User:Olawal119/Project 3

Project Preference

 * Automatic shaker table.
 * Wireless.
 * Lego.

Problem Statement
Build an automatic platform that can simulate an earthquake and can oscillate about one to inches while holding a building model. This is an implement phase project.

Project Plan

 * Build the shaker table platform.
 * Do all wiring and gear connection.
 * Control frequency.
 * Test shaker table.
 * Make sure all design requirements are met.

Week 1 Narrative
I'm still working on my former project which is the automatic shaker table. I just mainly continued my old task. I was going to build my design this week but, since I could not get the materials I needed from the lab on Saturday it was impossible. Mainly because I needed the motor itself and the gear. But, I'm sure the design will work because there is something similar to that in the lab already. So, this week I read about different ways to cut and bend a metal sheet online but, I'm still not sure I can do it. This is a link that describes the different ways there are http://sheetmetal.me/how-to-cut-sheet-metal/ to cut a metal sheet. The sheet won't be too thick so, it'll should be quite easy to cut and bend. The rod for the design can be bought at home depot. I can't precisely say the height of the motor so, I was unable buy the rod. The bolt and nut should be available at the lab since there are numerous number of them. My main concentration next week would be to build the design and help with any other possible problem. It was impossible to do most of the work because of spring break.

Week 2 Narrative
My main plan for this week was to test the motor and gear without building the setup and then build the setup from materials gotten from Home depot. On Tuesday, when I decided to run the motor it was not spinning. I went to the CDIO report and got the code but, it kept sending me an error when I attempted to upload it unto the Arduino. Soon, who mainly worked on the motor spinning was not in school on Tuesday so, I could not ask for help. On Thursday, I continued to work on getting the motor to spin but still had the same difficulty. I asked Soon for help and then realized I had to upload a library to actually get the code to work. Soon helped me with that but the library compilation kept sending an error. I tried more times but, the same thing still happened. Later that evening after the seminar I went to the lab to continue to work on the motor spinning. I used a different computer from the one I used in the morning and the library actually uploaded thus, making the motor spin. Here is a video of when I got the motor to spin again. 

The group later decided to place the motor on top of the motor head and not by the side, so me getting materials from Home depot was unnecessary. We also decided to try to get another motor to spin which I worked on over the weekend but I've been unable to achieve it. I kept getting the same type of error I had with the previous motor. I don't know if the wiring connection is wrong or the Arduino code but I'll figure that out this week. The motor I'm working on is already connected to a gear and the only thing we'll have to do is connect an axle to the gear. Here is the connection setup I did for the new motor.



Week 3 Narrative
My task for this week was to get another motor to work/run. First off, I tried to figure out the wiring and the coil that belonged to one another since there are eight wires- a pair of yellow, a pair of black, a pair of gray, a pair of orange- on the motor. I used a voltmeter to get the resistance between the wires and I got a 0.6 between each wire. I tried using an arduino to power the motor but nothing happened, I did not even get a vibrate of the motor head or a twitch. Later I used an arduino and arduino shield to try to power the motor but I was not successful doing that because the motor did not spin. I feel I'm doing something wrong, like the wiring although I tried different wiring setups or the arduino code is wrong, the power provided by the computer is not strong enough, and maybe the motor I'm using is broken. One of the wiring setups I did is below and diagrams of some the other ones too.



Since, I was unable to get the other motor to spin I decided to work on the previous one. I planned to add a switch to it since the project plan is for one to be able to turn it on and off using a switch or plug into the wall and also power it up with a battery. When I added the switch it changed the rate at which it was spinning; it spun slower but did not stop the spinning completely. This is a video that shows the motor after turning off the switch .I went to school on Friday so I could power up the motor using a battery I bought the previous day and get the switch to control the motor fully but someone already took the motor home to work on it so my plan was not successful.

Since I can't get the other motor to spin and we already have one that does, the best bet is to work on that one so the project could be done by next week.

Week 4 Narrative
This week since I could not get the other motor to run I worked on the previous motor. First off, I modified the code for the Arduino. Mr. Edelen asked me what the number in the void loop meant but I could not say. I later read about the motor and the code on the FAQ page through the class canvas page. I realized the number controlled the amount of times you wanted the motor to move in a specific direction. I changed the number a couple of times and uploaded them on the arduino to check how good the motor would run then I later decided on a 20 since the motor can move a maximum of 48 steps. The code now looks like this;


 * 1) include 

AF_Stepper motor(48, 2);

void setup {

Serial.begin(9600);          // set up Serial library at 9600 bps Serial.println("Stepper test!");

motor.setSpeed(100); // Control the RPM

motor.step(10, FORWARD, DOUBLE); // Moves the motor in clockwise direction, using 2 coils (calls for higher torque) motor.release; delay(1000); }

void loop { motor.step(20, FORWARD, DOUBLE); // infinitely repeats itself }

On the same FAQ, I read that you can't power up a motor using a 9v battery so, an AC/DC adapter was used to power up the whole setup. The link to the page is.

The gear was shoved on top of the motor head and an axle was connected to it. The setup now looks like this;. The other problem I had to solve was to make sure the motor did not vibrate anytime someone touched it but, I was unable to figure that out. I looked for a better source of power and the best option I found was a lead acid battery which I could not figure out how it worked after connecting it to the arduino shield. I also worked on the group's CDIO report.