Upgrade Complete!
Prior to the upgrade, Brake 'Bot had a makeshift electronics payload that looked like the following:
This temporary solution consisted of an Arduino Uno zip-tied to a half-size breadboard, which was in turn attached to another half-size breadboard where all of the circuits resided. This included the SD Card Reader, ultrasonic sensors, and pushbutton switch connections. The white breadboard was attached to the bottom of the electronics housing using industrial strength velcro. Here is a list of the connections:
For some time, this setup worked out well. The electronics didn't budge and I proved that they could survive a rollover (or two). The only issue was that the length of the circuit limited my options for placing the battery, which was seated towards the rear of the electronics housing. This caused Brake 'Bot to be fairly rear-heavy. As a result, the rear-facing ultrasonic sensor generally read reflections off of the ground about 45 cm away.
To remedy this, I figured it would help if I redistributed the weight. And after looking at my initial sensor data (from Sonar Experiment No. 2), I thought it would also be helpful to track the vehicle's orientation during future data collections. So I decided to add a compass as well.
To remedy this, I figured it would help if I redistributed the weight. And after looking at my initial sensor data (from Sonar Experiment No. 2), I thought it would also be helpful to track the vehicle's orientation during future data collections. So I decided to add a compass as well.
I acquired a few things to perform this upgrade:
[ ] SeeedStudio SD Card Shield - $15 / Radio Shack
[ ] CMPS10 Tilt Compensated Magnetic Compass - $35 / Acroname (no longer available at this site as of January 2014)
I only need to add a protoshield with a tiny breadboard for the remaining circuit connections. By stacking all of the boards, I greatly decreased the electronics' footprint. The revised list of connections includes the ultrasonic sensors, the pushbutton switch, and the compass:
[ ] SeeedStudio SD Card Shield - $15 / Radio Shack
[ ] CMPS10 Tilt Compensated Magnetic Compass - $35 / Acroname (no longer available at this site as of January 2014)
I only need to add a protoshield with a tiny breadboard for the remaining circuit connections. By stacking all of the boards, I greatly decreased the electronics' footprint. The revised list of connections includes the ultrasonic sensors, the pushbutton switch, and the compass:
This upgrade should make life easier now that weight can be easily redistributed in the electronics housing. Also, new ultrasonic data can now be analyzed in the context of which direction Brake 'Bot was pointing towards at the time.
Last Update: 5 January 2014