November 15, 2014
Progress is accelerating as everyone is gaining experience with their part of the project.
Cole debugged the control board for the electric elbow prototype. There were two problems. The first problem was a software issue having to do with how the ATTiny 85 chip refers to its input and output pins. Once that was resolved, the board would work for a short time, then would fail in several different mysterious ways. We eventually tracked the problem down to fluctuating voltage into the ATTiny, which was easily fixed by putting in larger capacitors to better condition the voltage levels.
Connor and Thelonius finished the design of the support frame using SolidWorks. They then began construction with some help from Ed and Dr. P. Construction should be complete next week.
Saw master Connor.
Grind master Ed.
Weld master Thelonius.
Measure master Dr. P.
Meanwhile, Joseph and Ed finished the Inventor model for the entire suit. That’s a big milestone, and clears the way for construction of the lower torso.
Once the lower torso is built we can work on one of the biggest remaining issues, that of controlling the actuators to allow us to walk without falling over. We have no idea how easy or difficult that might be, so the sooner we get the torso built the better.