I found this project to be very enjoyable and interesting. I have learned a lot with respect to working in a team and building and designing a buggy.
Towards the end there were a few issues with the programming and design. This was due to the late completion of the design and lack of work done during the easter break.
As a whole I feel I could have contributed to the programming side. The programming was a weakness of mine which is why I had such a lack of involvement in that area. By being involved I could have improved my knowledge of programming and gained a lot more from this project.
Overall this project was still rewarding in many ways. The team worked well together and there were no major issues between team members. Seeing our buggy being successful on the test was very satisfying.
Showing posts with label Review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Review. Show all posts
Friday, 30 April 2010
Review
I would conclude that this module has been well informative and very practical. It allowed the group to turn an idea designed and formulated on paper and build an intelligent robot that can perform several important tasks specified by the brief.
One of the best aspects was that we managed to source the materials we needed from recycled or unwanted components, which was the original intention of producing as buggy that was as 'environmentally friendly' as possible.
It was found that the buggy showed good tracking skills as during the line following stages it managed to reach the half way point however unfortunately due to selected pauses and the curvature of the chassis it unfortunately had a natural tendency to turn towards the right. This coupled with the rear wheel caused the buggy to loose track of the magnetic tape at various points across the line.
The gap in the following picture between the motors (when it was attempted to show alignment using a ruler) shows they could not be perfectly aligned, this turning effect would be magnified by the fact that the wheels had a natural incline.
The rear wheel would need to be substituted with a more appropriate jockey wheel as during the line following it was noticed that it could easily catch itself on the slightly thicker than expected track (this problem was also noted in other buggies):
This property amplifies the turning effect and often made it difficult for the buggy to reverse as it would get itself easily jammed:
It was however an improvement on the initial rear wheel shown in the picture as agreed by the group it impeded movement due to its weight and required more power from the to obtain the desired turn.
An improvement on the program could include the use of a RAMP function on the output in order to gently increase torque in order to slowly accelerate and decelerate the buggy particularly as it approaches a corner. This will also reduce the chances of overshooting or provoking the oscillating/'hunting' behaviour that was noticed as soon as it lost the track.
One of the best aspects was that we managed to source the materials we needed from recycled or unwanted components, which was the original intention of producing as buggy that was as 'environmentally friendly' as possible.
It was found that the buggy showed good tracking skills as during the line following stages it managed to reach the half way point however unfortunately due to selected pauses and the curvature of the chassis it unfortunately had a natural tendency to turn towards the right. This coupled with the rear wheel caused the buggy to loose track of the magnetic tape at various points across the line.
The gap in the following picture between the motors (when it was attempted to show alignment using a ruler) shows they could not be perfectly aligned, this turning effect would be magnified by the fact that the wheels had a natural incline.
The rear wheel would need to be substituted with a more appropriate jockey wheel as during the line following it was noticed that it could easily catch itself on the slightly thicker than expected track (this problem was also noted in other buggies):
This property amplifies the turning effect and often made it difficult for the buggy to reverse as it would get itself easily jammed:
It was however an improvement on the initial rear wheel shown in the picture as agreed by the group it impeded movement due to its weight and required more power from the to obtain the desired turn.
An improvement on the program could include the use of a RAMP function on the output in order to gently increase torque in order to slowly accelerate and decelerate the buggy particularly as it approaches a corner. This will also reduce the chances of overshooting or provoking the oscillating/'hunting' behaviour that was noticed as soon as it lost the track.
Project Complete - PM's Review
The project is now completed with the final test concluded, as depicted by the Gantt chart below.
The project started off very well, and in the initial phases we accelerated beyond schedule. Unfortunately this progress was lost over the Easter holiday's, though we pulled the project back and completed it on time. In retrospect I should have accounted more for the inevitable decrease in group members output over the holidays and planned around them, though by motivating my team immediately as term resumed we were able to finish on time to a high standard.
The intended budget for this project was £0.00 which we were able to meet. All components were sourced for free as either unneeded spares or from recycling centres over the Easter holiday's.
The program worked well and much of the design was also good, though we were let down by the rear caster wheel. The original was sourced by me from Swindon Recycling Centre, and when tested it turned out to be to heavy and stiff. I made attempts to modify the wheel and also treated it with WD40 to loosen it, though the weight ultimately let it down. The wheel was replaced last minute with a homemade caster wheel which did not perform well on the line following mode as it would cause the buggy to veer off course whenever it tried to turn. If I were to do this project again, I would have sourced a light-weight pololu ball caster to replace this wheel.
The symbol reading part of the final test went smoothly, as the rear wheel did not have a chance to cause problems. The design assessment was acceptable, though the aesthetics of the design could have been improved with practise. Some of my cuts were not perfectly straight and the holes drilled by Anand caused the acrylic plates to crack in several places. This caused the final build to look a little rushed, and were a result of our limited experience using tools.
The power of the motors was also a little low. The battery pack was only just powerful enough to power the circuit and motors. As seen in other groups, if I were to repeat this project I would have designed a secondary power supply specifically for the motors.
In conclusion I feel this project went well. We scored highly in the final assessment and worked well as a team. To improve our project if I were to do it again I would have planned our schedule better around the Easter holiday's so that we could have had more time testing, installed a secondary power source for the motors, dedicated more time to ensuring the build was neat, and sourced a better rear caster wheel.
The project started off very well, and in the initial phases we accelerated beyond schedule. Unfortunately this progress was lost over the Easter holiday's, though we pulled the project back and completed it on time. In retrospect I should have accounted more for the inevitable decrease in group members output over the holidays and planned around them, though by motivating my team immediately as term resumed we were able to finish on time to a high standard.
The intended budget for this project was £0.00 which we were able to meet. All components were sourced for free as either unneeded spares or from recycling centres over the Easter holiday's.
The program worked well and much of the design was also good, though we were let down by the rear caster wheel. The original was sourced by me from Swindon Recycling Centre, and when tested it turned out to be to heavy and stiff. I made attempts to modify the wheel and also treated it with WD40 to loosen it, though the weight ultimately let it down. The wheel was replaced last minute with a homemade caster wheel which did not perform well on the line following mode as it would cause the buggy to veer off course whenever it tried to turn. If I were to do this project again, I would have sourced a light-weight pololu ball caster to replace this wheel.
The symbol reading part of the final test went smoothly, as the rear wheel did not have a chance to cause problems. The design assessment was acceptable, though the aesthetics of the design could have been improved with practise. Some of my cuts were not perfectly straight and the holes drilled by Anand caused the acrylic plates to crack in several places. This caused the final build to look a little rushed, and were a result of our limited experience using tools.
The power of the motors was also a little low. The battery pack was only just powerful enough to power the circuit and motors. As seen in other groups, if I were to repeat this project I would have designed a secondary power supply specifically for the motors.
In conclusion I feel this project went well. We scored highly in the final assessment and worked well as a team. To improve our project if I were to do it again I would have planned our schedule better around the Easter holiday's so that we could have had more time testing, installed a secondary power source for the motors, dedicated more time to ensuring the build was neat, and sourced a better rear caster wheel.
Thursday, 29 April 2010
Project Review
Reviewing the project as a completed whole, there are various tasks i believe we did well and many we could improve on.
Overall i see the project as a success, we completed the final assessment with good marks. I believe the biggest issue would have to be our time planning, in retrospect, i would have liked to have had more time building and testing. Although even when saying i believe i had more time, there was a three week period in the middle of this project where various group members, including myself, were needed elsewehere for the holidays. With this mind, although it's regretful that the three weeks were minimal work wise, i believe we did very well to complete the tasks ahead of us and create a buggy that worked and looked good.
Something i think we did well was the finance side of the buggy, we did not pay for one component, all parts were sourced second hand from garages and the tip over the three weeks holiday.
I personally believe i could have improved on my role as Assistant Project Manager (Build Team) by officially recording the group happenings more effectively. Throughout this project i have kept my group discussions and progress recorded in note form, this includes all my random ideas and personal drawings/layouts. If i had officially written these random notes and 'sketches' up, i maybe could have kept them more organised and possibly shared them more effectively with the group.
I would like to believe that i have learned much from this project but the main things would have to be how to keep the myself organised and motivated.
Posted by Sophie Latham
Overall i see the project as a success, we completed the final assessment with good marks. I believe the biggest issue would have to be our time planning, in retrospect, i would have liked to have had more time building and testing. Although even when saying i believe i had more time, there was a three week period in the middle of this project where various group members, including myself, were needed elsewehere for the holidays. With this mind, although it's regretful that the three weeks were minimal work wise, i believe we did very well to complete the tasks ahead of us and create a buggy that worked and looked good.
Something i think we did well was the finance side of the buggy, we did not pay for one component, all parts were sourced second hand from garages and the tip over the three weeks holiday.
I personally believe i could have improved on my role as Assistant Project Manager (Build Team) by officially recording the group happenings more effectively. Throughout this project i have kept my group discussions and progress recorded in note form, this includes all my random ideas and personal drawings/layouts. If i had officially written these random notes and 'sketches' up, i maybe could have kept them more organised and possibly shared them more effectively with the group.
I would like to believe that i have learned much from this project but the main things would have to be how to keep the myself organised and motivated.
Posted by Sophie Latham
Buggy Review
Now the project is over it is now time to reflect on how well the buggy preformed and how well it was designed.
As my job role was the Electronics Specialist in hindsight I would have laid out the strip board design before soldiering therefore it would have been neater and thus easier to connect the circuit to the PICACE board and the Motor board. Also looking at some other groups I saw that they were using separate power sources for the boards and the motors thus spreading the power evenly to both components as from rigorous testing of our buggy the batteries started to drain.
On the buggy design we should have sourced a better swivel wheel for our buggy as the one sourced by Mark did not turn smoothly and was slightly too heavy for the motors to pull.
One last thing I would have done better is the build of the chassis as I was drilling and cutting the holes I should have taken more care in protecting the plastic also using a centre punch to stop the drill from slipping and scratching the plastic thus keeping out buggy looking much more professional.
Overall I think that we should have built the chassis sooner which would have allowed us to test the program for longer therefore ironing out any problems it faced following the line.
As my job role was the Electronics Specialist in hindsight I would have laid out the strip board design before soldiering therefore it would have been neater and thus easier to connect the circuit to the PICACE board and the Motor board. Also looking at some other groups I saw that they were using separate power sources for the boards and the motors thus spreading the power evenly to both components as from rigorous testing of our buggy the batteries started to drain.
On the buggy design we should have sourced a better swivel wheel for our buggy as the one sourced by Mark did not turn smoothly and was slightly too heavy for the motors to pull.
One last thing I would have done better is the build of the chassis as I was drilling and cutting the holes I should have taken more care in protecting the plastic also using a centre punch to stop the drill from slipping and scratching the plastic thus keeping out buggy looking much more professional.
Overall I think that we should have built the chassis sooner which would have allowed us to test the program for longer therefore ironing out any problems it faced following the line.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)