Week 8: Preparation for Presentation #2

Following up on last week's meeting, Cheuk and I discussed about the potential forms of wireless communications for the joystick. Within our research, there were 5 types in which we could follow up on. The five form of wireless communications were using WiFi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, GSM/GPS, and RF modules such as transceivers. After researching about the pros and cons of each method, we decided to use RF modules in order for the joystick to communicate wirelessly with the microcontroller. We decided to go with using transmitter and receiver because of its low cost and simplicity. Although wireless communications such as Bluetooth and GSM/GPS would work perfectly fine, we believed for the purpose of just transmitting signal, this would be the best choice. Additionally, if we were to use Bluetooth or a different form of communication, we would have to implement software apps to use. Additionally, the bogie team was able to give us the different type of motors that we should implement. There were three motors initially that the bogie team wanted to integrate into our system but due to the cost, they decided on a cheaper motor. The three motors that they were initially considering were the DLC-28 Liquid Cooled Brushless ($1495), ME1115 Air cooled Brushless ($1150) and the AC-50 Induction ($4500). These high performance motors had more than enough power to drive the podcar but due to our limiting budget, we decided to go with the BLDC-108 Motor. This motor has a rated power of 1.5 KW and is only $165. We followed up on the details and began to work on our presentation for next week. Posted below is the motor that we will be using along with its specs.

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