Learning Outcomes
Despite taking ENPH 253 in a non-traditional environment, our experience achieved many of the same learning goals and explored new challenges.
Electrical Noise
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During testing, our members frequently felt the effects of EMI through ill-protection of our microcontroller.
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We opposed these issues methodically, isolating the troubled component to ensure we were dealing with a noise issue and not some faulty unit, and then improving protective measures such as varying decoupling capacitors, using shielded cable, or adding an optoisolator.
Plastic Structure
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Students were recommended to use a thin, corrugated plastic sheet as the robot's main build material. This resource had very clear drawbacks, being clumsy, thin, and fragile.
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A lot of planning went into designing a sound structure and these initial precautions were worthwhile as our robots seldom broke during testing.
Developing a Robotic System
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The integration of the mechanical, electrical and software subsystems was an important aspect of the robot’s design.
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Through experimentation, we explored the interplay between subsystems and discovered crucial relationships between battery voltage and PID control, software timing and mechanical movements, etc.