Month

May 2015
28
May

Console Peasants

Ryan and I discussed how the PlayStation controller will be used to control the robot. We mapped most of the buttons and both joysticks to various robot functions, and also created a small program to print strings such as “Moving forward” or “Instant Speed Boost” when the R2 and X buttons are pressed respectively. The...
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26
May

Achievement Get: Taking Inventory

Upon arriving at school, we discovered that the gear arm we started printing the previous day had been misplaced.  As a result, we had to start printing it again, then about halfway through the print, we noticed that the end was peeling up (this occasionally happens if you don’t have enough adhesive on the print...
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25
May

3D Printing

After some testing with Dynamixel Wizard, I discovered an issue with the claw mount servo. Mounted in the way it was, the arm would not be able to rotate all the way to the front of the robot. To fix this, Riley removed the arm, rotated the servo 90 degrees forward and then reattached it,...
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20
May

Dynamixel Day

Ryan and I connected a single Dynamixel servo to the Dynamixel2USB and the SMPS2Dynamixel, but had trouble connecting more than one. We soon discovered that the IDs of the servos would have to be assigned individually, and searching for the unassigned servos with Dynamixel Wizard would not work. So, we connected each servo individually and...
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19
May

Fixing Computer Bugs

I began the overhaul of our team laptop with Aaron and Ryan. We would eventually be using this to program and develop the code necessary for the robot.  We took it apart and cleaned it out because we were concerned about temperatures. We fixed a “bug” by removing a small insect that had somehow found...
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18
May

Of Claws, and Not Much Else

We can begin assembly of the claw as soon as we figure out exactly how all the pieces fit together with only two reference pictures (included below).
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15
May

Of Wheels, Plastic, and Not Much Else

We didn’t spend long on the robot today, just a few minutes to get the main body finished. Matthew and I have removed the excess plastic from the two front wheels. Matthew attached them to the robot after holes were punched by Riley using a screwdriver.
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14
May

Wi-Fix this Problem

Aaron installed the WiFi adapter on the Raspberry Pi, however he has had trouble connecting to it. Aaron and I are in the process of diagnosing the connection, however Aaron will reinstall the drivers if it proves necessary. Ryan continued his 13 hour Python course in the advanced topics section, which included splicing, comprehension list...
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12
May

A ‘Wheely’ Good Day!

Aaron has finally got the PiTFT screen to work! After installing a collection of drivers on a fresh version of Raspbian, the screen is fully functional. The touch feature of the screen also works, but will need some calibration. Aaron is now working on setting up the Raspberry Pi as an access point. He was...
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11
May

Python Trumps C++

We have decided to switch languages for the second time: We’re leaning back towards Python instead of C++, due to an outdated API that may or may not support the USB2Dynamixel controller and the lack of documentation for Dynamixel with C++. The rest of the Oarkit team are using Python too. Riley and Matthew mounted...
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