Weekly Minutes (12-11-2013)

LightSeeker2000

Meeting Minutes

December 12, 2013

 

I.      Call to order

Kenneth Amici called to order the regular meeting of the LightSeeker2000 at 2:00pm on December 11, 2013 at Mechanical Engineering Lab.

II.      Roll call

Andre D’Entremont conducted a roll call. The following persons were present: Nausherwan Kahn, Kenneth Amici, and Andre D’Entremont

III.      Approval of minutes from last meeting

Andre D’Entremont read the minutes from the last meeting. The minutes were approved as read.

IV.      Open issues

a)      Using an H Bridge to turn the motor on and off

V.      New business

a)      Andre D’Entremont took the H Bridge home with him and used his Arduino set to setup the configuration of an H Bridge and a DC Motor. He was not able to get the H Bridge to properly control the DC Motor using the tutorial from http://itp.nyu.edu/physcomp/Labs/DCMotorControl (as recommended by Professor Sullivan).

b)      Some of the wheels have been printed out

c)      The final robot will be finished by the deadline. The code is done but we cannot get the motor to turn on and off without having it directly connected to the breadboard (which cannot be done due to power restrictions). Not all the parts are going to be printed but enough to show the setup that would be used for the complete robot.

VI.      Adjournment

Kenneth Amici adjourned the meeting at 3:00pm.

Minutes submitted by:  Andre D’Entremont

Minutes approved by:  Kenneth Amici

 Photos:

 

The two left wheels are the drive wheels (the wheels that will connect with the DC Motors). The other four are part of the total twelve wheels that connect to the track and are used to give shape and motion to the tank.

 

 

This is the links of the track connected to the wheel. Ultimately there will be seven sets of wheels (fourteen total, twelve support wheels and two drive wheels). This would provide motion to the robot. The code is set to turn the robot by determining which side has more light and rotate in that direction. When the photo sensors are within the threshold set in the code, the robot will continue forward motion. The tracks will be coated with a form of adhesive material and ensure traction over all surfaces.

Weekly Meeting (12-6-2013)

LightSeeker2000

Meeting Minutes

December 6, 2013

I.      Call to order

Ken Amici called to order the regular meeting of the LightSeeker2000 at 12:30pm on December 6, 2013 at M.E. Design Lab.

II.      Roll call

Andre D’Entremont conducted a roll call. The following persons were present: Andre D’Entremont, Kenneth

III.      Approval of minutes from last meeting

Andre D’Entremont read the minutes from the last meeting. The minutes were approved as read.

IV.      Open issues

a)      The different photo sensors are not making too much of a problem when the difference gap was changed in the code.

b)      Still need to solder the connections to the DC motor

c)      When the code was saved, it does not seem to be calibrating anymore and therefore will not be added to the project.

d)     Ken will still be printing the tracks at his house with files he found online.

e)      We will not be using a servo motor hack.

f)       Some materials from last meeting were purchased and will be applied.

V.      New business

a)      Went to talk to Professor Sullivan to get assistance on getting two motors to run on a board. He gave us an H Bridge and pointed us to a website that gives a step by step process of wiring an H Bridge. Still need more experience hooking up the motor, have not had success setting this up.

b)      We will be crimping the photo sensors to lengthening the connections and have them separated outside the body of the robot.

c)      Our pieces have been collected and measurements look good to be put together.

d)    Someone from the group will be taking the motor and H Bridge over the weekend and setting up the exact circuit instructed online. Once the motor proves to work, the code will be looked at and adjusted if necessary.  

VI.      Adjournment

Ken Amici adjourned the meeting at 1:35pm.

Minutes submitted by:  Andre D’Entremont

Minutes approved by:  Kenneth Amici

Photos:

Left: This is one side of the robot. There are two pieces that were made that will be attached to either side of the platform (right). The platform has screw holes measured to match the screw holes of the arduino board.

This was our first attempt of using the H Bridge. We were not successful turning the motor on.