Final Project Journal

Project Ideation

1- Tell us about the idea of your project. Why do you care about this? What were you inspired by? Include images and videos of similar projects

I was inspired by the Greek mythology of Arachne, I really wanted to merge between too many things, but there was real limited time, and growing up, is realizing that You can't always get what you want, so anyways I made an obstacle avoiding car. and this photo of it the very first time it all came together.

p.s. that's not her final look

Project Construction

2- Explain the CAD process of your project. How did you use the software to design your project? (List the softwares/tools/materials...etc that you used)

I was attempting to use Blender as a sculpting software beside using Fusion 360, but It was really challenging mixing between the very hard geometric shapes i get out of fusion with the organic nature of sculpture I wanted, so it took me sooooo much time to finally do all of the design in Fusion, I still hate how it turned out tho.

+ It was the most time consuming operation of any phase in the project.

Fusion 360

to sketch my desgin

Design process

1.In fusion I started by inserting canvas to start draw on as a reference .

2..then i defined every part of it with it's dimensions.

3. and finally extruded parts to get a good look on how it will appear IRL, and i continued this in every component till i got my final look

screen-capture (5).webm

the very startof desgin process.

the final desgin process.

screen-capture (4).webm

3- Explain the fabrication process of your project. How did you use the machine to fabricate your project? (List the softwares/tools/materials...etc that you used)

save dxf for laser cutting extension

to export every face to laser cut it

AlMalky ML149 laser cutter

for fabricating 2d parts

laser work

to prepare DXF. file to be cut using laser cutter.

and my settings for cut power was 65| speed 30

3mm plywood

to fabricate on

fusion 360

while saving body as mesh you can choose to take it to 3D print utility so that it opens in Cura

MK2 3D Printer

for fabricating 3d parts

Ultimaker cura

to prepare STL. file to be 3D printed.

my printing settings was 0.3 mm layer height with 10% infill

Project Electronics & Power Management

4- Describe your electronic circuit. What are the input and action components? What is the function of each? How do the components integrate together to form your smart system? (List the softwares/tools/components...etc that you used)

circuit parts

Input parts

ultrasonic sensor to measure an object's distance and velocity.

2. On\Off switch to open or close an electrical circuit in a stable manner

Inputs\ outputs all integrated together in the final circuit.

That was my final circuit look using the LM317 dc- dc liner convertor to save Arduino nano from the 8 voltage battery power, what helped a lot with wiring, as it kinda was the one of the easiset parts that I've done the curcit before.

output parts

Dc geared motor to move or rotate the wheels at a required RPM slower than the motor.

2.servo motor to simulate legs motion

5- What is your power source? How did you select the suitable power source for your project? (List the softwares/tools/components...etc that you used)

LM317 dc- dc liner convertor

I used a 8v battery as a power source and a stepdown to make it a fit for my circuit- thanks to Abdalrahman-, as i used an Arduino nano so i only could use 5volts, but i needed 8 volts battery for the DC motors.

8 voltage rechargeable lithium battery

I had only one problem with it as it kept stopped giving voltage as it left on its own, so i had to give it voltage by using 9 voltage adaptor.

Project Programming

6- Describe the code of your project. How did you program each function of the project?

I started with minimum feature as it only be moving and avoiding any obstacles using ultrasonic sensor, but again it's not the very final look as it will be have a feature of an RC car using Bluetooth module.

but the process actually wasn't that hard as I used my last few weeks codes.

This code though had a very huge problem and it caused the sensor read delays as I included servo delays within the void loop so I looked up how to combine two loops without it interrupting each other and i found this article :

how-to-run-two-void-loop-in-one-arduino.

And this was my final code.

start by including libraries that you need for coding in my case it was the servo motor, so I include it in the first line then i defined its place on Arduino in the third line, all my other integers for motors and the time and distance for ultrasonic sensor.

2. I set up every pin and got servos to start from 0

3. defined my two loops one for the sevvos that will keep it moving and the other for sensors that will move motors.

4. here comes the if condition that will control the wheels to move in other direction to avoid obstacle

Project Integration & Testing

7- Demonstrate with text and visuals how did you integrate the project’s modules together? What are the testing results? (Include a Demo video separately, showing a proof of functionality)

Mounting components already in fusion make it way easier and gave a real final outcome, thanks to GRABCAD i got most of my components.

the first test of the minimum feature

WhatsApp Video 2024-03-14 at 7.25.56 AM.mp4

the first time it all started getting togerher

Demo video

VID20240312150813.mp4

Sharing & Collaboration

8- Did you ask for feedback? What are the ideas that others have contributed or suggested? What was someone else’s idea that you built upon? How did you help your peers? How did your peers help you?

Yup, so many times, it was a very long and exhausting journey, one of really good feedbacks was my peer telling me that the delay in motion is clearly due to the order of my code.

+ there was may changes that kept happening, in the design process mainly, I got so many help getting it all together especially by learning more and about mounting every component right from my instructors and peers.

Overcoming Challenges

9- When you got stuck, what/who did you turn to? At what point did you have to pause to research or learn more before moving on? What are some mistakes, pitfalls, or challenges that others can avoid if they were doing this project?

I got stuck so many times, the one time with coding me and my peer figured out the problem but didn't know how to actually fixing it, so thanks to open source community I found a very useful article about integrating void loops together.

+ in the process of wiring all the things up, If it weren't for Abdelrahman i properly would've been burnt the Arduino, as he was the one telling me about the LM317 dc- dc liner convertor.

+ I've done sooooo many mistakes, starting with the balance of the car and the amount of components on it, as it's really to much for it, pulse I was aiming for something really artistic in the first place, which was not the very right thing to do while dealing with all of this new components, that's why I'm aiming for making a less artistic, more functioning encloser.

+ I knew too late that the battery is kind of weak for my project it always functions better using DC directly.

Future Work

10- If you had more time, what is one thing you would change/ Do next in your project?

change the encloser entirely, hoping that it all function more better.

Final Project Design Files

the code .ino

Design in fusion 360 . f3d

the 3D printed joint. STL

the laser cut parts .DXF

tinker cad circuit

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