Day Fourteen

I spent all of today's time writing and searching for SPIN code that would allow me to take an encoder's signal and output it to the LED lights on the Parallax Microcontroller. In the end, I have 3 programs that seem like they will work for the first stage of encoder-to-microcontroller programming. After class, I helped Larry make our wires for connecting the arm to the microcontroller. I stripped and flexed the CAT5 wires so they were straight. Then Larry soldered the male and female ends to those wires.

http://www.encodergeek.com/PropellerProgs.html is the site i found the 3 SPIN programs. Just search for "PWM signal".

http://www.nerdkits.com/videos/motors_and_microcontrollers_101/
http://www.electronics-tutorials.ws/io/io_7.html

Unrelated:
http://www.bobblick.com/techref/projects/propclock/propclock.html

Day Thirteen

Today was a break from work. The class spent the class period discussing what REALLY needed to be done moving forward. My group's arm is now in fully functioning condition. I decided that I, along with Dave, would be working more on the coding aspect of this Project starting on Tuesday. Got shot down a lot on my thoughts/ideas. So I'll just volunteer less input from now on. Other than that, I think I'll progress nicely.

Day Twelve

Not much done today as we are waiting for the new tip/connectors to come in. I did look at the programming for the arm. Lotta code. Makes some sense. @_@

Day Eleven

Today the teacher helped Dave and I finalized how many pins we have to have to run what we want to run on our arm [20 pins = (1 motor power, A and B channels) * 5 + brakes * 4 + brake common]. Then our prof. helped us with a pseudo code for the running of a single servo - foward and backwards, and what we needed to find out to get that pseudo code to work. Our group needs to find out which direction is the forward (Channel A before B) and which is the backward (Channel B before A).

After class with Larry, we will hook up the oscilloscope to the arm to determine the directions, the degrees in a single cycle, and the number of cycles in a full range motion.

Elbow - 35 cycles from home to full
Shoulder -
Wrist Pitch -
Wrist Yaw/Roll -
Waist -

John spent the whole time with the other group, helping with the testing of the encoders of the arm.

Larry will be buying the terminal wire male and female ends, of which our group will split the cost. We will solder the tips and ends to the wire rather than crimping it. $12 + S&H (if any), thus approx. $4 each of us.

Day Ten

John brought an air hose with him today, with some tools. Dave, John and I are going to test the pneumatics on our arm. Someone took all our wire connectors from our locker. As such we spend the 2nd half of the class searching the 'net for new wires.

Day Nine

John and I tested all the encoders on our arm. First we learned how to wire it for testing, then we learned what to look for in the test. This took all of the class period as Dave was absent. Afterwards, I put up all the equipment and the arm.

Day Eight

I don't remember exactly, at least at this moment in time.

Day Seven

Our teacher, Mr. Michael Beavers, showed the class how to hook up the PWM driver circuit board. He used multiple alligator clips and 2 DC Power supplies. Each Power supply boosted it's respective polarity. One boosted the positive; the other boosted the negative. He showed us the output on an oscillascope. It was neat.

Day Six

I don't remember exactly, at least at this moment in time.

Day Five

Today our group finished taking apart the arm's panels and cleaned it out some more (probably one more day to complete the clean out). We will lube on Day 7, if needed. Dave, John, and I also tested each dc servo to see they worked in both directions and got the servo breaks to release with the connections directly off the servos themselves.


After class, Larry and I worked further on the wired connections. We figured out which servos corresponded to which motor numbers in manual by testing which pins corresponded to which servos breaks. Through a process of elimination, we now know that Motor 1 is the base servo, Motor 2 is the Shoulder servo, Motor 3 is the Elbow servo, Motor 4 is the Wrist Pitch servo, and Motor 5 is the Wrist Yaw servo. 


To get the brakes to release we need to connect a ground to the Motor pin connector and a positive to the Feedback pin connector as detailed below.


Shoulder
Motor connector = pin 7
Feedback connector = pin 11
Motor #2

Elbow
Motor connector = pin 9
Feedback connector = pin 18
Motor #3

Wrist Pitch
Motor connector = pin 10
Feedback connector = pin 11
Motor #4

Wrist Yaw
Motor connector = pin 12
Feedback connector = pin 18
Motor #5

Day Four

Continued to take apart and clean the arms as much as we were able. We will continue on Day 5. I will upload pictures on Day 5 or 6.

Day Three

Today we took apart 2 of the arms to see which servos controlled what aspects of the arms. Also we looked at what cleaning needed to be done as well as what needed repairs. We decided that we needed specific tools and cleaners for tomorrow. Also I took "before" pictures for when we reassemble the arms after disassembly and cleaning.

Below are links to possible sources of info regarding the arms.
http://www.labx.com/v2/spiderdealer2/vistasearchdetails.cfm?LVid=12555905#MoreDesc
http://www.robotsdotcom.com/used/A255.pdf
http://www.americanrobotsales.com/c500cv2.pdf
http://www.ece.mcmaster.ca/~sirouspour/lab.html
http://stores.aleoutlet.com/Items/201007-11678?&caSKU=201007-11678&caTitle=CRS%20Robotics%20ROBOTIC%20ARM%2C%20Model%20A255%2C%20%20P/N%20RSA-14-103
http://www.eng.auburn.edu/outreach/k-12/robo-camp/crs-a255.html

Day Two

Decisions:
Decided on 5 things that need to be done, specifically 4 groups:


Group 1

1. Location of work
2. Teams of 4 (will organize in February)

Group 2

1. Get detailed information, data sheets/specs, on the arms and remote
2. Inventory of what we have
3. Supply list of what we need

Group 3

1. Clean and lube
2. Test remote, arms, and pneumatics

Group 4

1. Build interface
2. Program manual and auto modes
3. Finishing touches

Timeline:
January
09- Inventory + Datasheets
16- Clean/Lube + Supply List
23- Test Remote, Arms, Pneumatics
30- Same as 23rd


February
06- Build Interface
13- Same as 6th
20- Same as 6th
27- Same as 6th


March
05- Make arms work in manual mode
12- Same as 5th
19- Program the automatic sequence + learn about Pulse Width Modulation
26- Same as 19th


April
09- Same as 19th
16- Same as 19th
23- Same as 19th + Start Finishing Touches
30- Finishing Touches


Edit: After class, Larry and I looked at the arms for the relevant information to get more information on them.


2 Arms by CRS Robotics

• Model #: A251 and A255 (Larry Jolley found the link to the manual)
• Inputs: 5 @ 35VDC 2A
• Weight: 17 kgs. (37 lbs)
• Serial #: RA2219 for the A251 and RA20018072 (Mfg in May 2000) for the A255

2 Arms By Hudson Robotics

• Model #: CRSPlus - SRS-M1A
• Serial #: RA1298 and RA1326

Day One - Starting Out...

Today we, our class, identified what our project would be and what we are going to do to get an A. We will be working on a servo, dc motor, driven arm. We have an arm and a controller but no way to interface the two together - yet. Our end goal is to make the arm pick up a cup with liquid, move it to another cup, and pour the liquid into that second cup.

For day two, we are looking to start up a timeline as to what our daily goals are gonna be.