Finding Feanor Log

9/26/16

Earlier this week we talked to our student TA, Will, and he helped us round out the major ideas for our project and helped us troubleshoot our ideas for the functionality of our machine. Our project proposal will be approved soon so we will start to order parts this next week. Although we will most likely not be 3D printing any parts for "Finding Feanor" the lecture this last Friday is helpful in case we decide otherwise. The project seems to be going smoothly with all group members being cooperative and working productively together and separately.

9/30/16

• After a meeting on Tuesday (9/27) with Will, we realized that our Gantt chart was still a bit too vague to be of much use to use during our various downtimes, such as the period in between the ordering of parts and their arrival. Will suggested that we begin designing the circuit for the phototransistors, so Zach and Sam got to work immediately. We should have a computer generated image of the circuit design on the main wiki page before next Friday (10/7). We all have a much more complete understanding of the project timeline after this week.
• We all feel a bit more informed after a meeting with Humberto yesterday (9/29) where we decided that our project would include a solar panel after all. We are very lucky as a) there was room in the budget and b) the Arduinos supplied by the lab each have 6 analog/digital converters which should be more than enough for our system.
  • It was also decided at this meeting that our base and rotating frame would be 3D printed rather than made from metal/wood. We all have minimal CAD experience so designing the components may take some more time than anticipated but the magnitude of that delay is still unsure. Regardless, the Gantt chart will have to be updated to reflect this.
• The budget was also made more concrete than our last update. While we already had the essential components figured out, a solar panel was added along with the necessary connectors and cables for the Arduino and stepper motor driver. The total cost is now $101.98 out of a $150 budget.

• Objectives for the next week:
  • Begin CADing the the frame/platform/mounts for the panel/phototransistor unit.
  • Order components. (PRIORITY)
  • Overhaul Gantt chart to reflect our lost time higher understanding of our task timeline.

10/7/16

• The components have been ordered and the Gantt chart updated. The arrival dates are scattered between Wednesday and Saturday next week.
• Humberto raised the point that the phototransistor array would not likely give a sufficiently accurate estimation of the incident light angle for fine-tuning our motor steps. He and Zach discussed the possibility of using the panel's output as an additional sensor. The system can then be understood in terms of two phases:
  • The phototransistor array would initialize some 'optimal' angle.
  • Once the motors rotate the panel to that angle, the output of the panel would be measured as it makes small angle adjustments in all four possible directions. If the panel's output does not increase during the angle adjustments, then the angle truly is optimal.
• The CAD process has begun. The top priority is the array housing; it will be much easier to see what sort of algorithm we will need to develop once the circuit can be combined with the hardware.
• We have decided to reorganize into project leads:
  • Zach - Algorithm and Programming
  • Sam - Circuit Design
  • John - Mechanical Design

• Goals for next week
  • Have transistor array housing printed
  • Design impedence matching circuit to measure panel output

10/14/16

• As of today, the components that have arrived are the photo-transistors, the stepper motors, and the circuit board. The power adapter and the Arduino stepper motor shield are still on the way.
• The pyramid for the photo-transistor array and the frame to house the solar panel have been designed in solidworks and are awaiting file conversion and eventual 3D printing.
• Without the solar panel, we were unable to fully design an impedence matching circuit as we have no way to measure the internal resistance of the panel itself.
  • This will become the goal as soon as the solar panel actually arrives.
• The next step is to be able to characterize voltage response of the photo-transistors.
  • This will be accomplished by writing a simple Arduino script to read the voltage returned from the phototransistor circuit.
  • The values could then be formatted into a CSV file and exported to Excel for a more thorough analysis.
• The control algorithm has been written in pseudocode, though needs to be actually implemented in the arduino.
  • The stepper library will be employed to control the stepper motors.

• Goals for next week
  • Have the photo-transistors characterized in terms of their voltage response to light stimuli.
  • Have the initial models of the pyramid and frame converted and printed.
  • Determine the step size of the stepper motors (or if it can be controlled) in order to implement in the algorithm.