The date is: Sat Jan 30 13:12:47 MST 1999 01/29/99 This week, our group did some research regarding sensors, and the components needed to build sensor boards. We figured that each sensor board could be built using a 555 timer, an infared LED, an infared detector, and an op-amp. The op-amp will be used to amplify the signal coming off of the infared detector so that it will be at an appropriate voltage for the A/D converter of the HC11. We designed schematics for the circuit as a whole, and designed the amplifier circuits as well. Also this week, we researched connector information, as we are looking for a method to draw signals off of the HC11's 120 pin bus. We have already decided on a basic configuration for our wheel layout. We will have the differential drive system with two appropriately spaced smaller wheels for support. In addition to this, I spent considerable effort deriving pages worth of pulse-width modulation calculations, including the simple interface (we will use Altera for PWM), the inner workings (input clock and how it relates to output clock), and percentage error that will be acceptable. Next week, we plan to spend more time finishing up these prototypes. We will hopefully have a working sensor board in our hands by the end of the week. We will also meet with the workers in the instrument room to get thick wire that we can solder onto our battery. By Monday, I also hope to get together with the rest of the group to finalize the PWM settings and get the Altera device coded. By the end of this week, I am hoping to have a prototype PWM circuit functioning as well. Ben Silva The date is: Fri Feb 5 17:04:16 MST 1999 This week we further pursued the pulse width modulation algorithms. I decided that it would be best for us to come up with a dynamic design, that could we could change to provide increased accuracy as the duty cycle varied. I calculated pages of charts and equations to determine how exactly this would be implemented. We are hopefully now close to a PWM prototype. We also got a prototype of a sensor built. We tuned, tweaked, and finally redesigned the amplifier. We also thought about how to do our presentation next week. Next week, we will hopefully prototype a PWM circuit, and maybe finalize the amplifier. We have been looking at the H-Bridge stuff, and a theoretical design has been made up. Next week will hopefully be very productive. Ben Silva The date is: Fri Feb 12 15:32:21 MST 1999 2/12/99 This week, we finished up the Altera PWM stuff. We would have wired it up, but we needed to order some slightly larger devices. It has been simulated, and seems to work. We also designed the basic H-Bridge board layout. Some initial footprinting was done, and we hope to get one of these boards up and running. As for the presentation next week, we have divided tasks, and all is running smoothly. We got in the new GP2D12 sensors, and did some preliminary work with those also. Next week, we plan to do some more extensive testing on the sensors, and hopefully our parts will come in so that we can start prototyping. Also next week, we hope to begin the HC11 coding. Presentation Thursday will hopefully give us additional ideas to ponder next week. Ben The date is: Fri Feb 19 00:10:28 MST 1999 This week, we finalized the details of our presentation. We made up powerpoint slides and practiced a few times. Thursday, we gave our presentation, and listened to all the other groups' presentations. Aside from this, we did not accomplish very much this week. Next week, we hope to take some data from our sensors. I have written a program for the HC11 that will output the voltage received from the A/D port. We will use this program to test our sensor response. Next week, we also hope to be familiar enough with Protel that we can start some preliminary board design. That is about all to report this week. Ben The date is: Thu Feb 25 17:37:19 MST 1999 Weekly Report 2/26/99 This week, we built a prototype line sensor. It worked so well that we are going to use it in our final design. I recoded the altera PWM stuff, and was able to fit the entire scheme into one 7064 device. We also fit the base with a castor wheel. We built a plexiglass block to fit the sensors on. Many parts have been ordered. Next week, hopefully the parts will come in so that we can build up some more boards, namely the H-Bridge/PWM board. After these boards are completed, we will be able to make our robot go. We will also take some data from the sensors next week. We are also testing fan motors for fire extinquishing. The date is: Sun Mar 7 18:18:44 MST 1999 This week was very productive for us. We printed a circuit board for our H-bridges and PWM Altera device. All the components were soldered on this board, and it was tested. Friday afternoon, we got it all to work!! We got lots of parts in this week, and prototyped the frequency to voltage converters and amplifiers. I also wrote some preliminary code this week. I wrote the Altera interface, and touched up the A/D interface code. Next week, we plan to build up the complete sensor/amplification board, and write a little more code. Also, we will try find a suitable fire sensor. Our phototransistor solution did not work up to specs, so we are still hunting for a phototransistor. The date is: Fri Mar 12 11:21:55 MST 1999 This week, we got our sensor board prototyped and all major components soldered on. We have not tested as of yet, but we are very hopeful that it will work. Our motor controller board worked last Friday, but it does not work anymore. We think that we have fried 2 altera devices already which is not good since they are $10 parts. We built two different fire sensors, and got good sensitivity out of both of them. Next week is spring break, so I will hopefully get a lot done. I will start writing the basic wall following code, and sensor interface code this week, as well as basic turning algorithms. Most people are going to take spring break off, but we need to get some stuff done! Ben The date is: Fri Apr 2 13:02:31 MST 1999 This week, we finished making all the connectors that we are going to need on our final robot. We also got in our frequency to voltage converters and our battery to run digital logic. We are getting very, very close to motion at this point. Hopefully, by the end of next week we will have closed loop and wall following. Next week, we will work on code. Now that all the hardware is pretty much done, the coding can begin. We already have a lot of code, but we definitely need to troubleshoot and the like. Next week, we will aim at closed loop and wall following Ben The date is: Fri Apr 9 13:07:38 MDT 1999 I know that this statement is getting used an awful lot lately, but here it is again. This week, we made a whole lot of progress. After spending the entire 3 day weekend and a good part of Monday trying to fix our PWM board, we decided to scrap it and start afresh. We decided to snag the HC12 that I have since I'm the TA of 308 this semester, and interface that to our HC11 for PWM. This method is a copout and it is pathetic, but we couldn't get the other board to work. Now that we are using the HC12 for PWM, everything is working beautifully. We got our closed loop motor control working as well as left wall following. For us to have any chance at all at competing at nationals, we will be working feverishly next week to get everything else done. We need to get our 90 and 180 degree turn functions working, and we then need to get our flame suppression system, etc. all going as well. It will be a busy week next week, but we are all very encouraged since our progress after getting the HC12 has gone so smoothly. Ben The date is: Fri Apr 23 11:33:27 MDT 1999 After our rather disappointing run at nationals, we were pretty bummed this week. We were happy that we qualified, but we were discouraged because the lighting there messed us up. We also didn't feel like doing much because Ben and Dave were in such a bad state after the trip. They didn't get much sleep, and went through quite a bit of crap on the return flights. This week, after we got our robot back, we returned it to it's original configuration and got it finding the candle in all of the rooms. We can extinguish the candle in the first and second room no problem, and we have yet to test the 3rd and 4th rooms. Next week, we plan on just tweaking some minor things in preparation for the school contest. We will also plan out our presentation and start writing the paper as well. We are almost done with this semester!!! The date is: Fri Apr 30 13:58:53 MDT 1999 This was a slow week. We pretty much only worked on our presentation. We also tried to get our robot to go home. We had limited success. We'll try to get it to work by tomorrow. Next week, we will work on our paper. After this weekend, the robot stuff is all done. ben The date is: Fri May 7 13:17:23 MDT 1999 This week all we did was lay out our paper. We prepared for the functionality review, and other than that, nothing was done. Next week, we will finish the paper and hand it in. Not much else can be said! No more weekly reports make me very happy