122004 / chekovs_cat

AE1 Design Project for LENGR4117 Cornerstone of Engineering I 2024/25

Chekov's Cat

Northeastern University: London, AE1 Design Project for LENGR4117 Cornerstone of Engineering I 2024/25

Abstract

In this project the task was designing, building, programming, and testing a robot using a Sparkfun Inventor's Kit, jumper wires, and supplies from Northeastern University London’s engineering classroom. These supplies included a pre-cut chassis made of machined polycarbonate with pre-drilled holes and pre-threaded inserts, 3D printed battery holders, a 3D printed ball & caster, both electrical and duct tape, hot glue, zip ties, scissors, snips, velcro, four motor mount screws, a 9V battery and its clip, and extra battery packs. The project was done in groups and there were two members in my group. To program the robot, we used C++ in the Arduino open-source programming environment, utilizing the documentation [1] and example code [2] for the Sparkfun kit. To build the robot, we used the pre-cut and pre-assembled parts along with the instruction booklet provided by Northeastern.There were three challenges for the robot. The first challenge asked us to build and program the robot to drive in a straight line autonomously, “staying within a path, from end to end and stop at the end. The path is 4 feet long and 12 inches wide” [3]. The second challenge asked us to program the robot to run through a specified maze, and we could pre-program the code for this task. The third challenge asked us to “build and program the robot to drive autonomously in an unknown maze, avoiding walls using sensors” [3], and requirements for this final task included:

1. Robot must not push against the walls
2. Robot must not go over the walls
3. Robot should finish the maze within 5 minutes

To access the final project report or answer any queries, please reach out.

References

[1] Arduino. (n.d.). Servo library. Arduino. Available: https://docs.arduino.cc/libraries/servo/. Accessed Dec. 14, 2024.

[2] Sparkfun Electronics, 2023. SparkFun Inventor's Kit V4.1 - Example Sketches (v41) [source code], [Online]. https://github.com/sparkfun/SIK-Guide-Code/tree/master. Accessed Dec. 14, 2024.

[3] Registrar, March 2023. Assessment Brief: Group Work with Essay 2024–25, Registrar VLE/ Faculty Resources Page. Northeastern University London. Accessed Dec. 14, 2024.

If you see something in the example code / RedBoard instructions relevant to the project, know that it may or may not be extremely relevant at a later time (Chekov's gun + Schrödinger's cat).