User:Sharonlnchrs/ENES-100/project 2

Week1 Narrative
I took home Tribot #5. #5 is one of two Tribots left that do not work. I began troubleshooting it.

Attaching Arduino

The original logic board on Tribot was removed. I took an Arduino UNO and using a small screw, I attached it to the Tribot.

Connecting Arduino

Using the color code that has been developed that maps colors to Arduino pin numbers:

I connected the cables to the corresponding pins.

Loose Wires Looking at the different wires, I noticed that the orange cable which is an encoder, was loose. It was not attached to the motor control in any way. Using a solder, I soldered the cable to the back of the motor control.

Checking Power

I opened the battery pack and inserted new batteries into the Tribot. I pushed the button and the Arduino light did not turn on. I pushed the Tribot head and it did not turn on.

Looking at the Arduino I noticed that the orange and brown wires were power based on where they were connected. In other Tribots, these cables are black and blue. I went down to the motor control and unplugged the power cables which are black and red. The orange and brown cables are spliced to them to bring power up from the motor control to the Arduino. Using a multimeter, I checked the voltage up at the Arduino and got nothing. Likewise I got nothing at the motor control. I checked down at the battery pack and I got voltage. This determines that there is something wrong with power going from the battery pack up to the motor control.

Next Steps The next step is to open the tribot base and determine where the power issue is.
 * 10/10/30 ... excellent documentation ... can really leverage this ... check the battery pack for corrosion .. this has been a problem in the past ... when the batteries are left in the robot the lid to the battery storage area can be cleaned to solve the problem ... taking the base apart is tricky, time consuming .. especially taking the motor controller in and out ... --1sfoerster (discuss • contribs) 14:19, 18 March 2014 (UTC)

Week2 Narrative
I took home Tribot #1. This is the only Tribot that hasn't been worked on by our team.

Arduino

When I first found the Tribot, the Arduino was connected to the side. I took it and I unscrewed it and placed it just like the others, to the back. This allows them to all have uniformity.

Cable Harness

Using this existing cable harness chart, I connected the pins to the Arduino. When I got to the ones for power, I got confused. For one of the pins it says "GND" and in past documentation it said it was a loose red cable. I didn't see this cable coming out of Tribot. I then went on to determine which ones were power. The power in Tribot #1 are black/red cables with orange/red spliced into them. I put the orange one into the pin that says "GND" then I put the red one into the pin that says "5V". Tribot turned on.

Powering Tribot

I opened the battery pack and I inserted the batteries. I pressed the on button and immediately one wheel began to spin. Only one wheel spins. It continuously spins yet it doesn't move. I took a | video of it and uploaded it.

Next Steps check the motors in each wheel. Also check if any of the cables are loose from the wheels to the motor control.
 * Good start 10/10/30 keep going --1sfoerster (discuss • contribs) 22:39, 25 March 2014 (UTC)

Week3 Narrative
This week I took home Tribot #3.

I stuck my finger in the head and I noticed that metal piece sticking out vibrates rapidly and is what might be making the noise. I am unsure if that piece needs to be attached anywhere or not.

Next Steps

Determine why it's making that weird noise. Maybe attach that metal piece.


 * 10/10/20 ... good start .. I had to edit heavily ... use gallery instead of table tags for your graphics ... probably is the motor in the head spinning around ... without any linkage attached that is making the noise ... --1sfoerster (discuss • contribs) 15:14, 1 April 2014 (UTC)

Week4 Narrative
This weekend I began brainstorming ideas to change the wheel base of Tribot. Currently it cannot rotate on a basketball. First I hand drew my ideas. Then I created 3D images using 3D tin. I used 3D tin because it doesn't require any software to be downloaded. You can just work online and it likewise saves your own work in your file. Having never used 3D tin before, I used their tutorials.

Red base

The red base is the original tribot base. The wheel "stems" are parallel to the ground. This current base does not allow the Tribot to sit and roll atop of a basketball.

Green base

The green base is a new idea for Tribot. The wheel stems would be tilted at an angle so that it would be easier to fit on a ball. This requires almost creating a new base.

Blue base

The blue base is another idea. Its a conical base. A hollow cone would allow it to perfectly sit on a basketball I think. Additionally, the wheel stems would have to be recreated similar to the idea in the green base. They would also have to be slanted at an angle.

Yellow base

The yellow base is the last idea I had. The yellow base is using the original base but adding extensions to the ends. It would be adding the extensions at an angle.

Next Steps physically model these bases and test which one works.


 * Wow!! Perfect 10/10/60 .. I think the next step is a decision matrix ... need to do this in presentation Thursday ... --1sfoerster (discuss • contribs) 15:49, 8 April 2014 (UTC)