KINECTing to the future

Finalizations to code

2012-12-08T16:22:00.001-05:00

Finalized the code, and added a bunch of comments. Also added some error messages to make error management easier. Ready to rock on Monday!

Report done, final testing done

2012-12-02T16:15:00.000-05:00

Finished the report today, and finished the system testing. Some small errors in calibration were found and the necessary changes were made. Also did full system test which worked out well. All thats left to do is the board, and possibly paint the robot if there is time.

Robot build complete

2012-11-21T16:13:00.000-05:00

Completed the robot today, added in all the servos and moving parts. Going to do begin testing systems when Alex gets back from Hawaii next week. Also began the written report.

Arduino BT no work.

2012-11-18T16:09:00.000-05:00

Finished the arduino code today, but the computer app froze every time we started it and connected it to the Arduino BT. We determined that this was caused by setting the Baud rate on the serial port to 115200. Therefore we had to switch to the Arduino Diecimilia as it's required Baud rate is 9200, which, for some reason, does not cause the program to freeze up. Will need to look into this.

VB Code = DONE

2012-11-15T21:30:00.001-05:00

Officialy DONE CODING THE VB APP!!!!!!!!!
All that's left is to write up the arduino code and to finish off the robot itself.
Will post codes soon for the public to enjoy. :)

Moar Prototype pics

2012-11-07T18:23:00.001-05:00

Prototype pics

2012-11-05T21:35:00.003-05:00

Pics of the prototype

Arduino BT - Serial Communications test

2012-11-04T15:37:00.000-05:00

Today we tested the serial communications of the Arduino BT. I whipped up a quick program to simply turn a light on and off on the board. Initially, it didn't work because the serial port was set to the wrong frequency. I tested it and it now works on the new frequency.

We also did some work on the design today as well. We have a pretty good idea on how the gearing system for the arm will work, as well as the setup for the steering and wheel base. Going to build a prototype soon.

Thats all!

Midterms are done, Time to get back to work

2012-10-27T10:51:00.001-04:00

Ahhhhhhh, almost done with midterms, one more to go next week.

So today I finished up the code finally. Added in the Arduino communication stuff and now we're almost ready to go! Going to a small prototype later to test it out with the servos and see if we can get this show on the road!

Long time no see :P

2012-10-15T19:58:00.001-04:00

Sooooo, been playing around with Coding4Fun's KinectSDKQuickstarts, particularly the Skeletal Tracker in C#. I have set up a basic grid to to use for reference when controlling the stacking bot. Doing the creation of the window in the C# program because the VB program is yielding an invalid mark up error when I try to edit the MainWindow.xaml. Whatever, still making progress!

Cardboard prototyping; because metal and wood are too mainstream

2012-10-07T11:14:00.002-04:00

Cardboard (Yes, cardboard) prototype of our robot. Built so we can get an idea of how to write the code that will drive the robot. So far so good!

TIme to rewrite the old VB

2012-10-02T20:35:00.000-04:00

Ugh, updated to the latest Kinect SDK. No i have to rewrite most of the original Visual Basic code as all the references I've used have changed. This is going to be fun.

Servos are Here!!!!

2012-09-26T18:30:00.002-04:00

Look what I got in the mail today...

Yes I know the photo is upside down, too lazy to fix it

Design is almost done!

2012-09-23T18:28:00.000-04:00

Design is almost done, we decided on the type of steering configuration we needed and almost finished deigning the finished product! Also have a couple of surprises added into our project, which you'll see at our booth!

WHEEEEEW

Starting to design the robot!

2012-09-22T21:51:00.000-04:00

Tommorow, we shall begin the design phase of our science project for this year. Dont bother trying to copy us if you go to kuper, we have already been approved. Essentialy, we are building a small vehicle with an arm on top that will be able to pick stuff up and cary it.

Cant wait to see what we come up with for our design!