This is the big milestone tenth blog in this design challenge, but there is still a lot of work to do with only 4 weeks left. My LCD PCB finally came back from the being printed, so I can connect up the liquid crystal displays and start programming.
The schematic design and PCB layout were covered in blog 5.
Here is what the bare card looks like:
It is red because that was the lowest cost color at the time of ordering.
Here is what it looks like assembled with connectors for 2 LCDs, 3 sensors, 10 motors, a keypad and the MCU:
Here is what it looks like stacked on the MCU with sensor tile and LCDs:
Here is a quick video showing my first program that ensures I have the connections right for the LCDs:
It is always a great day when a PCB fires up without problems.
I have not been getting as much time as I would like to work on this project - I have had several trips out of the country and I expect a couple more before the project is due. This particular update also had a wasted day on an adventure getting the arduino IDE working on this module.
After installing the latest STM32 cores in the arduino IDE, the compiler was refusing to compile any target programs, including a simple blink. It turns out you need to uninstall previous versions, but this can only be done by setting the json link to some old versioning link. The old versions aren't even visible if you don't set the preferences to this old link. If you run into this issue, you can save a day of deep diving into Google by going to this link: https://github.com/stm32duino/wiki/wiki/Release-Versioning-change
I was hoping to tackle the sensor tile firmware communications this weekend, but I am lucky to get this far, given my schedule, the PCB delivery schedule and my software issues.
Next steps include building the pump control card, connecting some TE Connectivity sensors, some motors, the sensor tile and designing the main bot chassis. I am not sure which will be ready to publish first, but hopefully they will all be tackled soon.
Once all that stuff is working, I will have to get serious with the main GrafittiBot programming task.
Relevant Links
Sixth Sense Design Challenge: About This Challenge
Sixth Sense Design Challenge: Technical Documents
GraffitiBot Project Blogs
Sixth Sense GraffitiBot - blog 1
Sixth Sense - Kit Unboxing and Other Parts - GraffitiBot blog 2
Sixth Sense - Sensor Circuits - GraffitiBot blog 3
Sixth Sense - Interfaces - GraffitiBot blog 4
Sixth Sense GraffitiBot - System Interconnect - blog 5
Sixth Sense GraffitiBot - Wheels & Motors - blog 6
Sixth Sense GraffitiBot - ST Sensor Tile App - blog 7
Sixth Sense - Load Cell PCB - GraffitiBot blog 8
Sixth Sense - Magnetic Angle Sensor - GraffitiBot - Blog 9
Sixth Sense - LCD Interface - GraffitiBot - blog 10
Sixth Sense - Pump Controller - GraffitiBot Blog 11
Sixth Sense Main Drive Motor - GraffitiBot - blog 12
Sixth Sense Motor Controller Mods - GraffitiBot blog 13
Sixth Sense - RTD - GraffitiBot Blog 14
Sixth Sense Mechanical Design - GraffitiBot Blog 15
Sixth Sense GraffitiBot Motor Wiring - Blog 16
Sixthe Sense GarffitiBot - First Dry Run - Blog17
Sixth Sense GraffitiBot Hydraulics - Blog 18
Sixth Sense GraffitiBot Printing Graffiti - Blog 19
Sixth Sense GraffitiBot - Summary - Blog 20
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