Embedded Files
The Embedded Systems Robot was a class long project for a class called Intro to Embedded Systems. The premise of this class was to learn about embedded systems primarily through the semester long project of assembling and programming our own robots which had to perform pre-determined tasks. More specifically, this course introduced designing microcontroller-based embedded computer systems using assembly and C programs to control input/output peripherals. This course uses the MSP430FR2355 microcontroller by TI because it is a good teaching tool for learning about peripherals while also being versatile for real world projects.
I enjoyed this class because it was challenging, but also pushed me to learn more practical application of engineering than I had learned from any other class. I had to learn how to troubleshoot software and hardware at the same time, which really pushed me to gain a deeper understanding of the entire system and how the code I was writing translated into component operation.
The project began with receiving an MSP430FR2355 microcontroller, and several custon circuit board designed by my professor. We began the project by soldering on several components and busses that were not placed on the board by a pick-in-place machine. Then we were responsible for testing the boards for defects as they had not been tested after their original assembly.
The image on the right shows one of our first projects, which was to get the LCD backlight to turn on, which would only happen if we had correctly configured the microcontroller ports.
IR Sensor Test and Black Line Interception
IR SensorTest - Black Line Intercept.MOVThe video above shows an IR sensor test. Our bots had to be able to detect a black line so that they could eventually follow the black line autonomously. The first piece of this process was verifying that the sensors could detect a black line and stop the bot when this happened. The values displayed on the LCD represent the color that the IR sensors are detecting. The values displayed on the screen are converted from the IR sensors using an embedded Analog to Digital converter.
Black Line Following
Black Line Following.MOVThe video above shows one of my first sucessful black line following tests. The car was required to autonomously follow a black line using IR sensors to "see" the line. The process shown in this video is the car first moving forward until it sees the black line, stopping on the black line and turning to face it, and then following the black line until it goes around the circle two times. The bot overshot the turn so I had to move it with my hand to keep it on track. In the final demo I do not touch the bot.
Serial Communication Hardware Test
Serial Communications Hardware Test.MOVThe video above shows a serial communication test. The purpose of this test was to verify that serial communications on the robot were functioning correctly. When I press a button, text displays on the screen. There is a jumper that I remove halfway through the test which acts as the connection between the transmit and receive buffers. Removing this pin should stop text from displaying on the screen. I had an issue during an earlier test where removing this jumper did not stop the transmission. This lead me to verify that the message was not hardcoded into the receive buffer, and then to check for shorts in the circuit board. This test helped me discover that there was a short on my circuit board and I was able to replace it with a functional one, which prevented confusion in future tests.
Bot Connects to Wifi
Connect to Wifi.MOVThe video above demonstrates my robot connecting to the school wifi for the first time. This was extremely exciting because the wifi connectivity working was dependent on an entire project dedicated to serial communication working to transmit the IP address to a 3rd party IOT module using ring buffers that could receive one byte at a time. It took lots of work to program the serial communication peripheral to transmit the message and then parse and display the IP address on the LCD.
DAC Troubleshooting
DAC Jumper Issues.mp4The video above shows troubleshooting strategies for the DAC (digital to analog converter) that I made to help my peers. There was an issue with the schematic of the PCB that controls the motors. There are 3 pins next to each other which allow the user to select a voltage source for the motor. A jumper can be put on either side to select either the battery voltage, or a controlled DAC (digital to analog converter) voltage. The schematic had these pins assigned backwards. The video shows how I proved they were backwards, and provided a way to test teh pins using a multimeter.
Embedded Systems Write Ups
Embedded Systems Write Ups
Part of the embedded systems course included creating write ups to document our troubleshooting process. The following documents are the write ups for Project 6 (black line detection), Project 8 (serial communication), and Project 10 (combining all previous projects into a functioning car)
Project 6 Write Up "Black Line Detection"
Write Up 6.docxProject 8 Write Up "Serial Communication"
Write Up 8.docxProject 10 Write Up "Putting it All Together"
Write Up 10.docxCode Samples
Code Samples
The following are code samples from some of the embedded projects. The code sample on the left is the piece of code that controls the IOT module start up, and the code on the right is the bulk of my black line following algorithm.
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