Weekly Log Sept 29- Oct 6

We have been in contact with Matthew Carter, the manufacturing graduate student, about design specificities of the robot. We will meeting with him on Fridays to go over any design changes and to discuss other things about the robot. The vehicle will be 2’ by 3’. The robot will have 2-3 ultrasonic or infrared sensors that will be able to move horizontally. The Arduino Pixy will be able to be adjusted in the vertical position. The robot will feature differential drive. The front wheels will rotate freely while the rear wheel will be driven by the motors.

Lonnie Pope has not gotten back to us with the circuit diagram but we will be meeting on Monday to talk about the equipment he will be donating to us. With the specifications of the motors and the wheels, it will be easier to create the base for the robot. We will have to plan out a spot to put all of the electronics so that they will not interfere with the driving and maneuverability of the robot. The electronics will most likely sit in a box that will be able to be removed easily. The use of connectors will also be implemented for the sensors and motors so that we will not have to remove all wires every time we want to adjust something.

This week we completed a Solidworks model for our test base. We had to create this model because the base previously had a circuit board that is much bigger than the Arduino Mega we will be used. There were columns that the previous board screwed into that put it above the wheels. We created the model to be the same dimensions of the previous board with the screw holes in the same spot so it will be simple to change out. We also added in the screw holes for the new Arduino so it will screw directly on top of the model we created.