- Backwards Looking summary
Situation-
Lab 01 let us become familiar with the automatic control system hardware components; setup the AEV software; become familiar with the basic function calls in controlling the AEV; use the Arduino run and test the code, and become familiar with troubleshooting techniques. At first, we set up our equipment. Then we wrote the code according to the scenario 1 and compiled the code to make sure everything is alright. After that, we connected the equipment to computer and uploaded Arduino program to the AEV controller to the motors. We failed to upload the Arduino program at first but then we found that the problem was that we didn’t set anything right in Arduino. After we re-set the Ardunio the program ran smoothly and we had good test results
Results and Analysis-
the results showed us more about what all the functions do and how they work. We got an idea of how the motors accelerate and the type of power they produce. Along with this it was also noticeable that the motors didn’t exactly start right away or stop right away. For example when the program first started it was observed that the motors has to pass a friction point to actually start to spin which took some of the time that they were programmed to run for.
The more the programs were ran it became more apparent what problems this system would provide. Along with the motors not starting and stopping right away another major factor was breaking. When the brake command is used it simply just shuts down the motor and the AEV just coasts down the track. We saw this as a major limitation as the code is going to have to be adjusted to allow for the AEV to stop at the ends of the track and at the gate which could provide inaccurate stopping points. As our group noticed this we discussed possible ways to overcome this limitation with ideas like reversing the motors to slow it down quicker.
After seeing these limitations the results provided us with valuable information on the type of code we might want to create for our design and what we want our AEV to look like. Ideas of using a different propulsion system were also brought up to try and bypass the brake command. Overall these results showed us that we are going to have to tweak the code based on our design until we get the right commands to make our AEV complete its tasks while also ranking high on the criteria we are focusing on in our design.
Takeaways –
The take away from this lab was the learning of basic arduino functions and programming, general understanding of how the motors run and react to the program, and lastly what limitations will be presented throughout the project.
- Forward Looking Plan
situation-
Looking ahead to lab 02, the next focus will be the external sensors. The objective of this lab is to become familiar with the external sensor hardware and setup, become familiar with troubleshooting techniques, and learn program functions for the arduino code which can be found here. Before lab the constructed AEV with the sensors will need to be completed to be able to test the sensors. The last part of this lab will be loading and uploading the adrunio code to test the motors in the scenario given.
Goals –
Our goals for the upcoming week will be to finish all the deliverable and progress report for lab 1. Break up into roles on who will start to build the AEV, and who will focus more on the coding and the materials and cost of the AEV. Make sure there is a general understanding of all the code in Lab on and look over Pre-lab material for lab 02 so we all have a understanding of what to accomplish.
Weekly Schedule-
For this upcoming week we are scheduled to meet at Thompson library at 12pm on Sunday to finish reports for lab01 and go over lab02. Also Jack and Eli were assigned the task to build the prototype AEV design which will be completed. Additionally Nan was given the task to finish the coding from lab one and update the code to the website. Lastly Snigdha was given the task to update the websites deliverables and keep track of the budget for our preliminary designs.
- Appendix
Our team meeting notes can be found at this link.
The arduino code for this lab can be found here. Additionally the glossary for the ardunio code we have so far can be found here.