Ethan’s Blog

This month we completed the physical micromouse assessments at Gregynog Hall. The mouse worked well apart from a few hiccups that we had such as one of the pins we were using for the screen broke. It was a brilliant experience to have and one that I was very glad to be a part of and to experience. Also this month I did some work on the website as well as putting together the presentation that we used at Gregynog.

In the coming month the main job will be to complete the website as well as writing the blog posts on sustainability, Autonomous vehicles and the benefit of Diversity, Equality and inclusion

For a majority of this month I worked on the SOLIDWORKS design. This has been challenging to do as I have struggled with the software and have been watching a lot of videos and tutorials to help. Although it has been difficult I have enjoyed the challenge of working with the software. I am now going to be working on the presentation and general improvements to the documentation we have. Also this month the team has done a lot of troubleshooting and have managed to get the white line following and obstacle avoidance working well. We still have the combat and special feature to complete which are our targets for the next month and we hope to have them all finished by the time we get to Gregynog.

During February I soldered the PCB which was an enjoyable task to do, and then also made the white line sensors so we can progress in that area of the micro mouse. The white sensor board worked correctly, and we are currently trying to calibrate them so that they work smoothly. I have also started on the creation of the shell although I am struggling with learning the SolidWorks software as it seems quite complex, but I will be watching some videos on YouTube to aid me. This SolidWorks will be what I am working on in March as well.

During this month we completed and uploaded the PCB design to be examined by Mr.Moody. We also did some work with the sensors to ensure they were working correctly. Dr Davies and Dr Joblings performed their test to see if our micro mouse was running in a straight line, and to also test the sensor circuit we built on the breadboard. In the later parts of the month I changed my focus onto revising for the upcoming exams so did not focus on the micro mouse project.

This month I assisted Rhys with ironing out some of the issues we encountered within the code as the obstacle avoidance was not working. The micro mouse would just spin on the spot or if it did hit something it wouldn’t reverse. Dr Davies helped us work it out and it now works much better and does avoid obstacles but unfortunately there is still a software issue in that the left motor spins slower than the right motor. I will be looking at the PWM stuff in case that is the issue and if not then we will need to seek further assistance. I also have written my ethics statement based on the Engineering council guidelines which was interesting to learn as I have not read about ethics in engineering before, I think it will also help me be a better and more understanding teammates.

I am looking forward to the work we will be doing in the next month as it should mean we will see the micro mouse come along and start to perform much better.  It will be gratifying when we can see the micro mouse functioning properly and then we can move onwards towards completing the PCB design.

During this first month we met our other teammates and did some bonding exercises, so we got to know each other. We also decided our roles for the project. I will be doing the electronic hardware along with Andrew as well as doing the software with Rhys. We split these tasks between multiple people so that they are more manageable and causes less stress within the team.

At the start of this month, we created a team page for Team Foxtrot so we can all communicate and send files to each other more easily. On this webpage we setup tasks which allow us to easily see what we need to do and when the deadline for those tasks is. Also, this month myself and Rhys have made a breadboard circuit using the IR sensors which will allow us to see and understand how the Micro mouse sensors will work. The basic layout of the micro mouse was also done as I have attached the motors and bearings to the chassis of the robot.

In the upcoming month we should be able to complete the IR sensor circuit and then we can progress onto the designing of the shell of the micro mouse as well as having a group conversation about the special feature our micro mouse will have. I will be doing some of the software as well.