Today we compiled a list of electrical parts and how many we need for each item. We also had to change the pivot point of the arms and after we finish doing that we can move on to more electrical stuff.
Today, we worked on writing the pseudo-code (which is code but in English) to plan out the code required for each subsystem. Today, in particular, we worked on the pseudo-code for the intake and shooter as well as the arm. Writing the pseudo code was quite beneficial as it gave us a basis to start with while also helping us further develop and question any of our ideas. Additionally, it helped us clear up some misconceptions about the robot code while also helping us finalize any materials (ex. sensors, etc.) that could potentially benefit our robot. Our pseudo-code at the moment is not done for any of the subsystems and we are still working on further improving the ones we wrote today!
Today, part of the group working on the arm split off to work on the gear mechanism for the arm and started prototyping a simple version of the gear train we'll need to incorporate into our pivoting arm. We took some gears from our current supply, found the pitch diameters to help find where the teeth of the gears will mesh up, and positioned them in Onshape. Then we found the size of the bearing and made holes for the bearings and screws. We had trouble getting a snug hole size for the bearing, so we did some testing with hole sizes to see which one worked best.
Afterward, we learned how to send things to the laser cutter and got the woodcut. We put on the hex shafts and then spacers and gears. The gears lined all up and we were able to get to all work well. We can apply this work to our arm gear train, which will need 8 gears for each side. Next meeting, we can start designing what our gear train will look like and work from there.