Progress Report 1

Group D — Paul Crock, Joshua Dakwar, Alicia Sanders, Megan Sanders

Progress Report 1

Instructor — Richard Busick, GTA — Ben Richetti

2/14/2019

 

Report of Progress

 

Situation

The duration of the first meeting was spent becoming familiar with the hardware components of the automatic control system and setting up the AEV software. Before taking on the responsibility of designing and building an AEV of our own, a simple design with room for improvement was built and tested. The first run of the AEV, Scenario 1 (Appendix A), was programmed and uploaded and the AEV’s propellers performed as expected based on the code that was implemented. Resistance was observed at the start of the program when the motor rotated the propellers at low speeds.

 

The goal of the second meeting was to become familiarized with the AEV’s external sensor hardware components. Function calls that would test the performance of the AEV’s reflectance sensors were programmed and uploaded to the Arduino. During testing, it was realized that the commands used to control the AEV may limit its success. The commands in the program have a time frame allotted for each function call; however, the propellers on the AEV are not able to make immediate changes. For example, when applying the brake command, the AEV will not be able to stop right away since the propellers will keep spinning due to inertia.

 

The goals set for the third meeting was to become acquainted with MATLAB-based design analysis tools, to conduct performance analyses of AEV operations, and to learn how to export plots for reports. A second test code (Appendix B) was written and uploaded to the AEV and was performed on a straight track. It was noticed that the AEV leaned to one side while resting on the track. A delay was also observed in the activation of the AEV’s propellers once the program was started. These issues were taken into consideration when constructing designs for an improved AEV. After completion of the test run, the AEVDataExtraction function was called in MATLAB, which downloaded the Arduino EEPROM data and saved it to an Excel file. This data was then used to generate a Power vs. Time plot in MATLAB (Appendix D).

 

During the fourth meeting, numerous topics were discussed which involved the design and construction of our individual AEVs. First, the focus was on finding ways to improve creativity as well as recognize obstacles to creativity. Next, components in the AEV kit were reviewed, which allowed us to brainstorm and generate ideas on possible AEV concepts for our individual sketches. The basics of orthographic drawings were also covered during this team meeting to ensure that we had the information needed to produce satisfactory sketches of possible AEV designs. Techniques for design decision making were then reviewed to become familiar with a structured method to screen and score individual AEV design concepts. These concept screening and scoring methods were performed using the sample AEV as a baseline reference (Appendix E.1 & E.2). Our group chose to screen and score the AEV designs in five different categories; weight distribution, overall weight, appearance, durability, and cost. We agreed that each of these categories were important. For example, the AEV’s weight needs to be evenly distributed so that it stays on the track, a lower weight will make the AEV faster, and we would like our AEV to be aesthetically pleasing. An AEV that is not easily damaged is also preferable, and the cost of materials needed to create the AEV is important to consider since we are working on a budget. For the pros and cons of each individual design, please see Appendix E.1 & E.2.

 

 

Result and Analysis

After building and testing the AEV, reflectance sensors were installed in order to perform a reflectance sensor test, which would be used to keep track of the AEV’s movement on the monorail. An issue was encountered at this point, which caused the Serial Monitor to show all 1s on the screen. This error set our progress back a full day before we discovered that one of the three-prong plugs was not oriented with the white wire facing the Arduino mini-USB connection. Once this was corrected, the reflectance sensor test completed successfully and correct reads were given on the AEV’s movement, both backward and forward, based on the number of wheel marks counted by the sensor. Although this problem halted progress for a full lab period, it served as an important lesson to pay attention to the detailed instructions that are given. It was noted in the lab documents to pay close attention to the orientation of the wires upon installation, but that note was overlooked.

 

Takeaways

 

  • Paying close attention to lab instructions is crucial in order to avoid setbacks
  • Resistance is observed when the motor rotates the propellers at low speeds
  • Although our programmed code uploaded to the Arduino has specific start and stop times for the AEV, the propellers require extra time to speed up or slow down due to inertia
  • After testing the AEV on the track, we noticed that it leaned to one side. When making our individual AEV designs, we will take this flaw into consideration.
  • Creativity is important in the development of the individual AEV designs. Techniques such as documenting progressand brainstorming help promote creative design thinking.
  • We decided to screen and score our individual AEV designs against the sample AEV based on weight distribution, overall weight, appearance, durability and cost.

 

 

Future Work

 

Situation

The next task for the group is to present a Grant Proposal to the Smart City Team. We will inform the Smart City Team of our chosen AEV design and the reasons why our design is a great candidate for a grant award.

 

Upcoming Goals

Our goal is to be awarded one of three grants by the Smart City Team. We will then use the grant money to help cover the cost of custom parts for our AEV. We will also continue to update our team website after each meeting and begin constructing a new AEV.

 

Upcoming Schedule

02/14/19 at 11:10 AM – Paul will present the Grant Proposal to the Smart City Team.

 

 

Appendix

 

Appendix A.1: First code for practicing using commands, and uploading to Arduino:

//Run all motors at a constant speed of 25% power for 2 seconds
motorSpeed(4,25);
goFor(2.0);
//Run all motors at a constant speed of 20% and using the goToAbsolutePosition function travel a total distance of 12 feet
motorSpeed(4,20);
goToAbsolutePosition(98);
brake(4);
//Reverse motors
reverse(4);
//Run all motors at a constant speed of 30% power for 1.5 second
motorSpeed(4,30);
goFor(1.5);
//Brake all motors
brake(4);

 

Appendix A.2: Test code for second run:

STRAIGHT TRACK

//1.Accelerate all motors from start to 25% in 3 seconds.

celerate(4,0,25,3);

//2.Run all motors at a constant speed (25% power) for 1 second.

motorSpeed(4,25);

goFor(3.0);

//3.Run all motors at 20% power for 2 seconds.

motorSpeed(4,20);

goFor(2.0);

//4.Reverse all motors.

reverse(4);

//5.Run all motors at a constant speed (25% power) for 2 second.

motorSpeed(4,25);

goFor(2.0);

//6.Brake all motors.

brake(4);

 

Appendix B.1: Individual AEV Design #1

 

Appendix B.2: Individual AEV Design # 2

 

Appendix B.3: Individual AEV Design #3

 

 

Appendix B.4: Individual AEV Design #4

 

 

Appendix C: Team Meeting Notes/Minutes

 

Meeting #1

Date: 01/10/19

Time: 11:10 AM – 12:30 PM

Place: Hitchcock Hall

Results: Team became familiarized with the AEV project and created a website.

Meeting #2

Date: 1/17/19

Time: 11:10 AM – 12:30 PM

Place: Hitchcock Hall

Results: Built the sample AEV, coded tests, and tried to run reflectance sensor tests, but encountered issues. We were unable to run the tests successfully during this meeting.

Meeting #3

Date: 1/31/19

Time: 11:10 AM – 12:30 PM

Place: Hitchcock Hall

Results: Conducted reflectance sensor tests, developed code to test the AEV on a straight track, uploaded the code to the AEV and performed the test. Observed the AEV leaning on the track and noticed a delay in the movement of the propellers once code was activated.

Meeting #4

Date: 2/07/19

Time: 11:10 AM – 12:30 PM

Place: Hitchcock Hall

Results: Brainstormed possible AEV concepts for individual sketches. The basics of orthographic drawings were covered during this team meeting to ensure that we would be able to produce satisfactory sketches for the AEVs.

 

Appendix D: Energy vs Time & Energy vs Distance Figures & Tables

 

**Coming soon — due to issues encountered with the reflectance sensor test, we were not able to obtain the information needed in time for this progress report**

 

Appendix E.1: Concept Screening Matrix

Appendix E.1 shows the rating given to each individual AEV design against the sample AEV. A plus sign signifies that the AEV in that column was rated higher than the sample AEV in the criteria listed in that row. On the other hand, a minus sign means that the AEV’s feature was found to be less favorable than the sample AEV’s. Finally, a zero shows that the AEV in that column is comparable to the sample AEV for the criteria in that row.

 

 

 

Appendix E.2: Concept Scoring Matrix

Appendix E.2 above is taking each success criteria from Appendix E.1 and giving them a weight of importance with all criteria adding up to 100%. Then, using the sample AEV as a reference, each design is given a rating on a scale of 0-5 points for each success criteria. The weighted score is calculated by taking the rating multiplied by the weight as a decimal. Finally, the weighted score for each design is totaled to determine which two designs are best.