Team Five/Journal

Revision as of 17:01, 22 January 2013

Jan 7--We went through the kit and started work on the Pegbot. Considered the thought of stacking the pegboards to create two levels, one for the laptop and the other for other components.

We also looked at the scoring boxes and updated our strategy after learning you can only score with your own balls and the only balls on your side to start are your own.

We saw that the boxes make it hard to "shoot" the balls to score. We got the Pegbot to move!

Jan 8--We attached an IR sensor to our arduino which allowed us to turn away from obstacles in the playing field.

We also decided to create a second level of pegboard to give us a place to mount our computer.

We spent some time cleaning up wiring from yesterday and figuring out the sizes of all the components so we can start planning where these would fit best on our final robot.

We set up GitHub and spent some time thinking about and implementing our existing software on our laptop.

We spent some time at the end of the day thinking about a reliable deployment scheme.

Jan 9--A slow day. We spent time finishing dimensioning parts for our final CAD.

We also set up a firm schedule for the remainder of MASlab, agreed on our final design and decided upon a high-level software design.

We didn't change anything on our pegbot.

We spent time refining our vision software, which works on our personal computers, but not the lab computer yet.

We met with the staff and discussed our plans.

Lots of work in the coming days likely.

Now that we have it, here's our schedule:

Jan 10-- Yesterday we decided upon a final mechanical design in principle.

We uploaded diagrams of our design and started CADing smaller components so we can easily include them in our final CAD.

We researched our problem of not being able to communicate between the webcam, computer, and the arduino

Something funny happened, DanO plugged his computer into the arduino and it started moving. Hope that doesn't mess anything up.

Ariel's been working on optimizing the vision software so it will work reliably at any height without compromising speed.

Jan 11 -- Today we decided upon our Mock 1 strategy (super secret)

we successfully communicated between the camera, computer and arduino.

We're working on making sense of IMU input for positioning and accelerometer data.

We're getting the entire robot CADed so we can start construction this weekend.

We're also starting to think about things like optical encoders, drivetrain, and overall robot shape.

Our software is in good shape, so we're trying to work out issues with mechanical and electrical design.

We made a python-to-java socket which allows our java library to communicate with the arduino via PySerial

Got Checkoffs 3 and 4 Boom Got-em.

WEEKEND Jan 12 -- Today we started late, but we have made good progress so far.

We're making some decisions now regarding which programming language to use for our software.

Right now, we're seeing a tradeoff between latency and throughput with each language, but some give us better values for both.

Yesterday, we soldered the IMU together and are getting great, reliable data for the gyro and the accelerometer, although compass data hasn't been so great.

We're CADing our final design now which we agreed upon yesterday. Maybe these will come up here, maybe not.

We made a trip to the home depot for some materials which we can machine tomorrow. We're hoping to god that we can get everything we need for mock 1.

Jan 13 -- Lab Closed.

We worked from home on design problems, lots of cad. Anticipating mock 1 tomorrow

We went to Home depot and got necessary materials for the hull of our new robot.

Not much else today

Jan 14

MOCK 1

We spent this morning porting code so our vision would run faster.

We massively cleaned up wiring and moved the battery closer to the wheels which massively helped our motors.

We participated in Mock 1.

We want to have a complete physical robot very soon.

Jan 15 -- Today we stayed up late completing our full CAD of our robot.

We figured out a final deployment strategy

We visited a junkyard to try to find parts/inspiration to no avail.

We had a half-team meeting over Raising 'Canes across from Agannis Arena

We Tried to start building, but edgerton shop was closed.

Jan 16 -- Today we went into lab to figure out our strategy for Mock 2, specifically pertaining to mapping.

We built a mini playing field back at home base to do our own testing.

We FINALLY laser cut our base and mounts, so construction will begin later today!

We didn't get a chance to mill our wheel mounts today.

We brought all our materials home, and plan to work from there full-time.

Jan 17

We had to re-cut our base because some of the parts didn't fit well.

We spent today making our screw lift and mounting our electronics.

We made most of our mounts out of velcro. We're expecting to have use this as just a temporary fix.

We stayed up all night building our robot.

Jan 18

We woke up early to fix the caster wheels and fix our collection mechanism.

We participated in Mock II, however unsuccessfully. (Third Place)

We're planning on taking a break from the robot for a few days after this.

WEEKEND Jan 19-21

We spent the beginning of the weekend CADing a new design. The last one was a total failure.

We COMPLETELY altered our collection/lifting/storing mechanism

We changed where we're keeping our computer

We made our robot ever so slightly bigger. We'll have approx. 5 ball storage.

We re-cut the entire base and started building late Monday

Jan 22 -- Up early and building in the lab.

New wiring scheme, huge breadboard.

We spend time in the shop milling our last parts.

Huge construction push this morning so we can start prototyping.