Group Assignment:
1) Design a machine that includes mechanism+actuation+automation.
2)Build the mechanical parts and operate it manually.
3)Document the group project.
The group documentation for this week is to be found at this link.
Our project for this week was to build a hands sanitizing station. It's a wooden box with a sonar sensor to detect the proximity of the user's hands, two dc motors that activate two arms that press on sinitizing spray bottles as the sonar goes off, LEDs and an LCD display to guide the user through the procedure.
As a reference model we used this project
.In the machine week project I decided to challenge myself taking care of the programming part. As a first thing I listed all the sensors and components I the machine had:
Then I wanted to use the flow diagram system to write the logics of the code but it ended up a bit confused because of all the sensors in it. So my instructor suggested a very easy and clear way to get through this fase: making a short video in which i explained the functioning of the machine.
This way the path was much more clear for me. I started looking up all the sensor's codes from weeks 9 and 11 to refresh my memory: ultrasonic sensor, LED and the LCD display.
Because I had to combine a lot of sequences in the code I started from the first sensor (the sonar). I wrote a code that would turn on an LED as soon as the sonar detected an object nearby.
Then I added the dc motor and LCD display
In the two videos below you can see the functioning machine:
machine2 from Olivia De Masi on Vimeo.