Week 1

 

Week 1 Pre-Lab:

In order to prepare for the Lab session, the design for the hardware connections and the code was finalised, as well as a plan for the lab:



Week 1 Lab:

As the resources had arrived, we first checked that all of the modules and components were provided correctly. We noticed there was an issue with the AA batteries and the holders and determined that these were not suitable for the project and instead discussed an alternative. A battery bank was decided upon. 

The development of the code started, alongside the testing of hardware that will be used in the circuit, starting with connecting the Arduino pins to the Stepper Motor using jumper cables and to the Breadboard so that it could be wired to a Power Supply Unit in order to check the state of the motors. 

The set up can be shown as:


The Arduino and Stepper Motor Connections:

 


The Battery Pack was also tested to verify it works correctly. As the motors are in working order, the movement abilities need to be tested next, however, there's a concern for securing the modules in order to replace the Power Supply Unit with the Power Bank so that the robot can move freely for testing. 

In the Post Week 1 planning, there is potential for the design to be revised as other modules could be added to further improve the robot, this needs to be discussed before the Week 2 Lab Session. For the hardware, the next steps will be to test the sensors and more importantly, find a solution to secure the modules so that the sensors can be integrated and tested alongside the movement of the robot. 


 As the project started, we created a Gantt chart in order to document the progress and set deadlines for certain tasks. 

The full details of the Gantt Chart are shown below:


Where the key shows the Week start by the light pink bar along the days, the duration of the Plan in the lightest shade of blue, with its actual start in the middle shade of blue, and then the actual duration of the plan in lilac where it extends the original plan duration, and finally the darker blue refers to the percentage completed, with the darker pink showing where the completion has ran beyond the original plan.

Focusing on the Week 1 section:




At this stage, we decided that the design should be completed by the end of this week ideally in order for it the implementation to begin during the Week 2 lab. We prepared the logs for the Week 1, which can be shown by the darker blue bar to show the completion. Certain sections run through the entire project, such as the documentation and preparation for the Bench Inspection, however, some sections aren't filled as these are not yet a focus.


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