Deliverable 2 - Worked Hours Report
After discussing the mechanical design with an external consultant, we have started the 3D printing of the robot’s body so It could be assembled and tested with the electronic components. The 3D printing process encountered some issues due to weather conditions (low temperature and high humidity) which resulted in failed attempts at first. Since these failed attempts weren’t caused by design flaws we had to take some additional measures to insulate the printing environment so the process could be executed. After heating up the environment and removing humidity the 3D printing started successfully, but behind the original schedule.
As the robot’s body parts printed, we opted for creating a scaled-down version of the robot's base. This smaller model served the purpose of testing some of the mechanical aspects of the project. The goal was to verify if the lockable compartment had the correct dimensions in proportion and if the moving parts executed the intended movements accurately.
Figure 1 - Scaled down robot base
The 3D printing of the robot’s body parts was finished behind schedule but the final result was good and no reprints of the main body parts were necessary.
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Figure 2 - 3D printed parts
After the printing was successful the tests with the electronic components could be performed, which led to the assemble of one of the robot’s arms with the servo motors.
Figure 2 - Electronic Schematic
Figure 3 - Electronic Design
For the electronics part of deliverable 2, we have created this schematic using EasyEDA. We will use a 12V power supply with 3.4 amps to power all the motors and the solenoid lock. To supply power to the motors and the PWM module, we will use a voltage regulator equipped with a heat sink to obtain the required 5V for proper operation. To activate the solenoid lock, we will use a relay module that will receive a signal from the Raspberry Pi when it is necessary to change the lock's state.
Our Raspberry Pi will be powered with a 5V/3A power supply as suggested by the manufacturer. As a result, we have decided to power the smaller project components - the speaker, the LCD, the relay, the 2 push buttons, the magnetic sensor, the camera, and the microphone - through the Raspberry Pi itself, taking into account the low current consumption of each of them.
Furthermore, we plan to incorporate terminals to facilitate the connection of all wires and prevent accidental disconnections. These terminals will be used for both power supply and communication with the Raspberry Pi.