AV Work Night 4.21.16

AV Work Night 

Date: 4.21.16
Students: Grant and Clare
Time: 4:30-7:10 PM
Location: Logan HS
Goal: Solder and wire connections to motor and begin experimenting with the optoisolator relay circuit.

We needed to upgrade the crimped wire connections from motor to switch, fuse and other components with soldered connections. Need to purchase a soldering gun as 12 gauge wire is too big for our small soldering irons. Clare was working hard on those connections.

We needed to start experimenting with our relays to see if we needed to use a relay or a motor driver. Grant worked on soldering up a relay to test on our motor with the optoisolator.

After we wired the test circuit together we took it into the shop to try it on the vehicle. The relay would turn the motor on, but when we varied the current through the opotisolator we could not get the motor to stop. We felt we had the relay wired in wrong as we had a +5 V on our optoisolator and it seemed to be isolating our controller as it should do. 

Grant and Clare working on the relay wire.

More work needs to be done on if a relay or a motor driver would be our best option. Our next test will feature a 18V motor driver to see if we can get a more positive result with output to our motor.

AV Work Night 4.14.16

AV Work Night
Date: 4.14.16
Students: Grant and Owen
Time: 4:00-7:30 PM
Location: Logan HS
Goal: Program and calibrate controller for the AV.

Work progresses on the Autonomous Vehicle. The main goal tonight was to work on configuring the controller for our GPS system. We also started to build the control pod which will allow us place all of our motor drivers, relays, etc... in a central location. This will be moved to and from the vehicle when programming or testing is needed to be done.

We want to make as much of the wiring and connections to various components transparent. This means we don't want to cover the frame with a sheet metal body. We want students to see how the wires and components are hooked together so they can physically trace current paths. In doing so, even after the project is completed the AV continues to be an educational tool in the future.

Grant working on programming the controller. Also pictured is the 30 W solar panel we will incorporate in the charging system.

This is the start of our control pod. It is being mounted on acrylic glass for to allow for transparency. A small breadboard and 12 V relay are being mounted next to the mount for our controller and GPS which will be placed above on the mast.

Welding is coming along on the vehicle frame.The front wheels are mounted and students are getting ready to place the linear actuator  to direct the steering on the frame. A big thanks to Mr. Pitz and his student assistant Tristan for their work on this.

Fabrication of Autonomous Vehicle Frame Begins

Fabrication of Autonomous Vehicle  Frame Begins

Students started to tack weld the frame of the Autonomous Vehicle today. We based the measurements off of the mock up test bed we are using for designing the electronics.

In the picture below you see Tristan tack welding the tube stock which forms the base of the frame.

Work on Guidance and Control Test Bed

Date: 3.24.16 and 3.28.16
Time:4 hours
Location: Logan HS
Goal: Work on creating a test bed for the electronics pod and drive train.

First of all, what you see in the pictures below is not the car we are building, but rather a test bed for our guidance and power systems. To get an idea on how we want to scale the actual vehicle, we are building a mock up to better understand how much space we need for all our systems.

The test bed is build out of 3/4" plywood and all our components will be mounted to the board. We can easily move them around and shape the plywood to help us understand how we eventually want to form/weld our tube stock.

The test bed will be placed on a wheeled cart and taken outside when we want to test to see if our programming and electronics pod is working. We will be able to see the wheels turn and move and also see if the controls are reacting the way we want them to when we have a GPS route entered into the system.

Beginning to mount linear actuator and wheels.

Rear dive wheel and electric motor are wired it and ready for a 12 V battery.

AV Work Night 1.27.16

AV Work Night 

Location: Logan High School Tech Ed. Dept.

Date: 1.27.16
Time: 4:30 pm - 7:00 pm
Students: Killian, Clare, Oscar and Theo

Tonight we started working on the following:

1. Organize/clean a work space in the shop.
2. Get some measurements for the vehicle based on size of our batteries, motor and tires.
3. Work on a rough draft of the design for the AV.
4. Begin designing the t-shirts for the students.
5. Research GPS and motor controller solutions.

Placing components on a table to mock up and help visualize the size and scale of the vehicle.

Working on a rough computer sketch of the AV based on dimensions we think we will need.

Working on the first draft of the t-shirt design for students

First rough sketch of AV design

Logan Ranger Autonomous Vehicle Awarded LPEF Grant

We found out today that the AV project was awarded a grant by the La Crosse Public Education Foundation. The grant was written and submitted earlier this school year. We feel fortunate that organizations like the LPEF continue to support public education in the form of financing projects like the AV. Special thank you goes out to Randy Eddy whose generous donation makes this all possible and David Stoeffler from the LPEF.

Logan Digital Electronics Class Visits Trane's Plant 7

Students in Digital Electronics at Logan HS took part in a tour of Trane Plant 7 today. Scott and Lisa were our tour guides as we took a walk through the manufacturing plant. When we arrived, we were given a safety talk and loaned protective safety gear for the tour.

The students saw how raw materials were fabricated into the chillers that Trane is famous for. We saw CNC controlled welders as well as manual welding taking place. Safety was always a priority for the workers.

After the tour, students were invited to a question/answer session to wrap up the tour.

A big Logan thank you to Trane for the great tour!

Note: No pictures were allowed in the plant during the tour due to the sensitive nature of the manufacturing process.

Students getting geared up before the tour.

Students sitting down with Scott Seibert for a Q&A