Continuing on from the previous week, the Addtronics team has continued to develop their prototype inspection day plan to share with the prototype day judges as well as our coach and liaison. This week we have continued advancing our software and electrical components as well as implementing improvements for hardware after testing. In the last iterations of testing, we discovered a drawback in one of the robotic arm motors. After more extensive testing we identified the motor was faulty and quickly replaced the motor to improve the overall functionality of the design. We have also continued extensively working on the code to control the robotic arm as well as the development of the graphic user interface (GUI). This week we thought we would share a time lapse video (seen below) of some of our engineers in action working on some of these software components.
As mentioned earlier, aside from software there have also been major improvements in hardware and procedure. During testing last week, we determined the quadruped’s inability to adjust for the added weight of the robotic arm and electrical component box (which can be seen in the motion of the quadruped as it stands up in last weeks video). In the previous week, the quadruped would stand lifting its front side first and then swinging up its back side which did not properly distribute the additional weight. This week we were able to incorporate payload compensation so that the quadruped stands up in a more aligned fashion (as seen in the video below). Implementing this approach will largely mitigate the risks of any falls of the quadruped which could potentially damage the arm and/or electrical components.
As we continue into our final days before prototype inspection day, we plan to do further testing with end effectors both for demonstration purposes as well as some long term goals for the project. We will be rehearsing our demo presentation to adequately showcase all of the key features of our design as well as make it an engaging and fun experience for the audience!
Outreach
Outside of the scope of the project, our team is also involved in various organizations. This week two of our members attended the Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers (SHPE) 2021 National Convention where they got to network with other young professionals from engineering backgrounds. Want to learn more about other organizations we’re involved in? Check out the ‘Meet Addtronics’ tab to learn more about each team members affiliations!