Integration
One of the hardest parts was bringing together all of the previously independent components into a single cooperative package. Dealing with electrical noise, physical space, and routing the jumble of wires were all problems that took longer than expected, even though we anticipated this would be no trivial task. Often we would find ourselves puzzling over why a circuit worked in isolation, but was gave wacky responses when hooked up to the rest of the system. One of the most unanticipated blockages was when we tried to add weights (two 3 pound dumbbells) to our robot to make it heavier. This required moving all the circuitry around and basically tearing apart our entire robot / rerouting all wires to clear the lower platform for mounting weights. It took a full weekend day to do something so simple, but was worth it in the end because it allowed us to overpower our competition.
Things we learned during integration were:
Things we learned during integration were:
- Ground any large metal parts of your chassis or they will act as an antenna and can screw up your sensing circuitry.
- Make robust connections with your wires. Do it right the first time (solder, Molex, etc.) - it's a nightmare to search around in the nest of wires for which connection has come loose, and even worse to have to take apart the robot to get at those things which have come unplugged.
- Don't attach the adhesive at the bottom of a proto-board until you are SURE you want to place it there. The act of removing it will destroy the proto-board and your circuit. Why on earth did they design them this way?!?
- Think ahead of time about physical layout a wire routing. It's important and it wastes a lot of time when you run out of physical space and have to move things / redo your wiring.
- Use good noise mitigation techniques on your sensor circuits. Twist your wires (motors create shifting magnetic fields!), and connect your sensor circuits as close to ground as possible.