Lab 11

Lab 11 better known as–judgement day. The team came to this lab 30 minutes early in order to try to complete the code and leave time to also fix bugs during the lab. Final testing was done by choice giving team’s the ability to test and tweak with each team’s  AEV and respectable codes. After, team A had tested and tested and tested the code seemed to be fully functional giving the AEV the tools needed to complete the mission with faults. Once, the team got a loosely defined as “perfect” run, then a scorer was requested. With palms sweating and hearts beating fast, the team placed the AEV on the track and turned on the power on–that was the first mistake. The run got half way completed, stopping way short of the gate sensor on its return journey for no reason at all. This made the team suspicious so the engineers tested the AEV again without changing anything about the code and the AEV again had a perfect run. Then, the team requested a scorer again and this time only had one place to mark off and that was for incidental touching by one of the members. This validated one very scary truth about this AEV project, and that is the amount of variation from run to run leads to so many inconsistencies. This is why the runs themselves are not graded on performance but on completion.

LAB 10

Lab 10 also known as performance test 3 and also known as last lab to get the AEV running smoothly. The reason for this is because the next lab is the final testing lab, where the team’s AEV gets scored on its run on the track by a TA. In order for team A’s AEV to be able to complete the task at hand (picking up the R2D2 and bringing it back to the starting point) the A-team had 3/4 of code that needed to be calculated and completed. The team tested the AEV so much that half way through the team had to get another battery because the first one died. After getting the new battery the code has to be altered to adjust for power of battery, this led to the team only being able to finish the first 3/4 of the code. Still leaving to chance stopping at the gate with the R2D2 on the AEV’s return trip. To fix this issue the team planned to meet early for lab 11.

Lab 9

Lab 9 was better known as, Performance Test 2. Coming into this lab, the A-team had analyzed and compared the data and had made the educated decision about which AEV design will the chosen one. Since, this was the first lab with this final design, the team spent it testing the first half of the code and looking for any faults or problems with the AEV that could be fixed, relatively quickly. During this lab the team completed the fist part of the code, that gets the AEV to the gate and also the 3D designed and printed part the team created was attached to the AEV.

Lab 8

Lab 8 marked the beginning of the end, as it started off the testing process. The team showed up to Performance Test 1 with two designs, Design A and Design B, the squad planned to test in order to ultimately choose the final design. Using eerily similar codes, the team ran each design on the track and gathered data for each design and run. Data that was then processed and to be analyzed later. Lab 8 was where the end began.

Lab 7

In lab 7 the team was allowed to test on the straight track in order to verify that the wheel count sensor system is working properly.  Also, the data collected while testing the AEV and from earlier test runs was used to calculate the Propeller Force and Friction Force of the AEV.  This was then used to calculate the net force.  The net force was reported to an UTA and the whole class’ data was collected and presented.  Also, error marks were calculated to see how accurate the data given was.  The team had to test the AEV on the straight track a few times before reasonable data was collected consistently.

Lab 2

In Lab 2 the squad tested the reflector sensors and their functionality. The group did this by making the most basic of Arduino codes to move the AEV along the track and gathered data. Well, that was the idea but due to complications, and matters better left unspoken, the team had to delay this testing to another day. Once, that magical day came upon the clique the data was obtained flawlessly through a meticulous procedure. The other aspect of Lab 2 was to test the different propellers in the wind tunnels. Guess what happened next? That’s right, the faction, along with every other divisions of engineers, was not able to actual participate in the acquiring of said data due to the fact that there are not enough wind tunnel machines per engineering gang the data was standardized for the entire class. While this may have provided each and every crew with valid empirical data, it brought down morale of each company because of productive actions taken by the squadrons was lacking. In the end, the fearsome fivesome hurdled the obstacles and finished strong down the stretch producing the best progress report to date as well as confirming the correct choice of propeller.

Lab 5

In lab 5 the team learned how to concept screen and score.  This method is used to reduce design ideas quickly and efficiently.  The group’s designs from previous labs were run through the test and the design that preformed the best was the one chosen.  Different weights were placed on categories that the group decided and the concept was scored this way.  The scores were recorded on an Excel spreadsheet.  This was done to quantitatively prove that the group’s final design was the most efficient of the bunch.

Lab 04

The team uploaded code to make AEV do a test run on the track. During the test run, the AEV recorded the data of its performance on the track. After the AEV finished the test run, the team uploaded the data into the Matlab to generate a excel file and used the data and the data_analysis tool in the Matlab to generate a graph of its power outputs. After acquired the AEV data, the team calculated the power outputs and inputs and its efficiency during running. These data would help the team to make the AEV run more efficiently. During the lab, the team did not have the time to do the wind tunnel test because of short of time.

Lab 3

Lab three’s focus was placed on creative design and group thinking.  The team was tasked with designing the AEV they would eventually test and compete against other groups.  Printed orthographic paper was used to help aid in this process, each member had to design an AEV.  The group then came together to compare and contrast the designs to limit it down to one design.  This design was then drawn orthographically, dimensioned and weighed.

Lab 1

Lab 1 involved getting to know the inner workings of arduino and how to connect the arduino to the desktop. The knowledge gained in this lab is crucial to understanding how the AEV will eventually run.  The code written on the desktop was written by Bowei and Alec.  Together they worked through the lab procedure and wrote the correlating code.  Meanwhile, Scott, Alex and Rishabh worked together to set up the arduino and propellers in a way conducive to the tasks laid out in the lab manual.  The battery was rented, the USB that connects the ardiuno was plugged in.  After the arduino was set up the code was run and the first task was successfully completed.  The team learned how to properly write the code and set up the arduino.  Basic knowledge is crucial to understanding the more complex parts of a project such as this.