Tinkering and rethinking
14/9/18
Today we identified that a need existed to pull the project together, ahead of the Tuesday hand-in date (4 days away). Max continued work on the presentation, while Nathan and Josh made some adjustments to the Ultrasonic program. Following some field testing, Josh and Nathan concluded that the sensor field needed to be shortened, following the detection of objects about 1 metre in the distance. They also concluded that further adjustment of the response mechanism was needed, with the reverse movement in response to object detection nowhere to be seen. We also concluded that the turning mechanism needed improvement. The sensor range was reduced from 75 centimetres to 5 centimetres. We tested again, however noticed no improvement in the detection of objects, with a previously over reactive sensor now not reacting at all to objects placed in even the immediate vicinity. Following this, the range was changed again, this time to 10cm. A reversing function was added to the program and the turning mechanism code was also improved. The robot now reacted much better to it's surroundings, sensing objects and reacting to them, however we noticed that the robot was reversing too far before attempting the turn. This was remedied by reducing the time reversing. The robot was tested again, with the sensing and reversing functions now performing well. An issue with the turning mechanism was noticed however, with the robot not completing turns to the desired extremity. It was identified that the back wheels were the likely the issue, with the thick, double tires being too stiff and not reacting to turns properly, as well as steering the robot incorrectly. It was resolved that one tire would be removed, and a single tire remaining for stability only. The adjustment was undertaken and the design of the back wheels completely redesigned to hopefully reduce it's affect on the direction of the vehicle. We were unable to test the effectiveness of this modification however, with the lesson ending just as the modification was completed.
Aside from testing and design adjustments, Max was making progress on the presentation. Images were added, and further text explaining the design of the robot was added. It was resolved that Max would continue to work on the presentation before the Tuesday due date.
Today we identified that a need existed to pull the project together, ahead of the Tuesday hand-in date (4 days away). Max continued work on the presentation, while Nathan and Josh made some adjustments to the Ultrasonic program. Following some field testing, Josh and Nathan concluded that the sensor field needed to be shortened, following the detection of objects about 1 metre in the distance. They also concluded that further adjustment of the response mechanism was needed, with the reverse movement in response to object detection nowhere to be seen. We also concluded that the turning mechanism needed improvement. The sensor range was reduced from 75 centimetres to 5 centimetres. We tested again, however noticed no improvement in the detection of objects, with a previously over reactive sensor now not reacting at all to objects placed in even the immediate vicinity. Following this, the range was changed again, this time to 10cm. A reversing function was added to the program and the turning mechanism code was also improved. The robot now reacted much better to it's surroundings, sensing objects and reacting to them, however we noticed that the robot was reversing too far before attempting the turn. This was remedied by reducing the time reversing. The robot was tested again, with the sensing and reversing functions now performing well. An issue with the turning mechanism was noticed however, with the robot not completing turns to the desired extremity. It was identified that the back wheels were the likely the issue, with the thick, double tires being too stiff and not reacting to turns properly, as well as steering the robot incorrectly. It was resolved that one tire would be removed, and a single tire remaining for stability only. The adjustment was undertaken and the design of the back wheels completely redesigned to hopefully reduce it's affect on the direction of the vehicle. We were unable to test the effectiveness of this modification however, with the lesson ending just as the modification was completed.
Aside from testing and design adjustments, Max was making progress on the presentation. Images were added, and further text explaining the design of the robot was added. It was resolved that Max would continue to work on the presentation before the Tuesday due date.
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