The date is: Fri Jan 29 12:09:56 MST 1999 Sean Banteah EE382 Week 1 Report January 29, 1999 Starting off the first week we decided to work on the fire fighting robot. We discussed on the wheel arrangement and decided to go with the differential drive arrangement with the optional spring caster. We also decided to break up the project into intervals on what we were going to try to concentrate our efforts on a weekly basis. Right now we decided to work on the H-bridges for the motor control and also work on the proximity sensors. This past week we also played around with the HC11 to get reacquainted with the functions. We found out that the best thing to do when it comes to the HC11 is to review the different commands from EE308. For next week we plan to continue to work on the motor control aspect of the project and also work on more of the sensor hardware. We will probably mount the casters on during this week. We also plan to order at least 3 of the D12 emitter/detector components. After the proximity sensors are figured out, the next step will be for two of us to start work on the fire sensor since that is the main sensor for the robot. The date is: Fri Feb 5 11:32:36 MST 1999 Sean Banteah Weekly Report#2 February 5, 1999 This week Najib and I continued to work on the H-bridges and tested their functions using a breadboard and function generator, while Tony worked on the software and Mohamed continued his search on the sensors. The tests ran fine so we proceeded to work on the PC board for the H-bridges. The board was completed on friday morning and will be tested for any mistakes on Saturday. We also continued our search for more information on sensors as well and decided on three proximity sensors, 2 photodiodes for the white line sensor and flame sensor. We also decided to change the motor platform since we ran into a little problem with stiction in the motors we previously had. Upon furthur tests the second platform seemed to run more smoothly than the first one so it was decided we would exchange platforms. Next week we plan to continue to design the circuitry for the proximity sensors(if necessary) and the white line sensor. Unfortunately we could not order the sensors last week but data sheets will be acquired in order to design the cirtuitry. If at all possible we will also begin construction of the PC board, time permitting. The date is: Fri Feb 12 12:12:19 MST 1999 This week we began our tests on the PC board for the H-bridge connections and found that the board works fine except for a little difficulty in hooking up the motor inputs to the board itself. We also began to work on the design of the amplifier for the wall sensors, and the fire sensors. We tested the GP2D12 on the oscilloscope and decided to order 2 more for the completion of the wall sensors for the robot. We are exploring using altera for the PWM control, currently we are trying to program the HC11 to do the PWM but we want to have a backup in case one fails. Next week we plan to try to get the amplifier working for the sensors and try to get the boards built for the sensors. We are also planning to start work on a separate board for stepping down the power for the various sensor power and ground connections. We will also be working on our preliminary design presentation for the 18th of February. The date is: Fri Feb 19 12:14:34 MST 1999 For this week we, Najib and I, worked on redesigning our H-bridge to run a little more efficiently and also began to design the various power strip boards for the separate 7.2V battery for our low power circuitry. We also began our search on different op amps and voltage regulators for our sensors. We also set aside some time for working on our presentation. Basically we divided up the presentation into small parts that each person could talk about. We also began our investigation into using Altera to take some of the load off of our HC11. Next week we plan to have the casters onto the robot chassis as well as the first cookie tin for our first layer. We plan to place our H-bridge board in some sort of aluminum casing in order to protect the circuitry. We also plan to have the program for the wall sensors up and running by thursday if not sooner. We will also begin to etch our power strip boards as well. The date is: Fri Feb 26 12:13:57 MST 1999 This week we experimented with the different angles that the proximity sensors need to be to act in the most efficient manner. We decided to use 2 proximity sensors aligned at 45 degrees and 1 sensor aligned along the center front of the robot. We also began the design of the amplifier circuits for the sensors. Najib an I also worked on and tested the voltage regulator for our low power electronics. We decided to wait on building the PC board for the low power components until we are sure everything that needs low power is tested and working so we can make a single board. Next week we plan to have our proximity sensors mounted onto a piece of plexiglass and also have the H-bridges bolted onto the bottom platform, along with the batteries. We hope to have the white line sensor mounted onto the chassis by the end of the week also. The PWM motor control will also be tested with the motors to see if the motors turn at different speeds. The date is: Sat Mar 6 16:13:16 MST 1999 This week we began the white line sensor using a phototransistor and a high output IR led. We also began and are currently in the process of testing two different flame sensor configurations. The one we have tested first on thurwday gave good information from about 6ft to about half a foot. I also finished installing the wheels, both the fixed swivel caster and the caster with the suspension system, along with the H-Bridge housing and the battery. Next week we plan to build the boards for the white line sensor the 2 flame sensors and also find the best configuration for the proximity sensors. We decided to use 4 wall sensors instead of 3 so modifications in our plans need to be taken care of. Along with building the boards we will also looking for some kind of housing for the circuits. The date is: Fri Mar 12 12:07:28 MST 1999 This week we basically finalized the designs for our sensors as far as the mid semester requirements were concerned. We finished the work on the flame sensor and chose the best configuration of our two designs. We also finished the white line sensor and decided to package that baby up over the spring break. We are also planning to have the flame sensor packaged also along with the interface board. The other thing we did this week was basically make a game plan for the spring break because we know that everyone wants to take a couple days off from work to relax. Next week we plan to have the sensors packaaged the motor control working and the encoder giving information back to the HC11 by means of the frequency to voltage. The main thing we need to focus on is the motor control and the sensor programs since the sensors themselves are now operating. The date is: Thu Apr 1 15:27:28 MST 1999 This week we basically began the work on building the boards for the FVC and the MOSFET switch for the fan motor. I also constructed the levels of our robot out of plexi-glass and mounted the fan motor along with the white line sensor onto the chassis. I plan to have the primary fire sensor onto the chassis by Monday or Tuesday. We still have to perfect the positioning of the proximity sensors, but plan to have them on the shassis on Tuesday. For next week we plan to test out the motor control along with the wall following control code. We also plan to have the 5v regulated boards on board as well to supply power to all the sensors. The date is: Fri Apr 9 12:07:17 MDT 1999 This week we worked on the PC board for the frequency to voltage converters and the motor switch. I also worked on the cones that we will house the flame sensors in. For the flame sensor in the front we will use a black cone with a slit opening and for the rotating flame sensor we will use a parabolic cone with a reflective surface inside the parobolic cone. Next week we plan to test out the control code to carry out the wall following routine. We also plan to have the encoders give the correct feedbacd to have the PWM vary from slow to fast speeds. The date is: Fri Apr 30 11:46:24 MDT 1999 This week we mainly focused our attention on fixing the FVC problem but we still could not get it at 100% working capability. For some reason the FVC's read the incoming signal some of the time but at other times it just seems like it doesn't want to work. We thought it may be some sort of loose connection somewhere but when we checked the connections there were no loose wires. The other thing we worked on this week was the slides for the final presentation. For next week we plan to fix the FVC and move on to perfecting the wall following program. As for the flame program we will have to see if we have enough time to get that working also. The date is: Thu May 6 16:07:18 MDT 1999 This week we Tony and I basically worked ourselves to the bone trying to get the wall following working. I also worked on making the robot's appearance a little bit cleaner. All the connecttons were made a little more reliable. We really wanted to have nice connectors for everything but we didn't think about ordering them because until everything worked we weren't sure what to order. For next week we plan to study for finals and have the final paper ready for tuesday.