Project Logs

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• Project Reflection: Future Improvements

  Lark • 2 days ago • 0 comments

  As we have completed this project, I just wanted to note some of the changes I would make if I were to do this project again. While this was a super fun project, and I'm very proud of how it turned out, as a software engineer, this was my first time making a physical object as part of a very small team, so there are definitely areas for improvement.

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• Instructions and Files uploaded

  Lark • 2 days ago • 0 comments

  As we've reached the end of our project, complete instructions and files have been uploaded! The files contain the 3D models, in both 3D printable and editable formats, along with the updated wiring diagram and code for use with Arduino Cloud. Instructions are included in the files, and copied onto the Hackaday page with photos for convenience.

  BOM has also been updated (but it's contained everything of note for a while now). We also added a pic of the complete robot in a few places. Project Logs are mostly complete too (although there will be at least one more)!

• Late Update: Scheduling via Arduino Cloud

  Lark • 2 days ago • 0 comments

  On Mar 8, we were able to successfully connect the bot to the Arduino Cloud service to run the motor on a schedule!

  We initially were going to use Adafruit, but in debugging issues with that, I stumbled upon Arduino Cloud, which is much more user friendly--it's made especially for Arduino, handles all WiFi connecting and time tracking, and generally has more features than Adafruit for the dashboard. They also have an app, so it's super convenient.

  The full details are in the instructions page, but we were able to use the CloudSchedule feature to set times for the bot to open and close the blinds. For testing, we had this running about once a minute, but it is very easy to change the times and can be set to run once a day.

  Here's what our dashboard looks like:

• Late Update: Fully Assembled

  Lark • 3 days ago • 0 comments

  Most components were affixed with command strips. The limit switch was hot-glued in place, and the motor is zip-tied. Wires were also zip-tied to the board for convenience. We also took some time decorating with washi tape and paint pens, for fun :)

• Housing Design Underway

  Lark • 03/04/2025 at 02:12 • 0 comments

  The mounting system for the main components (gear, stepper motor, limit switch) has been designed for 3d printing. The current plan is to use zipties to fix the motor, and hot glue to fix the limit switch. The plate will be attached to the wall with command velcro strips.

  The motor driver, Arduino, and possibly the breadboard all still need to be mounted. 

• Wiring Diagram

  Lark • 03/04/2025 at 01:58 • 0 comments

  Wiring Diagram so far! It looks like the enable pin allows us to cut power to the driver, so we won't need a relay. Note that the driver we're using is actually the DM542--this is just what was available in Fritzing. Additionally, since the only reason we have a breadboard is to ground everything, we may look at alternative ways to connect those wires.

• Motor and Limit Switch Working

  Lark • 02/19/2025 at 06:13 • 0 comments

  The basics of the motor and limit switch have been achieved! Currently, the motor spins until the limit switch is pressed once, and then stops forever:

  in the gif below, the motor makes 1 full rotation, waits for 1 second, and repeats until the limit switch is pressed.

  It can even tell us how many steps it took, which in the future can help us calibrate to the length of the blinds string.

  This uses a NEMA 17 motor and a DM542 motor controller, which unfortunately is massive. We initially had a smaller one, but it shorted during testing :( 

• Weeks late: Basic Housing for Gear

  Lark • 02/19/2025 at 06:05 • 0 comments

  This is a couple of weeks late, but the basic housing around the gear intended to keep the blinds cord from escaping the gear has been prototyped!

  Shown: pulling the blinds in either direction without the cord jamming or otherwise coming free.

  This will need to be mounted for a full-scale test, but so far it is promising :)

• Gear Prototyping Begins

  Lark • 01/25/2025 at 03:48 • 0 comments

  This week we began modeling and 3D printing the gear that will pull the cord to open/close the blinds. 

  The first iteration, in green, was based on a thingiverse project; however, the beads on the Caltech blinds are much smaller and the holes were too shallow to have any chance of applying actual force to the cable. 

  The second iteration, in light blue, made the holes deeper to account for this, but not enough tolerance was added, so the beads wouldn't go very far in and would get stuck if they did. The chamfers added to the slots to ensure the string didn't get caught on corners also were too small to 3D print correctly, rendering them useless.

  The third (and current) iteration, in dark blue, added more tolerance to the holes and widened the slot for the string. It also has larger chamfers on the corners. This works great so far!

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