Work I Completed:
This week in IT we discussed the possibility of entering the recently announced PyCon in Adelaide. To do this, we would have to have made some impressive project that uses python. The issue I initially had when this came up is that, by doing robotics, I use very little python if any at all. The solution to this is pretty simple, and all I need to do is combine my project with someone who is doing something with python. After further discussion, three of us are keen on combining our projects and making something for PyCon. This project would use Winston, the robot dog I have started developing, but will have the other two members projects added onto it. The details of which part of which projects are still being discussed and decided, but current possibilities are putting some cameras on the front, which would stream video to a server on the dog, and back onto one of our computers, where there would be an additional layer of python in machine learning which will identify things inside the video. Another possibility is having voice commands, which would get registered in python, to make the robot do something. Regardless of what is chosen, I will need to have Winston working by August.
I discussed my design with some peers and the teacher, and overall it seems to be the one I will go with, starting printing and early prototyping soon. But there were some changes made, which include removing cogs which move sections on a rod going through the dog, and just moving the rod directly with a servo, and adding a bearing between the top of a rotating belt and plastic which is there to support it. This bearing should allow for the purpose of the plastic, which is to strengthen the rotating belt and stop it from bending inward due to the tension, to be maintained, and to remove the issue of friction at this point. Other smaller suggestions were made, like adding something higher on the leg which would allow me to change the belt easier, so adjustments or improvements can be made later. I will keep this in mind for when I begin 3D modelling this for printing, however, it seems to be mainly the same as what I designed previously. Because this design is mostly decided, and is going in the overarching PyCon project, the components needed to make this work need to be decided early in order to have a battery capable of supplying enough power, while not being too heavy. The components needed for this, as decided so far, are:
- Arduino Uno (12V)
- 12x 9g Servo motor
- Servo Board
- 9x Gyroscope (GY-61)
- Power Supply (likely 3.3V, Ah to be decided)
- Raspberry Pi (For possible uses of NLP, I2C, and others)
- Camera
It is reasonable to assume that this project will need a lot of power. I will need to inquire further to make sure I know how to calculate the requirements for the circuit, as I’m not sure how to find the required power for the 12 servos, or which resistance will be needed for the gyroscopes. Once found, however, it should be easy to find th amperage of the entire circuit using Ohm’s Law:
I = V/R
And then to find amp-hours:
Ah = A * h
This should be especially easy as we only aim to power the system for one hour.
Reflection:
I am excited with PyCon happening this year, as it hasn’t for the last couple, although I do feel as though our idea for the project is very optimistic. I do think it is possible if everyone is dedicated, which I suspect they will be. I feel that I personally have a lot to do for this project as well, as if my part doesn’t work then everything else becomes disconnected. This does put a lot of pressure on my project going well, however, it also seems to make people more inclined to help, which I am most definitely going to have to use.
I am slightly disappointed that I am struggling do much to do all the calculations. The circuit stuff should just be things I have done before, and calculating things such as amp-hours is what the last few weeks of my engineering H-Course at ANU have been focussed on. I do think it is just the first part which I haven’t needed to do for a while, so asking someone who has for a refresher should be all I need. After that it should just be substituting the right numbers into the equations I mentioned earlier.