User:Wfalak/enes100/Helicopter

Link to team page.

Give instructor top 3 project choice list
Helicopter

Hovercraft

Bridges

Write problem statement
Look through the existing problem statements. Find something not yet done on the project. Create a problem statement for it. Think of a new subsystem that needs to be built for the project. The goal is something simple, possible, for zero dollars.

Assign Task1
Tasks are typically done over the weekend. They are documented during the week, presented during the week and the next weekends work is negotiated during the week. Week 0 is the week that task 1 is negotiated. Record your individual task here. Plan on working on it during the weekend between week0 and week1.

Compare actual work done to Task1
Over the weekend, i started playing with Arduino so I can control my motor for my helicopter. I installed the program on my computer and then I connected the Arduino via USB cable. I tried to play some example which are built in but they started giving me this error. avrdude: stk500_recv: programmer is not responding. After that I watched an online tutorial and wrote a program which would blink the led for one second and then turn it off for 1 second and then repeat the process.

This is my program.

/* Waleed First Prog

int ledPin = 13;

void setup { //intialize pins as outputs pinMode(ledPin, OUTPUT); }

void loop { digitalWrite(ledPin, HIGH); delay(1000); digitalWrite(ledPin, LOW); delay(1000); }

It worked and was blinking after one second.

Week1 Peer Review
Go to each team mates weekly summary wiki page. Read their activities and narrative. Then go the associated discussion page. Say something positive on this page. Try some constructive criticism. Add your name and a signature ~ by entering four tildes in a row to create a time and date stamp. Create a new category if another team mate has already commented here.

Assign Task2
Over the weekend, I will try to understand Arduino basics and will try my best to control the brushless motor with Arduino and how I can manage it.

Compare actual work done to Task2
Over the week, me and my partner started testing with the quad copter and how we can control it. We got this iPhone app, which would connect to quad copter via WiFi and will and could do juggling and tricks while in air. But for the quad copter to fully perform its trick, it need a large space, because while the juggling, it hit the top of roof and went down.

Week2 Narrative
Here is the link to the video of the flight test.

Week2 Peer Review
Go to each team mates weekly summary wiki page. Read their activities and narrative. Then go the associated discussion page. Say something positive on this page. Try some constructive criticism. Add your name and a signature ~ by entering four tildes in a row to create a time and date stamp. Create a new category if another team mate has already commented here.

Assign Task3
This week, I will start to operate motor by using Arduino and use it to control its speed.

Week3 Peer Review
Go to each team mates weekly summary wiki page. Read their activities and narrative. Then go the associated discussion page. Say something positive on this page. Try some constructive criticism. Add your name and a signature ~ by entering four tildes in a row to create a time and date stamp. Create a new category if another team mate has already commented here.

Assign Task4
Make the motor run and controlled using Arduino.

Compare actual work done to Task4
This weekend, I tried to run that motor using Arduino, but there were number of problems i had to face. First, the Duemilanove Arduino stopped working. Its was not not responding when I tried to upload any code. I checked the port and board, but everything was perfect. But the Arduino was not responding. So I got a new Arduino. I exhchanged it with Arduino UNO. It was working perfectly, and was uploading codes alright. But then another problem came. I was suppose to attach the controller with motor with three wires. The connector that Mr. Forester gave me were not fitting perfectly with the motor. The tip of the motor wires was too big to go into the connector. So then I decided to solder the controller and motor wires together. They were also not not getting together easily. After lots of tries of soldering them together, I was not successful. So i decided to cut those big tips of the motor wires and expose the wires and joining them together manually. I was successful in that, and the wires easily joined. After that to power up the motor i put the connector wires into the slots of Arduino power. The slots were really narrow, so i could not put the wires inside. I got the single end wires and solder the wires of controller to it. The wires then could easily go into the Arduino power slots. After the wires fit perfectly and everything was attached, then came the part of mounting the motor on a platform where it could easily spin with the big fan and does not move. To mount a motor, first I had to find a wooden piece which should have a small width and large in length. After finding the wooden piece, I drilled a hole so the motor could go in and its edges stay outside so they could be mounted. First hole was too big and its edges were going through the hole. Then I got slightly smaller drill bit, and drilled a hole with that. It fit perfectly. Then I hot glued the edges of motor onto the wood so motor does not move when spinning at high speed. Then I took the electrical tape and put on the exposed wires so they do not mix with each other and mess with the motor. After that I put the controller on using plastic cable, by drilling two hole around the controller and taking through them. And then lastly, i attached the Arduino using screws. After it was all setup, I attached the usb to upload the code of servo-sweep on Arduino. After the uploading was done, I put the controller red and black wires into Arduino power slots of GND and 3.3V respectively. The motor was taking too much power, so my computer gave me error that the USB slot has stopped working because it can damage the computer. Then I attached the adapter to the Arduino so it could get its power from there. After that I witnessed a different behavior. The Arduino started beeping, and the motor started spinning but in weird manner. Here is the video of the test. The motor was spinning in a very weird way. Here is the link.

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Test_using_3.3V.ogv

After that, I changed the voltage of the motor, and put the red wire into 5V slot. The motor was giving me the same behavior but after sometime it started spinning really fast. The link in down below. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Test_of_motor_using_arduino.ogv

So I concluded that, it is because of the power. The motor is not getting enough power to spin fast. So, now I need to find alternative to get enough power for the motor to spin freely.

Week4 Peer Review
Go to each team mates weekly summary wiki page. Read their activities and narrative. Then go the associated discussion page. Say something positive on this page. Try some constructive criticism. Add your name and a signature ~ by entering four tildes in a row to create a time and date stamp. Create a new category if another team mate has already commented here.