DELIVERABLES

Group Q:

Lab 1

Progress Report Questions:

  1.  The propellers were running a little slow at the start and the motor had a bit of resistance when it was rotating the propellers. Also, throughout the testing of the thrust levels, we received good results that will be sufficient enough to move the AEV.

Arduino Function Call Glossary:

Celerate: Accelerates and decelerates either motors

Motorspeed: Initializes speed of the motor

goFor: Runs motors for specified amount of time at certain amount of power

Brake: Cuts power to specified motor

Lab 2

Progress Report Questions:

Throughout the lab, whenever commands are used, there will always be a short delay in the AEV’s motion. If we are being tested on the speed of our AEV, these commands will slow down its overall completion time all throughout.

Picture of the AEV’s sensors:

The function of reflectance sensors is to detect if we have a “shiny” spot on the AEV’s wheels that detect how many marks the AEV has traveled.

Lab 3

Figure 1 Power vs Time

Figure 1 shows that the power consumed gradually increased to it’s target power, then slightly decreased when a new, lower target power level was set. After this, the power spiked when the propellers were  commanded to reverse direction, leveled off at it’s target, then returned to zero when the code ended.

Figure 2 Power vs Distance

Figure two shows that as distance increases, the power was immediately at the first target, then quickly decreased as a new power target was assigned. The power spiked as the AEV reversed direction and again leveled off at it’s new target before returning to zero at the end of the program.

//An initial reverse to get motors spinning in the correct direction

reverse(4);

//Sets speeds for motors for 1 and 2 seconds respectively
celerate(4,0,35,3);
motorSpeed(4,35);
goFor(1);
motorSpeed(4,30);
goFor(2);

//Reverses motors to move AEV backwards
reverse(4);

//Sets speed for backwards movement and brakes
motorSpeed(4,35);
goFor(2);
brake(4);

Lab 4

Progress Report Questions:

Lab 5

Group Q:

Completed Lab Proficiency Quiz

Presented Grant Proposal

Prepared for Committee Meeting 1

Lab 6

Group Q:

Advanced R&D

Brainstorming: Possible Research Topics

  1. Battery Testing
  2. Reflectance Sensor Testing
  3. Servo Calibration
  4. Testing Prototyped Parts
  5. Track Variation
  6. Motor Configuration
  7. Propeller Configuration

Team Q will be researching Servo Calibration and test Prototyped Parts

Methodology

Goals:

  1. Learn to use the servo and the most effective way to use it to brake our vehicle quickly and precisely.
  2. Determine the usability of prototyped parts and suggest improvments.

Equipment:

  1. AEV
  2. Battery
  3. Prototyped Parts
  4. Servo

Variable:

  1. Angle of Servo
  2. Attachment point of parts
  3. How to use the motion of the servo to apply a braking force
  4. Part Material
  5. Part Design

Data:

  1. Determine max servo angle
  2. Determine minimum servo angle
  3. How quickly can the servo respond to an input
  4. Determine performance impact of each part on the AEV
  5. Perform each test multiple times to ensure accuracy

 

Group Q:

Lab 7 & 8

Advanced R&D

Servo Testing and Calibration

Time to complete full sweep, 5 tests

Observe min and max angles

Calculate time/degree

Ways to use Servo:

Brake, Change Thrust Angle, Rotate the AEV so that it always travels forward

Why Calibration is important:

Calibrating a new servo is important to determine the maximum and minimum angles the servo can reach. This is crucial to understand what the constraints are for the servo itself and what angles we need to use in relation to the AEV.

How will the servo improve the AEV:

We believe that using the servo as a brake will make controlling the AEV much more precise than using reverse thrust to stop the vehicle. This will allow for the AEV to be much safer.

Pros and Cons:

Pros: More precise control of the AEV

Con: Increases vehicle complexity, adds weight to the vehicle, potentially knocks AEV off of track.

 

Group Q:

Lab 9 & 10

Advanced R&D 2

Performance Test 1

Performance Test 2

Graph of Power v Distance

Graph of Power v Time

Testing Prototyped Parts

What methods could be used, and display data for 3-5 trials of the designs.

Which prototype(s) will be used and why, and what changes will be made to the prototypes based on the findings?

Tests Using Lighter Materials

Power v Distance

Power v Time

Tests Using Heavier Materials

Power v Distance

Power v Time