Jack's Blog for Spartan Superway

For this week, we focused on implementing the transmitter and receivers to communicate with each other by the physical motion of the joystick. We wanted to set up the controls system so that if we push the joystick in the positive x axis, the DC motor would rotate clockwise, and counterclockwise when pushed in the negative y axis. Additionally, Cheuk came up with the idea of incorporating the kill switch by using the clicking feature on the joystick. We decided to gear towards this direction because it would be cost effective since we initially had the idea of creating a separate mechanism. Although we were not successfully able to integrate the joystick and the transreceivers together in the workshop, Cheuk and I met up outside to finish the rapid prototype in time for our presentation. After understanding how the RF24 library worked, we were able to troubleshoot what was initially wrong with our program and get the mechanism to work! Posted below is the video of our rapid prototype w

For this week, we were to work on the wireless joystick since we received the nRF24l01 in the mail. Once we got to the workshop, Cheuk and I worked on the hardware setup of the trans-receiver. After looking at schematic wiring diagram online, we were successfully able to set up the trans-receiver using one Arduino Uno and Arduino Mega 2560. To ensure that transmitter and receivers are working properly, we created a program in which an array of characters would be transmitted and received on the other Arduino using the serial monitor. We downloaded the RF24 library to shorten the length of our code for convenience. Although we were able to successfully set up the hardware, we had trouble programming a working code.

This week, we were able to meet at the workshop and work on our rapid prototype the whole day. During the first hour of the meeting, we discussed which parts we should buy first in order to work on our rapid prototype. Although we had decided on RF modules as a form of wireless communication, we were unsure about which kind to get. After looking for parts online, we came an RF module called nRF24l01. We decided to go with this RF module because we could purchase them on Amazon for $9.99. It comes with 6 nRF24l01. The specs also fit our requirements. The transreceivers are able to communicate up to a range of 15 meters and 7 meters when it's signal is blocked by an obstacle. For the modeling purpose and application of controlling the podcar, we believed this signal range was more than suffice.