Fall 2016 Week 5

This week, my team and I worked on some ideas for the switching of the bogie. For example, we figured out where we would place magnets on the track in order to have the bogie switch when and where we wanted it to. In addition, we decided that the reed sensor on the left side of the bogie would be used for switching every time it passed by a magnet. Therefore, we decided to use the reed sensor on the right side of the bogie for switching during pathing. For example, the reed sensor on the right side would pass by a magnet, but would run through a code in order to decide whether or not it will switch tracks.

In addition, the positioning team notified us that the sensor they used only gave a digital output of 0 or 1 so it could not be used for positioning of the bogie. Therefore, the positioning team is currently working on finding a different sensor that could be used.

My team and I are also working on our presentations for next week so I hope that we begin to make some progress in our design and coding within the next week.

Fall 2016 Week 4

This week, a lot of lingering confusion was sorted out. My team and I were given our deliverables for the year, but we were still unsure of what the other sub teams were going to work on. Therefore, the whole 1/12th scale team had a meeting in order to figure out what each sub team was working on and exactly how much overlap there was between each team's responsibilities. In addition, a Slack group chat was created for the 1/12th scale team as a means of a communication and keeping everyone on the same page so that the project may be completed smoothly and cohesively.

After speaking to the positioning team, my team and I confirmed that the ferrous strips and magnets will be implemented for tracking of the bogie. As such, we are now trying to figure out a way where we can build off of the positioning code in order to control the bogie's switching.

This week really gave everyone, including myself, a clear picture of what we need to accomplish and which teams we must work and communicate with. Therefore, the objective of this project is no longer so vague and ambiguous as it was to me before. I am very excited to see what my team and I can achieve in the next couple weeks.

Fall 2016 Week 3

On week 2, after being fairly confused in regards to what our objective for the project was, my team (1/12th scale vehicle controls) and I were finally given our deliverables for the next year. Our main objectives for this year are to basically improve the sensing and positioning aspects of the bogie so that it is able to switch tracks reliably and consistently with multiple other bogies running simultaneously.

After meeting with Dr. Furman and Eric, it was decided that the team would replace the bar codes with another method that would be more robust and reliable. As such, we settled on the method of using ferrous strips and magnets in order to read pulse signals as a way to locate the position of the bogie on the track.

Besides our technical responsibilities, my team and I also realized that communication with the other subteams is very important because all our work must come together smoothly and cohesively. Therefore, if one team decides to make any changes to their part of the project, it is highly recommended that they consult with the other teams working on the 1/12th scale. Otherwise, it may force every other team to make drastic changes, or maybe even the whole 1/12th scale project itself to fail. Thankfully, it is still early on in the year so it is a good thing that we are realizing this now.