Week 3 (Sept. 12, 2018): Refinement of Project Objectives
Today, Kevin, one of the team members
who worked on the small-scale track last year offered his advice and provided
more insight into what his team accomplished, what they learned, what problems
they faced, what they would have done differently, and possible suggestions.
While he mostly addressed concerns for the track team, it was valuable
information nonetheless, given that we would have to coordinate well with the
track team, as we cannot reuse the entire track from last semester. However,
Kevin also briefly discussed what the Small-Scale Controls Team last semester
went through, as he had to work closely with them. He stated that the Controls
Team had their work cut out for them, but they accomplished a lot: learning
Python to program the Linux application via Raspberry Pi, using the XBee RF
(Radio Frequency) module to interface the pod car with the app, and utilizing
an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) touchscreen as their GUI (Guided User
Interface), among their other tasks.
He then proceeded to show us a basic
overview of the main screen of the Android app, but he felt it would be more of
a Controls Team member’s duty to go into greater depth. Regarding the
differential drive system, he suggested looking into systems with gearing already
in place, as making the gear system ourselves can get complicated and make take
a long time to troubleshoot.
He also reiterated, to the Track Team, considering
using injection molding to remake the brackets, as this would produce sturdier
plastic pieces and would be more efficient time-wise. We will most likely also
have the new pod car injection molded, either via Protolabs, Dr. Furman’s
contact, or both.
Lastly, Kevin provided us with some
general, life-experience tips: the first step of the project should be to draft
up our project expectations and requirements, make a timeline, and perform
calculations; for small-scale motors, look into Chinse sellers, such as
Aliexpress; for manufacturing materials, look into OSH, as they are going out
of business. He also purchased a 3D printer, a fairly good one, at around $150,
and said we should consider getting one if a small piece is to be made and a
deadline is approaching; high-end 3D printers are $300.
Overall, Kevin was a tremendous wealth
of knowledge and experience for the entire Small-Scale Team, advice that we
considered and used to refine our project proposal ideas.
Please refer to our finalized project proposal, embedded
below.
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