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Team Blog #18

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SSST Blog 3/11/2020

Progress for this week:

 Controls Team
The stepper motor and the PixyCam are able to work together. After connecting an external power supply to power the stepper motor, the Arduino was able to provide adequate power to activate the PixyCam. When the PixyCam reads a barcode, it sends a signal to the stepper motor to stop. The iPhone application was finally able to get connected to the BLE as shown in Figure 1. The issue with connecting the iOS app to the BLE was due to using the wrong UUID.

Figure 1. iOS app connected to BLE module.

In addition, the second BLE module is being ordered on Amazon to be used for the second bogie.

Guideway Team
The outer loop of the guideway has been laser cut and assembled using washers and nuts as shown in Figure 2. The nuts and washers are used to sandwich each guideway piece together and can be tightened using an adjustable wrench.

Figure 2. Outer loop and smaller inner loop of guideway assembled. 

Initially the team used a spirit level to adjust each guideway piece to be the same height. Since the spirit level measures whether an object is horizontal relative to the ground, the base board needs to be leveled before the guideway can be leveled. Therefore, the team decided to use a tape measure to measure 34 inches from the baseboard to the bottom guideway piece as shown in Figure 3.

Figure 3. Guideway measured to be 34 inches from the base board. 


 Bogie Team
The bogie team created designs for mounting the servo motor for the y-switch onto the bogie. Since the servomotor would need to hold the weight of the bogie, the mounting needs to be robust. The bogie platform has been modified to hold the gears. In addition, the snap fit clearance holes for attaching each pod piece has been modified to prevent breaking during disassembly.


Plans for next week
Next up on the agenda for the iOS app is to implement a keyboard feature that allows the BLE to activate the Arduino by entering a number. The bogie team will continue to 3D print more pieces to complete a second pod. The PixyCam will read station numbers using a barcode that will be placed under the pod. The barcode will need to be a specific distance from the PixyCam, too far of a distance won't allow the PixyCam to read the barcode. A snap-on design will be made that goes around the threaded rods on the track and friction tape will be used to prevent the 3D printed snap-on design from breaking. The guideway team will continue to laser cut track pieces for the second inner loop. Furthermore, the third rail and y-switch for the servo motor will be designed and manufactured in the upcoming weeks.


 Written By:
Shane Fatehi
March 11, 2020

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