This week focused primarily on circuitry and programming, as electronics and control are the final pieces of the project as it comes together.
Unfortunately, it turned out that the solder job done on the servo driver was faulty; due to some misunderstandings and a lack of experience, the jumper cables did not properly connect to servo driver, and the driver was damaged beyond use. After turning to a more experienced upperclassmen for assistance, a new circuit was built on a larger breadboard.
Through this new circuit, communication with servos was achieved, signifying a large step forward in programming - coding the program is actually the easier step when compared to establishing communication. Through the breadboard circuit that had been set up, some simple code was written to communicate varying frequencies to a servo, which results in a faster or slower servo rotation. A video demonstrating this can be seen below.
In addition to these advances, minor changes were made to the lift system: a groove was cut into the backboard, giving the ball a slot to ride on; the rubber tubing was glued to the PVC column; and a ramp was affixed to behind the backboard, which allows the obstacles to exit the lift shaft and enter the play area again.
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