2/10/14 Update

The new battery came in and it doesn't seem to work. We spent most of the time trying to move the wires around and get the battery to work.

We got some stuff ready for Aggieland Saturday

• Created a 3x3 maze
• Set up an IR sensor to a multimeter so students could watch the output voltage change with distance
• Contacted Chris Jones and secured us a power supply that could run the robot

2/3/14 Update

Progress

• Purchased the battery and charger
http://www.all-battery.com/111volt-3000mahli-polypack.aspx
http://www.amazon.com/Tenergy-Smart-Charger-Li-ion-Battery/dp/B008UCOMC2

• The sample code for the start button that Carlo found didn't work properly; asking Senior Design teams how they did it later in the week
• Michael and Luke started working on the IR sensor testing
• Alan, Hunter, and Tan started working on the maze mapping/search the maze for wall information function

More Senior Design questions for Wednesday:

• When making a fake maze: how to populate the 16x16 array with our fake information for the squares; this information may also be used for the maze mapping part of the code.
• How to change from one spot in the array to the next spot. The original idea was to increment/decrement the x or y coordinate, but the array already has a "coordinate" system, so we want to use that one instead. 

Aggieland Saturday (2/15/14)
We are requested to have a demo of the robot. Since it cannot map the maze yet, possibly have the robot move in a set pathway and not use the sensors.

Front: http://imgur.com/jnrtdi9
Back: http://imgur.com/62C4J1U

1/27/14 Update

Software
Functions that definitely need work:

• Algorithm to explore the maze; how should it prioritize the mapping
• How will the bot get back to the start of the maze after mapping
• Function for keeping centered throughout the maze

Functions written but not perfect:

• Recursion algorithm for solving the maze after mapping; it outputs a string of directions
• Execute the shortest path to the goal
• Square's goal state; if the robot is in one of the middle 4 squares, the goal state changes to 1

Hardware
We need a battery with 9~18 Volts and 2~3 Amperes to support the stepper motors. After getting the battery, the bot will not be tethered to the power supply!

Data sheet for DC converter: http://www.cui.com/product/resource/v78xx-1500.pdf

• Max Vin = 18V
• Min Vin = 6.5V

Data sheet for motor driver: http://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/drv8805.pdf

• Max Vm and Vclamp = 60V
• Min Vm = 8.2V

To Do List

• Think of ways to test mapping algorithm; can we print out the informational vectors?
• Create informational vectors for a fake maze; test recursion algorithm; can it find the shortest string
• Research and purchase battery
• Get IR sensors set up and create graphs of distance and voltage