount piece to the screw of the platform jack. This also involved sanding the head of the screw so the motor mount could rest on a flat surface.
I also conducted basic tests on the motor to ensure that we can drive it and that it can cause the platform jack to elevate. The motor driver we used had a limit of 10 V, but our motor needs 12-24V. So when I increased the voltage input to the driver to 24 V, a capacitor on the driver exploded. After realizing we made a purchasing error, I researched other motor drivers and settled on the Adafruit Motor Driver v2, this driver has only a max voltage input of 12 V so we will see if it is capable of meeting our goals.
I also worked on the high level algorithm for stand adjustment with Olivia. Essentially, the stand will alternately adjust heigh and angle. The condition to stop height adjustment is when your face leaves the screen. The condition to stop angle adjustment is when your face is centered.
We are on schedule and this week we hope to complete the design for the linear actuator mount, mount the actuators, 3D print the linear actuator mount, drive the main motor at a high voltage with the new driver, and integrate the whole system.