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Quack Quack Boom

Sometimes, things just don't make sense

Good things come in threes

  • Loc Trinh - Course 6-2, 2018. Evil genius, makes pretty websites. Duck
  • Michael Feffer - Course 6-3, 2018. Swol, even moar websites. Duck
  • Ryan Gulland - Course 2, 2018. Builds racecars, shoots things, is a derp. Ostrich

Initial Deadlines

  • 1/7 - System prototype complete
  • 1/8 - Drunkbot (can move in the general forward), Cartoon CAD
  • 1/10 - CAD done for robot
  • 1/13 - Robot mechanically complete
  • 1/15 - Electrical completion
  • 1/22 - Can score
  • Competition - can win

Progress Updates

  • 1/6
    • ME: Prototype CAD, Kitbot cutting
    • EE: -
    • CS: Winbook & Teensy Setup (Tamproxy, etc)
  • 1/7 Loc Arrives!
    • ME: Completed System Prototype, Kitbot assembly
    • EE: Teensy breakout soldered
    • CS: Winbook & Teensy setup complete
  • 1/8 Design Review
    • ME: Cartoon CAD
    • EE: Basic wiring diagram complete, Kitbot sketchywired and can move
    • CS: Basic RGB detection & flood fill
    • Design review: CAD, kitbot, CV, robot concept and design
  • 1/10
    • ME: Contacted member of last 2015 Team 2, added elastically constrained funnel pannel
    • EE: Work on soldering parts
    • CS: Begin to integrate electronics
  • 1/13
    • ME: CAD complete, Camera dissected (3 days behind)
    • EE: Continue soldering and wiring
    • CS: Kitbot PID setup, LR IR sensors set up and tuned
  • 1/14
    • ME: Lasercutting strugglebus, why does everything cut only partway through?
    • EE: Continue soldering parts and wiring.
    • CS: Tune PID; work on computer vision
  • 1/15
    • ME: Laser Cutting complete, MDF skeleton fully assembled (2+ days behind), reorder derpy timing belt
    • EE: Start to move electronics to new robot.
    • CS: Assist with electronics move.
  • 1/18
    • ME:
    • EE: Motor controllers, battery, teensy, encoders wired, ready to start testing & PID on robot
    • CS: Begin to write code for sorting and conveyor
  • 1/19
    • ME: Added castor spacing to reduce motor slip, CAD and cut new sorter mount to increase floor clearance
    • EE: Robot name 'Defuser' coined after tripping main robot fuse 3 times, added individual motor fuses
    • CS: Continue working on CV.
  • 1/20
    • ME: Had to hex brooched a timing belt using a triangular file, mechE legitimacy at an all time low, completed intake roller assembly, begin testing
    • EE: Solder short-range IR sensors.
    • CS: Work on random movement code. Also calibrate short-range IR.
  • 1/21
    • ME: Added IR network and mount brackets, Ryan gets a haircut finally
    • EE:
    • CS: Begin to integrate separate code modules.
  • 1/22
    • ME:
    • EE: We are really good at frying things, also: never let Ryan touch a multimeter ever again
    • CS: Finish integrating separate code modules.
  • 1/25
    • ME: CAD, cut, and assembled camera mount bracket and stack release mechanism jam often, sorter tuning finalized <1% jams, robot intakes and fully cycles cubes for first time
    • EE: Make wiring pretty
    • CS: Start testing robot from winbook, add sorter jiggle code to eliminate misalignment
  • 1/26 Loc UPOP Starts
    • ME: Reduced intake jams by adding backplate, improved belt tensioner
    • EE: Added switches to turn on main loop and change primary color
    • CS: Robot scores points autonomously for first time (4 days behind)
  • 1/27
    • ME: Reducing band tension and motor power to decrease motor, replaced gaff tape with hot glue
    • EE: 3 More fuses down due to faulty motor
    • CS: Fixed errors and added ending stack release code
  • 1/28
    • ME: Finish hot gluing things, correct shaft clamping
    • EE: Wiring cleaned up
    • CS: New random algorithm implemented
  • 1/29 Competition
    • ME: Nothing broke!
    • EE: Nothing broke! Plus we got an award for prettiest wiring. Woot woot!
    • CS: Code bug during qualifiers caused our robot to spin in circles upon timout. Won first elimination match with a solid 13.5 points, second highest scoring team of the day! Our robot spun got caught spinning around in the starting corner as our vision range was too short and our random walk was biased in the wrong direction for the side of the field that we were on.

Final Summary We underestimated the amount of work this project would be on all fronts. Our strategy to build a robot capable of stacking the max amount possible by simply running into them succeeded in mechanical and electrical completion, but didn't give us enough time to fully test our robot and implement more advanced algorithms. If our team had another mechanical and computer member, we may have been able to stay on course better.