Blog #1 - Solar Powered Remote Controlled Lawn Mower
Question 1:
Over the time period of January 19 to February 5 2022, Team 19 focused on purchasing and receiving all of the main components for our execution plan. All of the major components have been received, and each part has been verified to be in working order (to ensure we do not need to return anything). We have split up our project into multiple subsystems: remote control, power, drive/steering, and cutting. The wheels and wheel hubs have been test fitted with our drive motors, and the motors have been tested with our battery and RC system. The live feed camera and monitor/receiver connect and display properly. The cutting weed eater has been tested, and cuts grass effectively for our purposes.
Question 2:
One obstacle our team faced in that same time period has been finding the exact connectors to connect our solar panel to our main battery. We knew this would be an issue, but decided to focus on main components first. The solution is an inexpensive wiring kit (~$20), which will be plug and play for our project. We also had to discuss where the best location is for actual construction of our prototype so everyone could be present, and our group member Michael is allowing us to do the bulk of the assembly at his apartment since it is the most central place for our group. For any intensive tasks (especially cutting tests), Steven will be taking care of that at his house since he has a full garage of tools.
Question 3:
The work period of February 6th to the 19th will be our main assembly phase. We have tested most of the subsystems independently, but this time period will be used to put everything together. There will be some bumps along the way, with the main foreseeable issue being figuring out the best electrical connectors for each component as well as if any extra parts will be needed (resistors for example, may be necessary to limit the power from the main battery to the cutting motor).
Figure 1 below shows our current parts list, as well as the total pricing of each component. Note the “Purchased?” and “Received?” columns on the far right: these columns indicate that we have purchased AND received all components with the exception of the final electrical connectors.
Shown in Figure 2 is one of the drive-wheel setups. The planetary gear motor is attached to the metal wheel hub, which is fastened with a rubber off-road pneumatic tire. For our mower, we will have one of these assemblies on each side of the device to double as drive and steering.
Figure 2: Planetary gear with wheel hub and off road tire
The live feed camera system that will help us effectively control the mower is shown, functioning, in figure 3. The screen is a wireless monitor with a built-in receiver, and the camera being held is a camera-transmitter combo powered by its own 1S LiPo battery.
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