Assignment
The assignment or the task consisted of 3 people in a group. They had to choose between building a car like machine and some others. I don't mention the other because mostly everyone in our class build a car. We had lots of pieces and motors and we could make what ever we wanted it just had work and look like some type of vehicle.
Claim
With in this project I have learned how to make a car like machine and I have learned how to do the simple task of moving forwards and backwards. I now know how to make a machine work with simple programming. I have learned the basics to make a vehicle type machine to move back and forth with what are called Sonars and the press of a button. Thanks to this a have learned a bit about how the building industries work together.
Design/Data
- We build a box like structure
- The main controls were at the bottom
- Has a switch on top
- Carried to sonar
- 1 Sonar in front
- 1 Sonar in back
- Phone carries
- Vary simple Design
Brain storming shape
We decide to do a box like structure. We thought it was the best shape for what we are going to build. The test bed will be at the bottom and it will be easy to build on.. It will have a U shape structure which will make it even esier to get our hands to the controls and that's why we used this shape.
Brain storming actual design
We decide that we wanted our car to look like a big metal dragster. I say that because we put big wheel in the back and little wheels in the front which we thought made it look like a dragster. We mounted two motors with the back wheels so it would go fast. With one motor it would have been to much weight. The test bed sits it the bottom which helps us accesses it and we don't have to struggle to fix something. That's is why we chose this designs.
Programing
We had been doing programing for a while now. We have learned the basics on another project we did. Now we had to put put our learning to the test. We started out by making what's called a sudo code. Then we started talking about how we thought it should work and we decided what it was going to perform. We try several times to make it work but their was always a error. It was either that we didn't but the curly braces in the right spot or we did the wrong order of code. We tried and tried till we got it.
Actual Code
This is what or code turned out to be. We have it start the task. Then the when the button is pushed the two motors should turn on at the speed we program it to. Then the sonar should detected a object 5 inches away which will cause the wheel to move the opposite way. It should wait 3 seconds and then turn the opposite direction. The back sonar should detect a object 5 inches away and then it should stop. At the beginning the program compile but the motors wouldn't go. We found out that the motors went the opposite way. They were going opposite direction which caused them to lock each other, We flipped a cable and the motors now ran the same direction. That was the major problem of finishing this project. Simple problems are really the greatest problems of all.
Outcome/Warrant
After all the work we made this thing work.. It took more days then expected but we got it to work. It's not the best car but I think we got the experience we and more. We learned how to program a simple machine and we got the video to prove that we did. This type of coding is very simple it's just so simple that if you make a small mistake it will mess you up real bad. The outcome turned out better than I thought but we could off made some improvements. Here are the results.
Top view
- This is how our test bed look like. We build it in the bottom so that the vehicle had a good look to it. It was also very easy to access the pieces so that's why we chose this design. The chain will help rotate the whole car. We really just needed one motor but we used 2 so it would make it a bit faster. The two sonar on the sides worked out great. They stop really quick and fast. It did what we told it to do.
Important piece
I believe our most important thing were the sonar. They told our car when to stop and go. This is what makes it move except for the button. This is a very important part of our design because without it the car could just move forwards. It's like a car with no wheel on it. Nobody would want a car like that unless your crazy of course. This sonar's were essential to our design
Final Project
Here what it look like at the end. It could have been a cooler design but we like this design. It's simple but yet it has a interesting look it it. The little metal thing on top was just to hold our phones for some recordings. It turned out to be great and it works just find. Take a look at the video below.
Final Project Review
After all that process I think that for the most part we did good. We kept all our original design so their was no changes as we went. If I would do this again I would try to come out with a more cooler design for the car outside. The axles weren't supported as well as they should have which made the car slower which is one more thing I would of done better. Other then that I believe it's a good car and it does what it was programed to do.