SPARTAN Superway Semester 2 Week 13

This week, we put our controls system to the test using the actual bogie and a turn section of the track. The controls system performed well and we were able to prove that our concept worked. We showed that it would switch and make its way around whatever section of the switch we wanted it to go. We also found out that the bogie has plenty of power and it moves very fast. Because of this, we are able to slow down the speed of the bogie and use the maximum speed for testing and troubleshooting purposes only.

Now that we know the controls system works, we are going to spend the upcoming week creating PCBs that plug directly into our Arduino. We have already ordered and received the PCBs, so our next action will be to solder the header pins in place. My specific task will be to solder the new wires that we will need to reach from the servo and motor to our bogie.

SPARTAN Superway Semester 2 Week 12

This week, we gave our second presentation about our project. We focused mainly on the progress we have made since the last presentation as well as stressing how much testing we need to do in the coming weeks. In specific, my part was to detail our timeline as well as discuss what we need to see from the other teams and what we will do if it doesn't happen.

As for progress, I have implemented collision detection into our Arduino program this week. However, from here on out, there is no more room for progress toward the design of our controls system. Now, we much focus our entire attention on making sure our system is fully tested. For the next week, we will be assembling a bogie and track section and testing a section of our code.

SPARTAN Superway Semester 2 Week 11

This week, we are preparing for our second presentation of the semester. In addition to filling out our slides and practicing our presentation, I am gathering information that we will be using in both our final presentation and our final report.

For the rest of the semester, we will be focusing on testing our system and writing the final report. We have given ourselves more than enough time to finish the final report. However, we do not yet have a track or bogie to test with, so we will need to come up with an alternative means of testing our system. We will be doing this in the coming week.

SPARTAN Superway Semester 2 Week 10

This week, school was not in session and we had spring break. I did not contribute much to the project this week, however, we did collaborate with other teams and plan out what we would do for the rest of the semester. We believe that we should begin testing in the middle of April. With this timeline, we should have plenty of time to test everything before Maker Faire.

SPARTAN Superway Semester 2 Week 9

This week, we planned out how we would set up our notification LED. We decided to get an RGB so that we could use the different colors to indicate different states of the controls algorithm. In addition, we talked about what we should be doing over break and decided if there was anything we needed to meet for.

In the coming week, we decided not to meet since it will be spring break. This is mostly due to the fact that neither the bogie or track is ready for testing and testing is the majority of what we have left to do. Instead, we will brainstorm and collaborate with the other teams to make sure everything will go smoothly from here on out.

SPARTAN Superway Semester 2 Week 8

This week, I focused on rewriting my individual assignment #1. To do this, I looked through many peer reviewed journals to find better sources. As for the project, we decided that we needed to implement a notification LED as well as collision detection to our controls system.

Since last week, I have begun looking into the supersonic sensor that was used in the legacy design to determine if it would work for our system. It seems that it should work because the radius of our turns is much bigger than the legacy design. This would eliminate the previous team's problem of the sensor not working around turns due to the angle between the pods.

SPARTAN Superway Semester 2 Week 7

This week, we successfully added multi-pod capability to our system. We can display this feature on our prototype system, and soon we will be able to display it on a completed track section. In addition, we completed our first individual writing assignment and got our grades back.

In the upcoming week, I will be focused on rewriting my individual writing assignment and determining what features still need to be added by the end of the semester. Because we have a fully operational system but no way to test it, we have had to use other methods to test the system. These include our cardboard prototype and use of the serial monitor on the Arduino IDE.