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Team Blog #15

Progress for this week:

Controls Team:
To become more familiar with the Pixy Cam several tests were conducted throuhgout the week. After the team decided to switch over to barcodes for the stations the team saw that this method was better. A sheet of the 10 barcodes was then printed out and the team tested how accurate the pixy cam was at ientifying the different codes. The team will is now working on trying to develop a test which will incorporate the arduino along with the other electrical componenets.

Figure 1: Barcode recognition by Pixy2

Guideway Team:
The guideway team made progress on determining how the track will be supported and what materials we will use to build it. The team setteled on using mdf wood with a thickness of .25". The laser cutter cuts the wood accurately and precisely at the maker space, however, the space is only available during the week days from 10am to 6pm. The supporting stands will use 3ft long zinc threaded rods with nots and washers to clamp down onto the base of the track. All the material can be bought at home depot.


Bogie Team:
Four more parts of the pod were printed and assembled. Upon the assembly of the pod it was sound that some alerations to teh snapfit designs would have to be made. Although the team managed to assemble the pod, some parts of the snap fits fell off, and dissasembly was found to be difficult. To fix this the team will have to make some minor adjustments to the pod. The team has also continued to  work on a gearbox design that fits the bogie platform.

Figure 2. Physical assembly of the 3d printed pod. 


Plans for Next Week: 


For controls, more progress has to be made toward the BLE connection with the app. Also, the pixy cam should be integrated into the master Arduino code to recognize all station barcodes. Prior to integrating the pixy cam into the code, some barcode tests will be done in different lighting to address some concerns. The bogie team will make minor adjustments to the pod and print a second pod with the corrections. For Bogie, good progress should be made toward designing the gears and the snapfits on the bogie will also be adjusted. By next week, parts of the pod with the corrections should be printed. For the Guideway, manufacturing should proceed where the team previously left off. More progress should be made toward a completed CAD model of the track.


Written By:
Lissette Romero


February 21st, 2020

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