Josh’s Blogs

During October, we were assigned to team Bravo. The team put together a skills matrix which highlighted team members individual skills and capabilities. This formed the prefect foundation for our micro mouse project by setting certain tasks for each team member.

We were tasked to build an infrared sensor circuit onto a breadboard which will control the wheel motors on our micro mouse however, it is taking longer than initially expected because we have had to move components around to get the best LED & signal response. Once we have tidied up the breadboard we can continue with the coding of the wheels.

During the month of November, the team created several PCB designs for the IR circuit. We came to the conclusion that Rhys’ PCB design was to be used as it was the most organised and had extra room for our special feature. The PCB board was printed by Moody and ready to be drilled and shaped. The website has nearly been completed however some sections need to be looked through. We also finished programming the micro-mouse’s wheel RPM control which will be further integrated to provide obstacle avoidance.

In December, the team fully constructed the micro mouse including a built in obstacle avoidance system using a PCB design. The team initially struggled to get the micro mouse to drive in a straight line. However, by substituting and testing various different motors, we managed to succeed and get it to drive straight. After achieving consistent straight-line movement, we focused on refining the obstacle avoidance. This involved calibrating the sensors and adjusting the software to respond swiftly to detected obstacles.

During February, the team worked on the white line following sensor. We soldered the component on to the sensor strips and tested its functionality using a multimeter. The sensor’s resistance changed as the lighting environment shifted from dark to light, confirming the circuit was working correctly. Next, we aim to test the micro mouse on the black and white board and make any adjustments. Calibration of the sensors can easily be done using our code. by holding the sensors over the black/white surface and pressing the left touch bar, it automatically calibrated the thresholds.

During March, the team polished up bits of code to enhance the performance of our micro mouse. A key addition to the code was adding a reverse function. When line following is selected, the micro mouse follows the white line for 20 seconds before switching polarity and reversing around the white box for another 20 seconds before switching again. We also confirmed that our combat mode is functional and ready to be tested.

During April, the team travelled to gregynog to prepare for assessment of the micromouse. As part of this, we refined our algorithm, hardware and rehearsed our presentation. We competed in the final and were losing finalists, demonstrating strong performance but narrowly missing out on first place. In addition, we delivered a formal presentation for the micro mouse, covering the mechanical, electrical, and software aspects of the project.