Bi Weekly Update 12 Red tracks, Cots parts

Done:

Finished picking pinouts so cots parts work with discovery
Tested Camera, Motor Control, Boost and Wifi
Cut out sides to hold Red tracks
Constructed and added Red Tracks

Summary:

A little late adding this update. I had some issues getting the camera working correctly, as well as the wifi. But everything is working great now. Picking the right pins and such. Added a bunch more logging output. Drove around quite a bit. The red tracks are a little bumpy because of the outside teeth, but it does not shake the video feed too much.

This version is going on the shelf as “done”. It has on/off switch and battery charger so its a working model that I can pull down and use whenever I want to demo the functionality. It has two batteries 18650, so it should last for hours before needing to recharge. I really didnt like the way the wifi is, I think its too fragile, but everything else is really rock solid.

The 3d printed sprockets are so-so, as well as the wooden sides. They do their job but I think there is a much better way of doing all of that. I want to make the inner side plate of the tracks simply extend from the regular side plate. This removes an entire part and a bunch of nuts and bolts. The outer track plate is not really required, we could simply have a U bolt sort of arrangement so the axels for the sprocket and bearings are looped back into the inner side plate. This way it will not be so wide, and there will be less parts and pieces. But this may be bad because you can catch your fingers in the track, or the track can come off.

Goals for next Bi-Weekly:

  • top circuit gets through layout
  • android application works well
  • user settings saved in bot flash
  • ordered new pcbs (connection, comm inventek, comm esp8266)
  • layout esp8622 board so we can have alternative wifi

Thanks for reading !

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