4/21/15
In between today and the last meeting, we were able to unclog our printer and resume printing attachments. Our first attachment, a spoon used for stirring, was finished. Today, the plan was to assess the state of the robot and fix any issues. After mounting the motors to the end pieces, Blien and Karolina worked on taping down all of the electronics while Myra and Natasha focused on the presentation. Finally, it was time to fly the drone for the first time. We successfully got it off the ground, however instead of hovering, it flipped over. Blien and Myra worked on recalibrating the motors using the flight control software, so that the motors would spin in the correct direction.
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4/20/15
Today we started with our usual Plan of Attack. Because the competition is in two days we decided to prioritize. The two things on our list were to mount the motors onto the drone and to finish configuring the controller. While Myra and Blien began working on that, Natasha worked on the website and began to finish the presentation for Wednesday. Natasha also finished a design for a guard that would go around the propellers, but because this was not completely necessary and would take too long to print, we decided not to focus on this. We did finally print the spoon design, which had failed a few times in the past couple days. Blien and Myra got the controller configured! After many days of work, the motors finally move via the controller. Next, they began to work on wire configuration and prop balancing. To prop balance, they took a string and saw that one side of the propeller was heavier than the other. They balanced the propellers by putting a small piece of tape on the lighter side. They matched the propellers to the different motors, which was important because two motors turn clockwise and two turn counterclockwise, and two of the propellors are designed to work clockwise while the other two are designed to turn counterclockwise. Using their prior knowledge of how machines can generate lift, they were able to deduce the correct configuration of propellers. Then they put the propellers on the motors, and began to make sure they all spun the right direction. Finally, they started working on the sensitivity of the controller and brainstorming different ways to mount the controller. Natasha finished the inventory page of the website.
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4/16/15
Today we made lots of progress. We had so much to do, we didn't even need a plan of attack. We just attacked. First we met to assemble all the parts of the drone. Many parts had to be glued together. After the glue dried, Christine and Natasha began to drill holes for screws that would connect these pieces. Natasha also worked on a 3D printed design for a screw and nut and started printing it. Meanwhile, Myra and Blien continued to configure the motors and flight controller. By the end of the meeting, Natasha and Christine had assembled the drone, and Myra and Blein had the electronics ready to go for our finally assembly next week.
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4/14/15
As this has become a tradition, we began with our "Plan of Attack," a list of goals for the day. First on the list was assessing parts that we have printed since our last meeting. There were many. We printed a base, which will hold the controller and the battery. The base is printed in five pieces: bottom, and top printed in quarters. The bottom is designed to hold attachments, thus it has a hole shaped like a rectangle, and a trench perpendicular to the hole. Together, the shapes look like a cross. The attachment would pass through the hole, twist, and be securely placed in the trench. The top pieces each have a "male part," which would them be connected to a "female part" and form wings. The advantage of creating separate pieces to create the wings, is that we have the possibility of changing the length of the wings. (The pieces are in the gallery to the right). We examined the parts and sent them down.
The second thing on our list was working on electronics. We accomplished syncing the remote control to the computer. Then we achieved connecting the propeller motors, so they rotate. This was a colossal step forward. |
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4/09/15
We began with our "Plan of Attack", our goals for today's meeting. This included beginning to print the centerpiece. We also decided to cut one of the previously printed pieces in half. Therefore we would have four smaller, lighter wing pieces instead of two. One issue we had with this was that we could not find a spot to secure the pieces that would not damage the underlying structure once the saw started to cut the pieces. We ended up using a clamp to secure the piece to the table. By using a coping saw we were able to cut through one of the pieces. We then sanded the two halves using a rotary tool (Dremel). We repeated the same procedure for the second larger piece. Meanwhile, Myra started to familiarize herself with the controls and started looking through its operations. She and Blien also connected the controller. At first they were notified of a switch error, meaning that one or more of the switches were not in the right position. Blien researched and figured out how to prevent this from happening in the future. Then, they started to work on connecting and configuring all of the electronics.
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4/07/15
Today, we started our meeting with a recap of the progress we had made so far and what we need to do in the next few days. Our previous design of a single module that would be part of the frame successfully printed. We talked about any changes that will be necessary as we continue to print it. We then decided that while the length of this part is fine, the width could be halved. This would make the wings lighter, allowing the motors and propellors to more easily support the body of the drone. It would also make printing more efficient and use less filament. We also established goals for today and our goals for the next two weeks. Today, we wanted to set up the parts of the drone that are not being printed, work on the centerpiece design, and work on our website. Myra and Blien along with Mr. Letras and Mr Curtis began assembling the motors, wires, propellors, and flight controller using online video tutorials. Karolina and Ms. Cheikh began to work on the centerpiece design. This was especially tricky because there are two major parts of this design. First, we had to figure out how it was going to attach the the modular design of the wings. We decided that the centerpiece would have pieces sticking out on each side that would lock in to each wing. Second, the centerpiece is going to have a part that additional attachments could clip into. Both groups had a very productive meeting. We now have a lot of the wiring done and one propellor moved a little bit. We also have a working design for the centerpiece that we hope to finish later in the week.
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4/02/15
Today, we split into two teams. Several of the electronic components of the drone arrived, so Blien and Myra started assembling all of the different electronics that are necessary for the drone. Natasha and Karolina designed a mixer add-on to go onto the drone for use in the kitchen. Blien also continued to modify the design for the attachable pieces on the frame. This design unfortunately did not work when we tried to print it, so we started to print the new design.
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3/31/15
Today, we came up with a design to make different parts of the drone's frame snap together. Then, we designed it in TinkerCAD, which is shown in one of the pictures on the right. The frame of the drone will be made up of several pieces that fit into each other, and are then secured with cylinders that go through the holes.
The motors, battery, and flight controller all arrived, so we also spent some time assembling the motors. We then modified our prototype so that we can attach the motors to it and test the flight capabilities before printing the entire drone. |
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3/26/15
This meeting seemed to fly by as the girls tinkered with cardboard and other recycled materials. Myra and Natasha spent most of the meeting building prototypes out of the cardboard while Blien worked on the website and Karolina created designs on TinkerCAD. By the end of the day, incredible progress was made. We had our first complete prototype! Also, Karolina successfully designed and printed rings that we could potentially use to surround the propellers our drone.
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3/24/15
Today we set out to design the frame for our drone. All of the girls had different ideas, so we all sat down to sketch out our ideas. By using giant white boards and colored markers, we were able to talk through different ways we could approach this challenge. One idea was to use circular "rings" to be around the propellers. Blien showed the group a design she was working on since the last meeting on TinkerCAD that included the rings. This ring idea was one of the many designs that the team thought of in the previous few days. However by the end of the meeting, we decided on an X-shaped base with a propellor on each end since our main challenge would be to make a drone that is stable and strong. In the event that a piece breaks, the team feels printing individual pieces of the frame that could lock into each other would be a good back up plan. This way, if a part needs to be replaced, we would only need to print one piece. This can also be used for extending the length of the base. Today the team also decided to incorporate a custom extension part to the drone. This way, the drone can be multi-functional.
Also, after a lot of trial and error, we fixed our 3D printer and successfully printed one of the test designs! Now we can get properly started on using our personal printer to build prototypes. |
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3/12/15
Today was the kickoff and reveal of this year's theme. After finding out the theme was, we started brainstorming and researching various ideas. Our team wanted a challenge, and we wanted to incorporate the skills we learned from our experience as an FTC Robotics team. We met with members of Bryn Mawr's technology department, and we decided to incorporate flight into our project. Flight was appealing to everyone because it is unlike anything we every did with FTC. Additionally, flight was an interest because 3D printing is a technology that will be used more and more for the future, and so is flight, particularly unmanned drones. We decided to combine these two things, resulting in a copter design.
After the technology department left, we split into small groups. Blien and Karolina worked on sketching designs and creating a list of parts we would need for our copter, while Myra, Natasha, and Christine starting working on the website. Then we continued to set up our EKOCYCLE 3D Printer, dubbed Roberto. |
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3/11/15
As our first meeting, the team met with the school's 3D printing activity to get an introduction in TinkerCAD and 3D printing. We worked together to design an allen wrench using TinkerCAD. We used an allen wrench we already had to get the measurements. The first time, the allen wrench did not turn out very well, but on our second try, we were successful!
Today we also set up our EKOCYCLE 3D printer that we won earlier in the 2014-15 robotics season. All of the girls were extremely excited about setting up the printer. We unboxed it before, but didn’t calibrate it yet. So, the girls spent a few minutes calibrating and adjusting the printer. We then set up the printer to print its first “Welcome” design. Things seemed to be going perfectly, however, there were a few complications with the printer. In the first trial, the z-gap was too close so that the first print was too close. They decided to restart and try printing their own design. So Myra, Blien, and Natasha downloaded the Cubify app so that they can print designs directly from their computers. |
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