week 3

Meeting 10

by at
February 16, 2018
3:00 pm
Hitchcock Hall Room 214

Meeting Agenda:

  1. Complete Exploration 2 while learning about shaft encoding and line following
  2. Pick up ordered parts

Meeting Notes: 

Everyone was present. This meeting occurred during Exploration 2, where the team became familiar with the line following kit and shaft encoding using the Crayola bot. After setting up the robot and wiring the line following kit an motors to the proper ports, the group got readings for each of the optosensors for when it was on a line or the background of two different courses. After getting these readings, Dean started coding for the shaft encoding part of the exploration while Tom and Meghan started coding for the line following part of the exploration. Using the shaft encoding program template, Dean collected data on how many ticks on each motor were counted when the motors were programmed to move forwards for 6 inches. Based on the results, he realized that at higher motor powers, the motors would go past 6 inches and that the right motor would move 11% more than the left motor for the same power. After collecting the data and making the robot turn 90°, he tried to perform the required task of making the robot drive 14 inches, turn left 90°, drive 10 inches, turn right 90°, then drive 4 inches. During his first attempt, the robot did not drive the full 14 inches but did everything else perfectly, so he corrected the number of ticks and the robot succeeded during its second attempt.

For the line following part of the exploration, Tom and Meghan wrote a program that attempted to follow a straight and curved line using a line following kit.  At first it was unsuccessful as it did not follow the line.  However, after the group changed the ranges for the digital input from the line following kit, the Crayola bot successfully traveled on a straight line.  Next, for the curved line the group again changed the values of the ranges of the input, but the group was unsuccessful in following the curved line.  At this point, class was over, and the group decided to work on following the curved line in the following week.

Dean picked up the parts from the store that the team had previously ordered and put them in a clear container that Meghan brought to store the robot parts. The team had planned on meeting after this but realized that there is no open lab on Friday.

Future Actions: 

  1. Start building robot
  2. Order parts needed
  3. Set up Github

Meeting 9

by at
February 14, 2018
3:00 pm
Hitchcock Hall Room 214

Meeting Agenda:

  1. Order parts for robot
  2. Show SolidWorks mockup to Dr. Christy and GTA.

Meeting Notes:

Everyone was present. The meeting began with measurements of the course again. After this, the team members participated in a debate about which parts would best suit the robot they have envisioned. They came to the conclusion of using Vex motors and discussed how to fix the motors onto the robot. Meghan updated the schedule and added other tasks that needed to be completed. She also created a spreadsheet for the budget log and worked on the website. Tom showed the SolidWorks mock-up to Dr. Christy and explained its features. Dean came up with a list of materials needed for the first performance test. At the end of the meeting, Tom placed the order for the parts required.

Future Actions:

  1. Explore shaft encoding
  2. Pick up ordered parts

Meeting 8

by at
February 12, 2018
3:00 pm
Hitchcock Hall Room 214

Meeting Agenda:

  1. Get a start on drive train calculations
  2. Measure the course for getting an idea of the parts we need and for drive train calculations
  3. Work on the website
  4. Meet with Dr. Christy and Andy Urschel (GTA) about the Solidworks and cardboard mock ups, as well as the in-progress website

Meeting Notes:

Everyone was present. The team started the meeting with measurements of the course. The drive train calculations were completed two thirds of the way. Dean and Tom worked on ordering parts while Shyon worked on drive train calculations. Meghan worked on the website. Near the end of the meeting, the team met with Dr. Christy and the GTA about the website, the mock ups, and future plans. They complimented the team on the website and said that the ideas for the robot seemed feasible.

Future Actions: 

  1. Start building robot
  2. Order parts

Meeting 7

by at
February 11, 2018
8:00 pm
Bolz Hall Room 314

Meeting Agenda:

  1. Complete building the mock-up.

Meeting Notes: 

Everyone was present. The team met up to glue the pieces together. Upon arrival, they realized that they were missing a few of the major parts of the robot as described in the assignment, such as the motors and the place for the QR code. They added these parts, put the whole thing together, and Tom took it back to his dorm.

Future Actions: 

  1. Create SolidWorks mockup outside of class
  2. Get the website up and running and begin documenting on it
  3. Start drivetrain calculations