This week has been filled with assembly and testing tasks. On the sensor side, we have fully assembled both the inductive and capacitive sensors, as well as the motherboard and spares. We’re happy to report that everything came together smoothly. We tested the capacitive sensor by plugging it into an Arduino, and the results were promising. We achieved four times the sampling accuracy than the previous prototype, which is a significant improvement. It was a good indication that we were on the right track.
On the gantry side (testing rig), we have replaced some faulty gantry parts to improve its functionality, and we calibrated the gantry code for preliminary trials. With the sensor housing device, we determined that using foam instead of a spring to apply equal surface pressure on the sensor housing would be more effective.
In the next week, we should be receiving the ordered missing motherboard part (can still run preliminary trials without it). We plan to print the sensor casing for gantry attachment and cut foam to fit within the sensor casing. We’ll also finalize the gantry code structure for speed testing and gather preliminary results for use speed indications. We’ll complete a preliminary code for the motherboard design and perform individual tests of the inductive sensor function through the Arduino plug-in.
Please note that we won’t be posting a blog next week because of spring break, but we’ll resume our regular updates afterward.