Weekly Assignment
The weekly assignment was:
propose a final project that integrates the range of units covered, answering:
- what will it do?
- who's done what beforehand?
- what materials and components will be required?
- where will they come from?
- how much will it cost?
- what parts and systems will be made?
- what processes will be used?
- what tasks need to be completed?
- what questions need to be answered?
- what is the schedule?
- how will it be evaluated?
projects can be separate or joint, but need to show individual mastery of the skills covered
where possible, you should make rather than buy the parts of your project
What will it do?
Fab Snail is a little robot for environmental data acquisition. It can be controlled
through a web interface and data coming from the sensors are available in real time.Actually the robot
can sense the amount of light and the temperature of the air.
Who's done what beforehand?
I have found some interesting projects about robotic snail. Of course, they are not
even comparable with my small project but i've used them to get inspired and, if i will have
more time to spend on the snail after the end of FabAcademy, i would like to make some improvements
to Fab Snail and it will be interesting to try some of the solutions proposed in theese projects.
- http://video.mit.edu/watch/robosnail-2845/
- http://spectrum.ieee.org/automaton/robotics/industrial-robots/omnidirectional-robot-moves-like-a-galloping-snail
The first is an
MIT project while the second one is from the
Biomechatronics Lab at Chuo University in Japan.
By the way, there are a lot of other project based on soft robotics and bio-inspired design.
What materials and components will be required?
The following is a complete list of the material that i've used for the project:
Where will they come from?
The components will come from the inventory (if possible) and Fiore
will buy the missing parts. Well....this is not completely true...he said to specify that he has stolen the photon board during a faire.
By the way, i will need only a few components from outside of the inventory because i want to build most of the robot by using the machine and
the processes learned during the FabAcademy.
How much will it cost?
The total is 48€.
What parts and systems will be made?
I will made:
- Frame of the robot
- Shell of the snail
- Wheels of the snail
- Track of the wheels
- Custom brackout PCB for the photon
- Web interface
- Firmware for the board
- Modified servos for continuos rotation
What processes will be used?
I will use the following processes:
- 3D design (frame, shell, wheels, tracks)
- 3D printing (frame, shell, wheels)
- Molding and casting (tracks of the snail)
- Electronic design & production (design and development of the electronics)
- Embedded programming (firmware programming)
- Interface programming (web interface of the snail)
- Networking and communication (the board is WiFi driven)
- Output devices (servomotors)
- Input devices (thermistor, phototransistor)
What tasks need to be completed?
I would like to realize the shell in laminate material. By the way the shape is really complex and full of overhangs
and i still have to figure out how to mill the model into the foam.
Moreover, in my initial concept, i said i would have used only two tracks for the movement, one for the left side and one for the right
(like a tank). I've found really difficult to calculate the distance between the wheels to stretch the track around them so i've decided
to use 4 different tracks for each wheel. In the end, it would be nice if i will be able to go back to my initial idea.
I also want to include another sensor to the snail (humidity?).
What questions need to be answered?
- What could be an efficient movement system?
- What sensors can be added to the snail?
- What is the best material for the frame?
- How can i mill the shape of the shell?
- What Gicaolini's final project actually does?...i still can not understand...
What is the schedule?
- 28 may - 8 june: design the system
- 8 june - 13 june: assembly
- 14 june: testing
- 15 june: presentation
How will it be evaluated?
I will consider the project a success if:
- The robot will move (in all the directions)
- The sensors will react properly to changes (light and temperature)
- The web interface will work (data are visible in real time)
- The snail will be cool as hell!