Week 17 Maker Faire!

We finally made it to Maker Faire. Our prototype worked after we replaced the motor and the motor controller. The timing belt broke but we managed to have a temporary fix with electrical tape. It worked properly: it moves back and forth with a user wireless input; showed switching mechanism; it stops when an object is placed in front of the ultrasonic sensor. It was a great experience working for Spartan Superway. I had a lot of fun in this academic year.

Week 16 Final presentation

After a week of troubleshooting, we have concluded that the motor cannot operate and we are looking for a replacement for Maker Faire demonstration. We have finished our final presentation, and I have attached the slides on this blog.

Week 15 Troubleshooting the motor controller

We have been sending emails back and forth with Kelly Control. We have tried all the instructions from Kelly Control and none of them works. Since next week is the final presentation. We have to start on the slides and document what we have done on the system. Meanwhile, we will continue to fix the motor controller and we go. If the controller isn't working, we might have to look for a replacement for the motor controller.

Week 14 Testing

We have finished the wiring last week, and we have started to test the motor controller and the motor. We double checked the connection and the motor isn't spinning. The motor controller is giving out an error code. The error code cannot be found in the manual. We have emailed the manufacturer to troubleshoot this issue. Hope they can get back to us soon.

Week 13 Connection Wiring

We have found the wiring diagram from the user manual. The package didn't come with the connector, but there is an adaptor. In order to make a secure connection to the motor, we have to solder some wires to the connector. After we make the adaptor, we can start testing on the controller but sending an analog signal to the throttle input. It should get the motor spinning! Then it will be just some configurations on the Arduino!! Here is the wiring diagram from the user manual.

Week 12 Presentation 2

Today is the day for presentation 2. Since we shrinked two weeks of presentation to one week, every team needs to present today. Here are the slides for our presentation. Enjoy!!

Week 11 Delay of Presentation 2

Since everyone is working hard on manufacturing their parts, Dr. Furman pushed the Presentation 2 to 4/11 so everyone has extra time to work on the presentation. The motor and motor controller came in last weekend. We have started to look at the manual and wiring diagram to see how we connect the motor and motor controller together along with Arduino.

Week 10 Spring Break

This week is spring break! As we are waiting for the parts to come in, we can take a small break before we get busy. We also ordered some pinewood for our electronics box. We have started the slides for Presentation 2, which we need to finish it by the end of spring break and present it next week on 4/4.

Week 9 Motor and Motor controller Purchase

Finally, our budget got approved and we can start buying our parts. We purchased a brushless motor from goldenmotor.com and it will probably take 10 days to come in. The motor is rated 1500W and it way more than enough for our project. We also placed an order on Kelly control for our motor control. The model of the controller is KEB48201X which withstand up to 150A of current. It should be more than enough for our project.

Week 8 general seminar section

Today we had a general seminar section for our Engr195B class. We talked about the second essay that we need for Engr195B and how the analysis helps us to develop a professional career. After the general section, we headed to the workshop and continued to work on the SolidWorks drawing for the electronics. We decided to use pinewood and wood glue to make the box, and it shouldn't be that hard.

Week 7 Solidwork drawing

Since we have decided to make a battery mount on the bogie, I have made a drawing in Solidwork. Here is a snapshot of what I made last week. There is a hole on each layer for cable management. 4 holes for bolting it on to the bogie. The model meets what we need for our control system. I will keep working on it to make a better design.

Week 6 Electronics Compartment

After the meeting today with Solar team, we decided to have a battery on the bogie instead of having cables from the charger controller. We decided to use 12V lead-acid batteries to power our control system. Thus, we need a small box for the Arduino and a battery mount on the bogie. I already have an idea of how is the mount going to look on the bogie. I am going to start some 3D drawings on Solidwork this week and find to best fit for our bogie.

Week 5 Presentation 1

We have presented our idea today. We gave everyone a quick update of our project and a brief idea of what we are going do next. I have included the slides on this blog. Enjoy!

Week 4 First round of Presentation 1

Today is the first round of Presentation 1. We have finished our slide for our presentation but we didn't have a chance to present today. Other teams have shown their progress and plan for this semester. I am excited to see the final product of every team. It will look great after we combine our prototype together and show it during Maker Faire.

Week 3 Preparation for the first presentation

Since next week is our first presentation, we have started the powerpoint slides. We have finalized our bill of materials since we only need to purchase the motor and motor controller. We have included the rapid prototype of our control system in our slide to give the class an idea of how our system works. Here are the schematics of the control unit and motherboard unit.

Week 2 1/31 light presentation

Today we had a lighting presentation about what we have done over the winter break. We gave a brief overview of the tasks that we have accomplished and what are going to do next. We are planning to replace parts from the rapid prototype with a bigger motor and a corresponding motor driver. It will have enough torque and power to drive the bogie back and forth.

Week 1 Spring 2018 semester begins!!

Spring 2018 semester officially began today! This is my last semester at San Jose State University and I am excited about this upcoming semester and graduation. In this semester, we are entering the manufacturing phase which means we need to purchase parts and put every piece together for Maker Faire. We need to purchase a motor and a motor controller to give the correct voltage output for the control system. It will transform our rapid prototype to the actual operational prototype. We have already picked on a brushless motor and a motor controller online. After the budget gets approved, we can order the parts and start doing testing when they arrive.