User:Neilp/enes100/arduinomotorcontrol

Problem/project Goal
3:45pm 10/18/12 NP We have concluded that none of us are properly experienced with Arduino to be able to write a comprehensive tutorial. We decided to split up the work load accordingly. But first all of us need to learn the basics.

My First Task
I looked through many tutorials, some on the Arduino website, some on it's forums.

The main page for tutorials Arduino Tutorials had a full list of things to do. I started learning the basics so I could have a proper foundation moving forward.

The forums on the Arduino website Arduino Forums lead to about 1000 unanswered questions by people just like me. Some of the questions however provide a full code that needs tweaking in order to work. Members have replied fixing the code and stating what they did to make it work. This is really helpful because it is essentially a versatile tool for me to use when I'm stuck with writing the code.

Summary of actual work over first weekend
10/22/12 12:22 NP

Over the first weekend I learned the basics of Arduino coding. It was actually very interesting to see what kind of things could be done with the code. It was a lot more than I imagined. I also continued to look through tutorials on other websites, some including Ladyada Arduino Tutorial in order to make sure I'm prepared for whatever I need to do this week.

Week1 Narrative
When we presented today, Mr. Edelen outlined the specifics we must accomplish with our tutorial.

These include:

-Focusing on motors, and being able to write a tutorial for Servo motors, Brushless DC motors, and Steppers.

-These tutorials must not be specific to any project, and anyone should be able to read them and write a tutorial from scratch for anything they need it for.

-Be able to reverse engineer code, and break it down from the start up explaining every step involved in making the finished product.

My Second Task
This week I am going to be working on the Stepper motor. I have got the basics down so I will start attempting to write code and record all of my problems so that I can explain them for future reference.

Week 3 Narrative
October 27th 2012 5:42pm NP

Today I continued my research on Stepper motors. Mr. Edelen pointed out in class we should also outline the fundamental differences between all three motors we are using, and give a brief summary of each.

I looked on many sites for info, and based off of physical appearance alone, it is almost impossible to tell them apart. The shell of all three motors is generally the exact same. I am now currently looking into ways to tell them a part if they were to be split open.

October 30th 2012 9:48pm NP

Stepper motors as far as my research shows are essentially an upgraded version of a Servo motor. They have so many advantages over Servo's, while the only plus side of a Servo motor I could find was it's sizing capabilities. Servo motors can be made the largest, hence their only real advantage. Stepper motors however are half the price, half the complexity, and half the labor needed to keep it up and running.

November 3 2012 6:12 NP

I have complied mine and Chris's research about these three motors into one doc, and put it up on the team page. We both found the same things, Stepper motors are an upgrade of Servos, Brushless DC and Steppers have similar constructs, and basically Servos will be labeled out of date soon. Now back to focusing on the tutorial.

November 4 2012 5:20 NP

I have finally managed to make sense of the broken codes I've found, and learned to use the language a little bit better. It has essentially been a do-it-yourself crash course on Arduino these last couple weeks, and progress is finally started to show itself. On Monday me and Chris will come together and share our info and hopefully make a better Stepper tutorial.

My Fourth task
Get a comprehensive tutorial going for Stepper motors. A lot of progress has been made and it is looking good.

Summary of actual work over fourth weekend
11/4/12 5:37pm NP

Today I once again went over the differences between the three types of motors, and refined my research.

After that I did more research on motor control, as the code I came up with would not function properly. I posted on the Arduino forums for troubleshooting help and hopefully they will be able to assist.

11/5/12 8:22am NP

My code is still not working but I am constantly revising and editing out parts, so hopefully within a few hours I'll get it up and running. The motor I am trying to control is one that I found lying around in my house. I know the motor already works as I took it out of a functioning object.

11/5/12 6:40pm NP

Right now I am working on our team poster, but I cannot complete it until I have more pictures of the motors/code we are all using. I have been messing around with it on photoshop but I am not making it my priority as my code still needs to be fixed.

11/8/12 2:29pm NP

Working on the code right now, me and Chris already outlined the differences between the different types of motors and put them up on the team page. Still looking through Arduino forums for more info.

Team Page
Arduino Motor Control