Skip to main content

Week 17 (Feb. 6, 2019): Continuing Spartan Superway, Final Round


Today was our first official Superway session following the move out of the old warehouse, our return from Winter Break, and the start of the 2nd semester of senior project. We had our first SPARTAN-Superway meeting as a whole class; Dr. Furman and Ron debriefed us on the updates since last semester, amenities of the new facility, and the ultimate goal of the project upon the conclusion of this semester.

Following our meeting, the class broke off into our three main teams (Full-Scale, Half-Scale, and Small-Scale). Our Small-Scale Team reconvened and set up a general shape and overall layout of the small-scale track, consisting of the cement posts and the rails. We also sifted through most of the boxes throughout the facility to collect and organize all of our equipment.

For the Small-Scale Controls Team, we recapped (and slightly readjusted) our plan for the first few weeks of the semester leading up to Presentation #1 on February 27.
  1. Ensure induction charger works (Completed)
  2. Make barebone circuit, including everything except the current amplifier. We would then show our prototype circuit to Dr. Furman and ask for some assistance with the SMT current amplifier.
  3. Implement revised Python code for GUI.
  4. Ensure successful Serial communication between the Arduino XBee and Raspberry Pi XBee.
    • Real-time location of each pod car
    • Distance between passenger pick-up location and closest pod car
    • Distance between passenger pick-up location and passenger drop-off location 


Over the Winter Break, I received: (1) the 12V, 600mA induction charger, (2) the LiPo mini-charger, and (3) a 3.7V LiPo battery. I ensured that they all do work by making a prototype of our circuit final: 5V power supply -> induction transmitter -> induction receiver -> LiPo mini-charger + 3.7V LiPo -> 12V [brushed] DC motor.

To recapitulate and clarify, the induction charger will be used to charge the LiPo battery.

I did not receive the 5V, 2A charger (our backup) until recently, so I still have to test it out. I would like this induction charger to work, so that we can charge the LiPo battery at a respectable 2A.

Running the 12V DC motor with the 3.7V LiPo battery made it rotate very quickly. So, we might end up simply using a 3.7V battery, as opposed to the larger 7.4V battery. However, we will have to use a smaller PWM value to tone down the speed, as we do not want the pod car to be running too fast.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Week 30 (May 8, 2019): Prototype Evaluation Day, Final Circuit, Incorporating 3D printed parts, Final Presentation, Posters, & Maker Faire

Today, we held Prototype Evaluation Day. Like the rest of the senior project classes, the advisor walks around the classroom, evaluating the senior project apparatuses, asking the student teams to demonstrate their devices, and explain their design, though processes, and results. Dr. Furman and Ron examined and inspected the Full-Scale model, then the Half-Scale model, and lastly, us, the Small-Scale Team. We had completed our circuit to power one pod car and one of the two induction charging stations prior to Evaluation Day, so we were able to successfully demonstrate the pod car driving around the track as well as the induction charging. While we were still troubleshooting issues with the tablet’s Raspberry Pi communicating with the Arduino, the Arduino is still capable of operating on its own, so we could at least demonstrate the motor driving the pod car around the track and through the offline stations. Depicted below is our final circuit that powers the pod car: Dep...
Post a Comment
Read more

Week 20 (Feb. 27, 2019): Power Electronics – Battery & Amplifier

Since last week, I have been working on the current amplifier for the induction charger. We decided to abandon using the TPS53313 step down voltage regulator-current amplifier IC (rated at a maximum of 6A continuous output current) because we found that supplying +5V to a 3.7V LiPo battery was possible and safe. Additionally, charging a LiPo battery at 6A was found to be dangerous; the battery should be charged at 25% of the capacity rating (.25 x C), or .25 x mAh. In the case of the 6600mAh battery, it should be recharged at a rate of 1.65A or less. The last reason is that dealing with a surface mount device (SMT) is a bit difficult. I started out using a BJT NPN transistor (model: 2N3904), something I was most familiar with. However, its datasheet states that it has a 200 mA maximum continuous collector current rating. This is a significantly low current. Most, if not all, fast charging adapters today have a 2 A charging rate. While I don’t want to charge the LiPo batteri...
Post a Comment
Read more

Week 0 (Aug. 23, 2018): Beginning Spartan Superway

Hello, and welcome to my Spartan Superway blog! My name is Patrick Barrera, and I am a senior mechanical engineering student with a focus in mechatronics. Once I graduate, I hope to go into at least one of my areas of interest: electronics, programming, biotechnology, and machine learning. Some of my hobbies include staying in shape by working out and biking, doing DIY electronic and coding projects, and spending time with my family. Working on the Spartan Superway project interests me because I would like to be a part of the future ... the future of transportation, the future of technology, and the future of society. I like working in interdisciplinary teams, especially with focuses in mechanical design as well as mechatronics, because I am able to learn things from outside my areas of knowledge. I would also like to expand my knowledge and skill set into areas that I do not know, such as welding and other machine tools, and to get hands-on experience with the concepts I learned fro...
Post a Comment
Read more