Latest revision as of 08:04, 13 January 2012

Matthew Guenette - Design Notebook

Digitization of physical notebook coming soon...

9/07/2011 Meetings will be Fridays from 5:00 pm to 6:00 pm

Possible Design Protocols:

Use RC Car as base. (motor driving rear wheels, basic steering control)

-Autonomous function?

  +complete a task
  +Arm with gripper
  +Paintball gun

-Web cam possible for user control -basic obstacle avoidance -Navigate a route

9/28/2011 Made block diagram

Webcam options:

  +Run through board
  +separate interface
  +Run to micro-controller boards (one for cameras, one for driving

Micro-controller selection:

  +Texas Instruments
  +ARM
  +Arduino
  +PIC
  +Beagleboard

09/30/2011

• Missed meeting due to Motorcycle Trip*

-Will get meeting notes from Jason

10/18/2011

Decided on Vehicle Platform: Tank

  +Simple Drive controls
  +Large (1' x 2.5')
     -Good for mounting electronics
  +Turret
     -Shoots airsoft pellets
     -Good mounting for webcam

Will buy two so as to tear apart one

  -Reminder:  Ask Dr. J about finances

10/19/2011

Got keycode, computer, and locker in ECE477 lab

10/21/2011

Components that need to be decided on:

  +Development board
     -What features do we need
  +wireless Tranceiver
  +sensors
     -What functionality goals do we have for this robo-tank
  +accelerometer
  +GPS module
     -Use google maps

10/25/2011

Couldn't make meeting (GRE) REMINDER: Catch up with Jason

10/28/2011

Missed meeting, broken ankle REMINDER: Email Dr. J

11/01/2011

VIP meeting

-Design presentation next week -WiFi interface

Website Design: Csharp vs Java

Disassembled Tank

  -ridiculously simple components
  -Plenty of room to put PCBs

Tank controller

 No variable speed

each control lever is actually a SPDT switch -if necessary, connect micro-controller to remote, quite simple

fixed broken controller

11/04/2011 Meeting

11/10/2011 Video Conference with Hong Kong

Met with team, discussed Hong Kong's ideas

-Motor controller -Hacked Wifi Module -Successfully sent serial data wirelessly over 802.11 network.

-Meetings will occur more often as semester winds down

Idea: Antennae Sensors Problem: push buttons as proximity sensors will require significant force, and very specific direction. May not prevent damage to tank

Solution: Antennae

                           I
                           I
                         ( I )

Conducting probe, rubber covered conductive base. That way, gentle taps will complete the circuit, notify the tank without it having to crash into things

11/11/2011

Design Review Presentation Met at 4, practice presentation

While researching components for ECE362, found superior IR sensor for our obstacle avoidance.

http://www.sparkfun.com/products/8959

11/15/2011 ECE 311 Exam - Couldn't attend meeting

11/17/2011 Skype meeting with Hong Kong -Discussed communication protocol -Start byte and end byte to certify purity of command packet

  +Status request?  (Vehicle returns status to user)
  +Specify request by sending packet with alternate start and end byte

-Set up dummy webpage to implement control designs

  Hong Kong using CGI script (Python)  for website control

11/18/2011 Weekly meeting -task: Determine final communication protocol

  -Checksum in Panda Board?

11/28/2011 Meeting -Camera working (slowly) -serial data successfully sent -worked on serial port transmission -Deciding on protocol

   -Checksum on panda board might be a bit excessive

12/01/2011 Teleconference -Agree on simple protocol -Use central server?

  ++ Collaboration
  -- Latency

Use website to send data to vehicle's control site, control that way -Decide on server setup by next week.

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