e.raichev30

I started to polish the design but I still don’t have the gear relation tool figured out. I don’t know what’s is the problem with it because I tried many times, though with no success. I was also able to add minimum and maximum degree of rotation, however there are some parts that overlap and I should fix.

Overall I am happy with what I have done so far with the gripper mechanism, but I forgot one thing - I have to think of a way so the whole arm is power by one small servo. While, at first, it might not look as a hard task to do, though it will get complicated very fast.

I have to get back to work so wish me luck ;D.

I started working on the gripper of the robotic arm. So far so good though I still need to design the actual part, of the mechanism, that will be holding and lifting objects :D.

Also I want to figure out how to use the gear relation function in OnShape in order to have a better understanding of how the gripper will look and look like.

Forgot to mention that the mechanism will be power by either on or two SG92R servos that have 180 degrees of rotation available (I will be used only 90 of the ;D).

Lately I have been just doing CAD and I am close to finalising the design.
I have made the two arms and the only things left to do are to make some little adjustments on the both the big and the small arms and also I have to design a gripper.

Overall I am pretty happy with the results and I feel very proud of myself because I have been using OnShape for like only 4 months and for the limited amount of time I have had to learn this software I feel very satisfied.

P.S. It is also pretty easy to assemble and disassemble ;D

Yesterday I wrote some code that allows for two continuous servos to be controlled by a joystick. The way it works - If the joy stick is a bit to the <- left the, servo will rotate slowly, if the joystick is to its maximum left position it will go fast (the same applies for the other direction). I also designed a case fore the servo that will work as a base of the arm.
Today after I had the parts 3D printed I finally had the opportunity to test my code. Overall it does not work ;c ?!?!?!!! It has al ot of lag and noise (at least that is what I think the problem is).

I will continue working on the code until I get it working and maybe try to finalize the CAD for the arm ig ;p.

My items package arrived and included - ESP32s x2, Laser Diodes x3, DC Plug x1. I am really happy that the items arrived because they, especially the ESP32s, will unlock new possibilities like, using the Arduino IDE app which is much better than the laggy SHH I was using before with my Raspberry Pi. Also this allows me to start doing my programming on C++ which is much, much, more faster that Python!

Anyways, I have been trying out the capabilities of my new microcontroller and I am really pleased with what I was able to do, having in mind the short experience I have with it:

1. I was able to control the X and Y servos with my joystick with less code and almost NO jitter.
2. I was also able to control one Continuous Servo with speed control - If I move the joystick a little to the left the servo will move slowly and if I move it to the most right position it will go fast! Though there is a problem. Sometimes the servo moves even if I am not touching the joystick.

Today I did some more research and it turns out that it is not possible to control servos with C++ on a raspberry pi the way I imagined it. So I purchased two ESP32s. I did my research and I found that they are great for this kind of stuff and for future projects. I expect them to arrive soon but till then I will be converting my .py code to .cpp that is what the ESP32 uses. For that I installed the Arduino IDE cause I read that is the best GUI for this microcontroller.

P.S. I did, or at least tried, to do some cable management and I also purchased three laser diodes to attach to the THUNDER POINTER.

Firstly I tried to program PID but I failed miserably and gave up (only for now). So I decided to redo my code in C++ because my cousin told me it is MUCH faster than python. I did use AI for the conversion but I also spend like two hours studying it. I made comments on almost every function and if statement. I can say that I am starting to know the basics of C++ and I can’t wait to be able to actually use it for PID!

Today I was able to make my program open 20 terminal windows. It was supposed to have a hot key that when pressed it would have stopped the program but… I didn’t really succeed in doing that so that’s a thing for ano

I am so happy with the progress I made today :D. I was able to run both of the servos: ( X –>; and Y –> ), at the same time. This is thanks to the custom external power supply I soldered for one of the servos.
As I said in the previous declog, the code was almost a copy and paste though I had to tweak some parameters. I also started to work on some stick drift calibration but haven’t tested it, yet.

Today I was able to control my X servo and I also got 180 degrees of rotation (which is the maximum for the SG92R. I am really happy that succeeded to do that because the code for the Y servo will be almost like a copy-paste. Though my servo really jitters a lot so that is something I should fix. And I really need to buy some type of a wall adapter so I can power my servos separately from the raspberry pi.
Overall really happy till now and can’t wait for tomorrow to see what if I can start up the Y servo right up.

Today I worked on my code trying to make it to move ONE of my TWO servos and it worked but not how I wanted it to. Instead of getting a 0 to 180 degree action I was able to get like only have of it so that is something to put on the list for fixes. Another thing is “noise”. I think there is something disturbing the servos input because it doesn’t stop vibrating when I try to run the program.
Overall I am happy with what I did today and I can see that it is starting to come all together! :D

Today I was able to print the TPU cover I designed yesterday. Unfortunately it didn’t work because it was too thick so I should make it thinner. I also managed to get my code to work. For what it is, is not much but I am still happy because it works and it took me a lot of time and effort to write it.
What my project can do, for now ofc, is that it converts the analog output from a Joystick to a digital using a ADC7830. Then the code reads the output and prints it in the console.

Today I wrote some code which I haven’t tested, yet. That’s because my Raspberry Pi is not responding :(. Though I hope I can test it tomorrow. I also designed a TPU Cover for my joystick holder.