Week 6 - Journal
Ideation
Tell us about your assignment's idea for this week. Why do you care about this idea? What inspired you? (Please include images or links to sources of inspiration)
I liked this funny dancing sunflower. I will make something like this but with only moving leaves.
Tool Chain
Which software/machines/materials did you use in the assignment? Why?
Components of Electrical Circuit
Ultrasonic Sensor
measures the distance of a target object by emitting ultrasonic sound waves, and converts the reflected sound into an electrical signal.
Servo Motor
to move the leaves on the dancing sunflower
DC Adaptor 5V
to power the circuit
DC Jack
to connect the circuit with the DC Adaptor
Breadboard
to connect all jumper wires and other components
male-female jumper wires
to connect components together
male-female jumper wires
to connect components together
Screw Driver
to insert the two jumper wires inside the terminal block of the DC Jack
Arduino Uno
to program the components of the circuit
Arduino Uno USB connector
to connect the Arduino with the computer
Materials
Cutter
to make holes in the plastic cup
Plastic Cup
to be the main enclosure of the dancing sunflower
Sellotape
to stick some wires together
Wooden Stick
to make the 2 moving leaves
Coloured foam sheets
for decoration
Glue Gun
to stick the leaves to the wooden stick
Software
To simulate and code the circuit before implementation
Design/Preparation Process
Explain the design and/or preparation process of your assignment. How did you use the tool or software to design and/or prepare your assignment before fabrication/implementation?
The Main components of my circuit are :
Power Supply
Arduino Uno R3
2 Positional Micro Servo
Ultrasonic Distance Sensor
male-to-male jumper wires
male-to-female jumper wires
Procedures:
I connected the positive and negative wires of the Power Supply to the Breadboard as the Servo Motors need more power that the Arduino can support for better performance.
The 2 Servo motors' power wires were connected with the positive wire of the Power Supply while their GNDs were connected with the Arduino's GND on the Breadboard.
The signal wire of the Servo Motor was connected to the Arduino Digital Pins. One of the was connected to Pin 6 and the other was connected to Pin 9.
The Ultrasonic Sensor's GND is connected to the Arduino's GND on the Breadboard. Its Echo wire is connected to Pin 2 and its Trigger is connected to Pin 3. Its Power wire was connected with 5V of the Arduino on the Breadboard.
Code Blocks on Tinkercad
Select from the Input the Ultrasonic code: read ultrasonic distance on trigger pin (3) echo pin (2) in units (cm).
Insert the previous code in a Math comparison code as it is shown.
Select If conditional from Loop, then insert the Math comparison loop as the main condition between If and than.
As a result to this condition, select from Output the Servo Motor code: rotate servo on pin () to () degree. Duplicate this code as you have 2 servo motors and choose the right Digital Pins for each one.
Vary the degrees of each servo to make random movement of the sunflower's leaves.
Add Delay code from Control: Wait (1) Secs after the Servo Motor rotation code.
Circuit design Cool Bombul _ Tinkercad.webmI started Simulation to check my code before uploading it to my Arduino. Then, I clicked on the Ultrasonic Sensor to check the distance and the rotation of the Servo Motors.
I downloaded the coding file from Tinkercad and opened in Arduino IDE program to verify the code and uploaded to my Arduino Uno.
Development/Implementation Process
Explain the development/implementation process of your assignment. How did you use the machine/tool to manufacture or implement the design of your assignment?
I did the same wiring of the components on the Breadboard as I did on Tinkercad.
I replaced the Power Supply on Tinkercad with the DC Jack connected to 5V Adaptor.
Arduino Uno was connected to my tablet with the USB connector.
video-a4b8ae5a-b2b2-434e-ad36-5e510905ec88-1662566150.mp4I used a plastic cup as a simple enclosure for the sunflower. I made a cut at the bottom of the cup for the Ultrasonic Sensor's wires and another two cuts on each side of the cup for the Servo Motors. Then, I stuck a wooden stick on the Servo Motor with the sellotape and glued two green foam leaves on them.
As part of the decoration I drew a sunflower on foam and made two holes inside it for the Ultrasonic Sensor. At the end, I tried my circuit again after the enclosure.
video-fc0dffde-860f-49f6-982b-2494e78302e1-1662566258.mp4
Overcoming Challenges
What kinds of challenges or problems did you face while doing the assignment, tutorials, or exercises? How did you solve them? Did you ask for help from an instructor or peer? Please provide a link to the tutorial or article that you used to solve your problem (if any)
After verifying the code on Arduino IDE program, I tried to upload it on the Arduino Uno but in vain. I got an error message as neither the tablet nor the program is connected to Arduino Uno. After many trials, I found out that there's something wrong with my USB Connector. The next day I replaced it with another one from the Lab Specialist.
Final Project
How can you use the skills and knowledge that you've acquired this week in your final project?
Simple decoration makes the project catchy even if it has very simple features.
WOW!
What is the coolest thing that you've learned this week? What is something that you will never forget from this week?
The Servo Motor has 3 different coloured wires in Tinercad and the real Servo. They don't change.
Each one for a certain function:
GND - Brown
Power - Red
Signal - Orange
That helped me a lot in connecting it to other components in the circuit.
Weekly Digest [OPTIONAL]
Tell us about any other cool things that you've made this week: in the Hands-on activity, tutorial examples, exercises, or any other cool mini-project that you tried out aside from the assignment.
Faten and I made an amazing waving hand with Ultrasonic Sensor and Servo Motor. I really enjoyed this activity.
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