This Project was sponsored by Texas Instruments and Texas A and M University College of Engineering.

 

 

DSTR stands for Digital Systems Teaching and Research Robot

 

 

This was my first Project at Texas A and M Univerity and it was an amazing experience. 

I was paired with a group of four classmates who had a specific task depending on the kind of major they wanted. 

 

There were four different specifications for each of us in the group

1. Control - Me

2. Embedded software 

3. Assembly

4. Integration

 

 

I was looking to become an electrical engineer so I took over Control and this prepared me for  the projects I did in the future and for my sophomore classes 

 

The purpose of this project was to create a wirelessly controlled car that could collect data such as humidity, Pressure, and Temperature while maneuvering through rough terrain.

 

 

We were given the major parts, unassembled,  for this project but we were given the task to construct and customize it to make the project effective to make it more efficient. 

 

 

At the beginning of the project we received the schematics and we constructed the robot accordingly. We received metal bars 1/2" in Diameter and some ofter pieces for the frame. We to cut the aluminum bars into the respective sizes and drilled the holes. After precisely making the holes we started assembling it the 3-D printed parts. It was a lot of work as if one measurement was off we would be delayed and have to reconstruct or get new pieces. 

 

Although we both had different subgroups we were required to help others. We could not fully assemble because we had to first wire it up and make sure everything was connected correctly.  

 

We then began the electrical work.  I was in charge of connecting all the wires according to the schematics and also soldering the H-bridge to the motors and the cc3200 TI- Launchpad. This was a tasking process because I had to make sure everything was connected appropriately else the robot was not going to function. it took a lot of debugging as I had to make sure the right voltage and current were being delivered by the H - the bridge and to the other pins. After this was done we had to integrate Control  with the  program which was written in Energia ( it is just like the Arduino software)

 

We learned how to program these launchpads and we had to find the appropriate configurations to make the project effective. After successfully programming the robot to drive via an iPhone application and the integrated wifi,  we began data collection. With the help of putty.exe, we retrieved the data from the launchpad ( to serial monitor) to Matlab where we processed it and analyzed it. 

 

This project has a lot of real world application as it is very usually in places that have rough terrain and locomotion is hard. 

 

I really liked this class and it did a lot for me in exposing me. Although the class has been discontinued, I would love to share the knowledge I gained with others. 

 

I have a documentation of everything needed to recreate this project and if you are looking to make it please email me at toennaw@gmial.com

 

I hope you liked it and I am looking forward to hearing from you.

 

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