Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
1 Ant-weight, 3D Printed Battlebot
Justin Leong
Yuxuan Nan
Zilong Jiang
Haocheng Bill Yang design_document1.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
presentation1.pdf
proposal1.pdf
proposal2.pdf
video
# Ant-weight Battlebot - Scooper

# Group members
- Yuxuan Nan(yuxuann2)
- Justin Leong (jyleong2)
- Zilong Jiang(zjian4)

# Problem
The issue at hand is an Ant-weight, 3D Printed Battlebot Competition in which each team wants to win. There are certain constraints of the Battlebots’ design in order to be eligible and win. To win the competition, the goal of a battlebot is to outlast or destroy the opponent team’s battlebot. Different teams will have different designs, meaning a battlebot designed for winning must take into account as many factors to withstand and outlast the competition.

# Solution
We decided upon developing a 3D Printed Bluetooth-controlled battle bot powered by an STM32 microcontroller. The Battlebot communicates with a PC via a Bluetooth module, enabling wireless command and control. It is equipped with two DC motors driven by H-bridge circuits for precise movement and a ramp-shaped weapon system for engaging in battles. The STM32 manages motor control using GPIO and PWM, while the weapon system utilizes GPIO or I2C protocols for activation. The bot integrates real-time communication, robust motor control, and weapon functionality, offering an engaging and functional design. My goal is to create a responsive and competitive robot for dynamic competitions.

# Solution Components

## DriveTrain
The drivetrain of our battlebot will utilize two DC motors with high torque to power two of our rear wheels making this a rear wheel drive robot. We have decided upon a brand of motor that will output 0.58kgf.cm of torque as well as have a max of 200 RPM in rotational speed. The rear wheels will consist of high-friction wheels that allow for lots of traction to handle the speed. Additionally, we will combine this with an omni-directional front wheel to allow for easy directional movement if the weight capacity allows it. Furthermore, we will combine this with an H-bridge circuit to allow control, stability, and power for the battlebot.

## Weapon and Chassis
The weapon and chassis are required to be 3D printed according to the list of approved plastic types. Ideally if possible, we would like to use ABS plastic as this would be the best in terms of weight and durability but have opted for PLA+ plastic as it is easier to print designs. PLA+ plastic also offers decent strength and isn’t as brittle as the other provided plastics. For weapon design, we will be creating a Skid Bucket type weapon that can potentially be moved up and down using pneumatics to attack other battlebots (both for ramming and slamming other battlebots). In terms of chassis, we have decided to use two motors for rear wheel drive box-ish battlebot as well as an omni-directional front wheel to make steering easy.

## Power system
In the power system module, this includes regulators and converters to different electronics, the battery, and a monitor for the battery with a switch/relay. For the battery, we have decided upon a 12V NiMh battery as this can supply consistent and reliable power. We will also include a short circuit detection that will turn off the battery for safe practice.

## Control system
The control system will be powered by an STM32 microcontroller, which will manage motor control and wireless communication. Using a Bluetooth module, the bot will communicate with a PC, enabling real-time control with minimal latency. The STM32 will leverage GPIO and PWM to provide precise speed and directional control for the motors, ensuring responsiveness and accuracy during battles.

# Criterion For Success:

Our battlebot would be considered successful if we can control the battlebot via Bluetooth relatively well. This would include having both motors work separately for steering as well as being able to make each motor have different amounts of throttle inputted. Additionally, we would like our weapon to work well enough to be considered functional during a match.

Master Bus Processor

Clay Kaiser, Philip Macias, Richard Mannion

Master Bus Processor

Featured Project

General Description

We will design a Master Bus Processor (MBP) for music production in home studios. The MBP will use a hybrid analog/digital approach to provide both the desirable non-linearities of analog processing and the flexibility of digital control. Our design will be less costly than other audio bus processors so that it is more accessible to our target market of home studio owners. The MBP will be unique in its low cost as well as in its incorporation of a digital hardware control system. This allows for more flexibility and more intuitive controls when compared to other products on the market.

Design Proposal

Our design would contain a core functionality with scalability in added functionality. It would be designed to fit in a 2U rack mount enclosure with distinct boards for digital and analog circuits to allow for easier unit testings and account for digital/analog interference.

The audio processing signal chain would be composed of analog processing 'blocks’--like steps in the signal chain.

The basic analog blocks we would integrate are:

Compressor/limiter modes

EQ with shelf/bell modes

Saturation with symmetrical/asymmetrical modes

Each block’s multiple modes would be controlled by a digital circuit to allow for intuitive mode selection.

The digital circuit will be responsible for:

Mode selection

Analog block sequence

DSP feedback and monitoring of each analog block (REACH GOAL)

The digital circuit will entail a series of buttons to allow the user to easily select which analog block to control and another button to allow the user to scroll between different modes and presets. Another button will allow the user to control sequence of the analog blocks. An LCD display will be used to give the user feedback of the current state of the system when scrolling and selecting particular modes.

Reach Goals

added DSP functionality such as monitoring of the analog functions

Replace Arduino boards for DSP with custom digital control boards using ATmega328 microcontrollers (same as arduino board)

Rack mounted enclosure/marketable design

System Verification

We will qualify the success of the project by how closely its processing performance matches the design intent. Since audio 'quality’ can be highly subjective, we will rely on objective metrics such as Gain Reduction (GR [dB]), Total Harmonic Distortion (THD [%]), and Noise [V] to qualify the analog processing blocks. The digital controls will be qualified by their ability to actuate the correct analog blocks consistently without causing disruptions to the signal chain or interference. Additionally, the hardware user interface will be qualified by ease of use and intuitiveness.

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