Thesis:
I am still working on the opening parts of my thesis, I am following my study guide to determine exactly what I need to discuss in the part of the literature. It is important to outline everything that this research project covers but I also want to include the approaches I implemented as I think it quite an important part of the research process. I also need to work on my acknowledgements as I have a lot of people to thank for their insights and help with my project. I will look into the most appropriate format for this section as I really want to include as much info as I can and exactly who has helped in my research.
Practical Project:
This session is focused on the operation of the fingers working together. Each individual finger is independently rigged up to a dedicated 9kg spektrum servo. To transfer the pull/torque of each servo effectively each strand has its own path supported via pulleys. The pulley system works really well, I have used miliput to keep the L brackets I used to support the pulleys in place. I chose this method over themoplastic as I think it will bond better with the surface of the aluminium plates. I have come to the conclusion that miliput is great for keeping things in place that may need to be re-positioned during the setting process and themo plastic is best used when securing elements that dont need extra manipulation due to its very quick solidifying process.
Another thing I have noticed is that the hand actually has a lot of grip in it, I did of experimentation getting the robotic hand to grip various objects and it can hold things if placed in the palm of it hand then let go of them. It does however struggle to pick up objects as it does not have any grip on the ends of the fingers. I do not intend to adapt the hands to include this it is merely an observation that they have a lot of power in them for something that is made of plastic cables ties and fishing wire.
Two fingers working together
Internal workings of hand system
all finger operation using spektrum controller.
Feelings: I am very happy with the robot at the moment, it is really starting to come together well and the hand feels well...like a robots hand.
Evaluation: This sessions has been, for lack of a better word..amazing. I really have enjoyed seeing this project come to life and see my kids enjoy the project and help in controlling and playing with it. I really think its something that they will remember doing and I hope they have enjoyed the journey so far just as much as I have. In terms of progression things are moving on at a really fast rate, I am starting to put together the arm for the right hand of the robot using the same structure as the left. I am going over to uni soon so I am trying to decide what part of the robot to take over first. The head seems the most likely option as it is now complete, but then again I need to work on neck alignment and testing, which would be a lot easier here in my workshop than in the post grad room at uni.
Analysis: The current situation of the project make sense to me, it is important that I now get my thesis finished and spend the next few days checking my spelling and proof read what I can. I will not lie this is not my strongest area at all, but I will try my best to go through it as thoroughly as I can with what tools I have to hand. I really do not want to blow this whole thing over a few spelling mistakes as I really want the project to be taken seriously as an academic study.
Conclusion: In conclusion, I am really happy with how the project has turned out so far. I keep looking back over things and remember some of the issues I had in my last project and how I used my reflective space to over come those issues. In light of this I am going to purchase some back up servos, leads and batteries for the robot as I feel these are the weaker elements of the project as they have in the past proven to be unpredictable.
Action Plan: The action plan for the new few days is to get my thesis finished, then secondly look at programming the fingers.,. well adapting the code at least it should just be a case of altering the start and finish position of each servo.
No comments:
Post a Comment