Sizhe’s Status Report for 4/06

This week, I was mainly working on fine tuning the code that communicates between a python web app and a python program that interfaces arduino. The team and I successfully made the player move to actually control the remote gantry system and the python program can successfully detect the sensor rising edge and place a piece on the web app board.

After weeks, we finally catch up with almost everything. The only thing that puts us at risk is the customized PCB as I just figured out the exact dimension this week but don’t have time to make adjustments to the original design yet.

By the end of next week, I hope that I can finalize with PCB and place the order by next Thursday. Meanwhile, I will continue to work on the communication code to generalize for the 9 by 9 matrix of sensors. The team and I will also look into laser cutting and assembling components for the final product.

Sizhe Chen’s Status Report for 3/30

This week, I mainly work on building out the gantry system and figuring out the control from python to Arduino and finally to the motor driver. I was able to directly control the gantry system from PC.

My progress is somewhat still behind schedule. As we are still trying to catch up the time lost on building the mag lev device, we have made significant progress for the last few weeks by building out individual components of our system.

We hope, by next week, we can have roughly the whole system build out with chassis. As the interim demo is on Monday, I will work with Shuailin on Monday to finish what need to be done for demo. We will further refine the system and hopefully have a rough product by next week.

Sizhe’s Status Report for 3/16

This week, my main focus was on completing the design of the PCB. On Monday, I fully tested out the new analog hall effect sensor and tested out the voltage different resulted from different magnet size. I also worked on the ethic assignment and finished designing the PCB. However, I have not yet placed the order since the team want to make sure the dimension actually match the x-y motor system so we plan to place the order after completing that part of project.

Our progress is still behind as Zipiao was unable to return to US in time due to some unexpected issue. However, we have made significant progress and we will continue working this week to catch up.

Looking forward, we anticipate that we will finish x-y motor system as a team and begin to do some basic integration with the Arduino so we can move the go pieces by next week

 

Sizhe Chen’s Status Report for 3/9

This week, my main focus was on completing the design document, which was due before Spring break, as we finalized the design of our system. Additionally, I successfully tested individual hall effect sensor circuits on a breadboard with an Arduino and began designing the PCB components. The hall effect sensor performed as expected, registering a higher voltage in the presence of a magnet. After the break, I plan to discuss with team members the precise threshold for distinguishing between black and white game pieces.

Our progress is slightly behind schedule due to the time spent testing the magnetic levitation device, but we are actively working to catch up as we finalized the change to the system after making the decision to switch to electro magnet.

Looking forward, I anticipate completing the PCB component design and placing the order by next week. Simultaneously, I will assist Cheiv in completing the construction of the x-y motor system and aim to have it operational with the arrival of the CNC shield by next week.

Sizhe Chen’s Status Report for 2/24

I am pleased to report that this week, we successfully completed testing of the magnetic levitation device. Despite initial setbacks with the old device, the new device arrived this week and turned out to be functional. We tested for interference with permanent magnets.

Schedule-wise, we are somewhat behind as we just finished the magnetic levitation testing. We will try to catch up by working on everything we currently have on hand. We have started the software component, and we may receive the XY gantry by next week, which we will test as soon as it arrives.

Moving forward, Chiev will be working on the software component. Shuailin and I will implement the Hall effect sensors with Arduino and try to simulate our product scenario, putting a magnetic go piece onto a Hall effect sensor. We are confident that with the completion of device testing, we can now allocate more resources towards testing other parts of our system.

Sizhe Chen’s Status Report for 2/17

This week, my primary focus has been on constructing the magnetic levitation device that was delivered on Monday. I soldered everything up yet the devices failed to work (see the attached photo for the device). I dedicated hours to troubleshooting, but the lack of  instructions and feedback from the manufacturer hindered progress. My team decided to move from this device to an existing commercial device that is ready to use out of the box. 

Regrettably, this setback has delayed our progress with magnetic levitation testing. However, we aim to regain momentum next week by completing testing with the new device and start moving the focus to the software component of our system, which remains independent of the physical device.

 

With the arrival of the new magnetic levitation device expected by the end of next week, we anticipate completing testing. Additionally, we aim to finalize the entire system design, while I will personally start testing the hall effects sensor components for detection.

Sizhe Chen’s Status Report for 2/10

The majority of this week was dedicated to preparing and attending presentation sessions and finalizing the semester’s schedule. Additionally, I did some research on the feasibility of magnetic levitation online and researched different devices that we could use for the final project. I am tasked with the detection and locking system aspect of the project, so I delved into researching how to connect hall effect sensors to an Arduino by reviewing existing projects online. I believe I am confident to conduct actual experiments by next week.

We are on track with our schedule in terms of researching as we have created a comprehensive list of possible components. However, we have encountered delays in feasibility testing due to the delayed arrival of the magnetic levitation devices. We plan to conduct these tests promptly upon their arrival on the new scheduled date of 2/14.

Moving forward, our goal for next week is to complete testing of the magnetic levitation device and make decisions regarding the devices to be utilized in our final product.In the meantime, I aim to start the creation of a GitHub repository for the team to commence work on building software components as it does not depend on any physical device. Additionally, I will begin testing hall effect sensors for go piece detection next week.