This past week, not much could be done since my team and I are waiting on other subteams to get their work done so that we can begin testing. We almost have all of the expansion boards built but we had enough to begin testing on the track. Chris can now build the two expansion he could not build since the app team had a bench model with parts from our inventory and I also possessed a bench model. We are about a week away from the first important event where we will be able to showcase our project in front of many people. I am beginning to worry as I am sure other teams are also as well that there will not be enough time to fix any major issues with the project if they arise while testing. One such issue arose this past Sunday and it had to do with RFID. The app team and I believe that it might be the library that we are using but I am currently in the process of looking for other libraries that are compatible with the Arduino Mega that we can test to see which library will give us a repeatable and reproducible reading every time we swipe an RFID card on the RFID reader. We have also begun to modify the summer team's code to work with our components in the case that anything goes wrong and we could have a backup plan.
It looks like our team and other teams will have to spend almost everyday at the shop from now on to get this project fully functional. Even with doubts from other teams, I feel like we will experience some sort of success and I am hoping that we can get at least two podcars controlled through the mobile app team's software. I am more than confident that our project will work by Maker Faire but our current focus is on getting a conditionally functional project by next week. For now, we have to help each other out and do our very best to get this project working.
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Week 7
This past week, I began to test with my team both the bench model that we have had with us all project year long and also with the model mounted on the podcar. With the deadline coming up, our team decided to meet up over the weekend at the shop to work on the project and test out our system on the provisional track while the track team builds the rest of the track. This past Sunday proved to demonstrate to us that there is a lot of fixing that must be done not only to our system but with other team's work as well. The track has some details that need attention in order for our system to run smoothly without having to worry that the podcar will get stuck on the track or will fall off.
In addition, Tim from the mobile app team and I have been in constant contact with regards to implementing his system into our system so that he can control all of the podcar's features. On Sunday, I was amazed to see that he was able to control the speed of the motors as well as control the indicator depending on what color the LED should be lighted as. I still have yet to see that the kill switch works as it is supposed to as well as stopping the podcar if there is an obstacle in front of it. Not much as been done to the code at this point since the app team is making modifications to the code so that they are able to control the system from their computer through the use of Xbees. At this point, I am just hoping for the best and hoping that our project is satisfactory enough to have something to show for at Paseo two weeks from this coming Saturday. We will see what happens in the next coming week which means a whole lot of debugging, fixing, testing, and making fast changes to our design.
In addition, Tim from the mobile app team and I have been in constant contact with regards to implementing his system into our system so that he can control all of the podcar's features. On Sunday, I was amazed to see that he was able to control the speed of the motors as well as control the indicator depending on what color the LED should be lighted as. I still have yet to see that the kill switch works as it is supposed to as well as stopping the podcar if there is an obstacle in front of it. Not much as been done to the code at this point since the app team is making modifications to the code so that they are able to control the system from their computer through the use of Xbees. At this point, I am just hoping for the best and hoping that our project is satisfactory enough to have something to show for at Paseo two weeks from this coming Saturday. We will see what happens in the next coming week which means a whole lot of debugging, fixing, testing, and making fast changes to our design.
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Week 6
This past week, our team had our first presentation. We felt like we did well on it and hope that our confidence is reflected from the feedback that Eric will give us. Besides the presentation, my team went back to work on the project since the deadline to finish the project is coming up. Chris was tasked with building the rest of the prototype boards and any 3D printing so that we can have these done when testing on the track is ready to begin. Steven and I needed to get the encoders working so that we can set a speed appropriately instead of trial and error. We also needed to start integrating pathing and the controls systems together so that we can start integrating the app team's work.
I was not able to get anywhere with the encoders. I am getting encoder counts but I am not sure what to do with these counts. I know that to find the speed in rpm, we need to the find the difference in the encoder counts in a set time interval and divide that difference by that time interval. The formula for speed is the basic distance over time formula. At this point, I will have to seek help from my teammates and maybe seek the help from Dr. Furman since he does have experience with encoders. This encoder work has left me stumped and frustrated but I am hoping that I will get the help I need to measure a speed from the encoders.
Besides the encoders, I decided to start the process of integration since my work got halted with the encoders. I wanted to at least get the hall effect sensor that will switch the lever arm when it detects a "dumb" magnet to work since the podcars will be in motion at all times without any destination set until a station number is sent to a particular podcar. Since the podcars will be moving around the track, the app team requested that we set four checkpoints on the outer corners of the track on the outside loop so that they know which route is the quickest to get to a station. I have incorporated four more RFID cards that will cause the podcar indicator to light the LED blue as it passes the card.
With less time to work on the project, my team and I are beginning to stress out because there is still much to do in such a short amount of time. We are just hoping that our system will work and that our effort was not wasted into getting a controls system that will actually work reliably and efficiently. With few time left to work on the project, I will continue to integrate the systems together and start testing with the other subteams as soon as our team has a part of the track built.
I was not able to get anywhere with the encoders. I am getting encoder counts but I am not sure what to do with these counts. I know that to find the speed in rpm, we need to the find the difference in the encoder counts in a set time interval and divide that difference by that time interval. The formula for speed is the basic distance over time formula. At this point, I will have to seek help from my teammates and maybe seek the help from Dr. Furman since he does have experience with encoders. This encoder work has left me stumped and frustrated but I am hoping that I will get the help I need to measure a speed from the encoders.
Besides the encoders, I decided to start the process of integration since my work got halted with the encoders. I wanted to at least get the hall effect sensor that will switch the lever arm when it detects a "dumb" magnet to work since the podcars will be in motion at all times without any destination set until a station number is sent to a particular podcar. Since the podcars will be moving around the track, the app team requested that we set four checkpoints on the outer corners of the track on the outside loop so that they know which route is the quickest to get to a station. I have incorporated four more RFID cards that will cause the podcar indicator to light the LED blue as it passes the card.
With less time to work on the project, my team and I are beginning to stress out because there is still much to do in such a short amount of time. We are just hoping that our system will work and that our effort was not wasted into getting a controls system that will actually work reliably and efficiently. With few time left to work on the project, I will continue to integrate the systems together and start testing with the other subteams as soon as our team has a part of the track built.
Tuesday, March 7, 2017
Week 5
This past week, I was tasked to build a bench model for the app team as requested since they will begin testing their work with it. We encountered some complications while building the bench model but were able to fix it. I gave the bench model to the app team last Friday and showed them how to connect the rest of the components. I built the bench model so that the orientation of the components can only fit one way without them having to doubt themselves on how the component should go on the breadboard.
Along with building the bench model, my team and I were mostly busy preparing for the presentation that we have this week and writing the paper that is also due this week. Unfortunately, these assignments have halted our progress in the project but will immediately resume our work after the presentation. We are almost ready to test but we need to integrate Steven's and my work together so that we can also test the app team's work with our work. Time is almost up and I am hoping that everything runs smoothly with little debugging needed. Unfortunately, that may not be the case but we need to put in all of our effort now more than ever to finish this project. We need to have patience and we need to help each other succeed because in the end this will all reflect on how the 1/12th scale team did overall.
In the coming week, I will be working with Steven to integrate the whole system together as well as getting readouts on the speed of the motors. We will also begin testing so that we have enough time to debug our system. Simultaneously, we will also work with the app team to integrate their work with ours.
Along with building the bench model, my team and I were mostly busy preparing for the presentation that we have this week and writing the paper that is also due this week. Unfortunately, these assignments have halted our progress in the project but will immediately resume our work after the presentation. We are almost ready to test but we need to integrate Steven's and my work together so that we can also test the app team's work with our work. Time is almost up and I am hoping that everything runs smoothly with little debugging needed. Unfortunately, that may not be the case but we need to put in all of our effort now more than ever to finish this project. We need to have patience and we need to help each other succeed because in the end this will all reflect on how the 1/12th scale team did overall.
In the coming week, I will be working with Steven to integrate the whole system together as well as getting readouts on the speed of the motors. We will also begin testing so that we have enough time to debug our system. Simultaneously, we will also work with the app team to integrate their work with ours.
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Week 4
This past week turned out to be an unsuccessful week on my part. I was unable to get the encoders to work properly to return a speed based on encoder counts from both of the motors. I had to have knowledge on using interrupts to acquire the speed while other code is running. I am hoping my team can provide some support this coming week because I feel frustrated knowing that I tried and could not get an end result for my team.
I was also unable to send commands through the Xbees to simulate what I think the mobile app team will be doing with the app. I researched through different forums and examples online but I was not able to send information through an Xbee and get it to receive on the other Xbee and display it on Serial Monitor of that microcontroller from the receiving Xbee. For the mean time, I postponed any progress on the Xbees since our team will be focusing on integrating our whole system as a whole including the encoders this coming week. I also want to know how the app team will want to use the Xbees to communicate between the microcontrollers and their database on Processing. I feel that our team will be doing a lot of debugging when we start to integrate our whole system together.
In the coming week, I will be preparing for the first presentation that our team will have next week and also be working on the paper that is also due next week. I will continue to work on the encoders and get them working way before next week so that our team can start integrating, testing, and building before the start of the next week. We have four weeks left until the deadline and I am not sure how to feel about that. I am just saving that bit of hope for our team that everything will work out in the end. I will also continue to do some side research on Xbees so that when it comes to working with the app team to integrate their app, we can immediately create a function or write some code that will receive the information through the use of the Xbees and our microcontrollers.
I was also unable to send commands through the Xbees to simulate what I think the mobile app team will be doing with the app. I researched through different forums and examples online but I was not able to send information through an Xbee and get it to receive on the other Xbee and display it on Serial Monitor of that microcontroller from the receiving Xbee. For the mean time, I postponed any progress on the Xbees since our team will be focusing on integrating our whole system as a whole including the encoders this coming week. I also want to know how the app team will want to use the Xbees to communicate between the microcontrollers and their database on Processing. I feel that our team will be doing a lot of debugging when we start to integrate our whole system together.
In the coming week, I will be preparing for the first presentation that our team will have next week and also be working on the paper that is also due next week. I will continue to work on the encoders and get them working way before next week so that our team can start integrating, testing, and building before the start of the next week. We have four weeks left until the deadline and I am not sure how to feel about that. I am just saving that bit of hope for our team that everything will work out in the end. I will also continue to do some side research on Xbees so that when it comes to working with the app team to integrate their app, we can immediately create a function or write some code that will receive the information through the use of the Xbees and our microcontrollers.
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