Minutes of Meeting

Date: 2018-09-29
Project: Orion Project
Place: Lublin HQ, Nadbystrzycka

Agenda

The meeting is summoned to discuss the following issues:

Agreements, declarations, actions…

Human resources and organization

  1. Supervisor: Marcin M.
    A supervisor liaises between the Team and the University. His job is to keep the project rolling in terms of financial and logistics support. He also acts as a consultant in technical problems.
  2. Project Manager: Krzysztof K.
    A project manager is responsible for development of documentation, contact with ERC organizers. He mantains the project and assures all milestones are met. He also acts as a consultant in technical problems.
  3. Vice project Manager: Wojciech O.
    A vice project manager has the same duties as the project manager. He serves as backup in case the project manager or supervisor cannot be present/participate in the project no longer.
  4. Public Relations and Financial Issues: Patryk G.
    Description here, nothing fancy

There are 5 fields related to the project that have to be covered:

  1. Accountance and Finance Division
    This includes contact with sponsors and the University. Anyone who is assigned for this duty is obliged to keep expenses records and provide detail raports.
  2. Management Division
    Anyone who is assigned to management Division is obliged to 1) prepare thorough documentation, 2) prepare verification test procedures, 3) create raports after each offically held meeting.
  3. Mechanical Division
    Mechanics are to design and produce mechanical components that are recognized in the System Design Document. They are also obliged to deliver a documentation draft that can be reviewed and merged with official documentation.
  4. Electronic Engineering Division
    Each member of Electronic Engineering Division shall design, manufacture, test and deploy electronic components that are required in the project. They are obliged to deliver a documentation draft that includes circuits designs and description of how each of the circuits work. They must also provide firmware for any hardware that is powered by microcontrollers and share API. To correctly design any circuit, espeially power circuit, they must stricly cooperate with Mechanical Division in order to align power requirements.
  5. Software Division
    People embraced in that division are obliged to create and test on-board computer software as well as ground control one. In order to facilitate the progress they must be aware of project assumtion in order to start software development at the very early stage of the robotic venture.

Introduction to past Orion projects

4 tasks to be completed:
  1. Maintenance task
  2. Collection task
  3. Science task
  4. Autonomous traversal task

Lessons learned

General:
  1. There is never enough time
  2. Keep it simple, stupid!
  3. One thing at a time
  4. Do not exaggerate too much in terms of the construction
Mechanical:
  1. CAD design and FEM
  2. Simple calculations should be done by hand and registered in the document (provide a paper that describes those calculations)
Design phase:
  1. Totally free thinking is a good thing
  2. Even the dumbest idea should be considered because finally it may not be as dumb as you can think of
Happy daydreaming:
  1. Do not exaggeragte
  2. Do not WASTE much time on funny conversations
Hierarchy of tasks:
  1. Each assigned task should be completed by the end of a milestione
  2. The progress can be greater than requirements set by the milestone. The milestone establishes the total minimum to be accepted as passing
Test more:
  1. Each major feature MUST be tested
  2. Each test must be written down and the passing criteria explicitly established

Rover: Orion next gen

Chassis

Current state:
  1. Mechanics
    The chassis is not going to change much. 4 DC motors, + encoders.
  2. Electronics
    • COTS H-bridges have been purchased. Moreover, a standard relay-based H-bridge has been designed and is ready to be manufactured. Low-level software to be created at Lublin R&D center once the driver come.
    • A case for all on-board electronics shall be a carry-on case
  3. Software
    We have software written in Qt
Expected results in the nearest future for “Milestone 1”:
  1. Mechanics
    • Provide boxes/containers to protect H-bridges
  2. Electronics
    • Provide full power wireing
    • Install H-Bridges
    • Install encoders
    • Develop software for wheel-drivers
  3. Software
    • gRPC basic - direct control
    • ClientApp: Electron, WebHook
Final results:
  1. Mechanics
  2. Electronics
  3. Software
To be delivered:
  • Name of the purchased H-Bridges for documentation purposes

Manipulator

Current state:
  1. Mechanics
    • The gripper has been design and produced. It works!
    • ‘Aviomarin’ module is also complete
    • A concept of the arm has been developed and scheduled for CAD.
      Chain-sprocket design
    • The manipulator shall have 7 degrees of freedom
  2. Electronics
    • The gripper has been already coded (atmega). The API to be shared.
    • All H-Bridges have been purchased
    • New high-power relay-based drivers are to be designed
  3. Software
    • See Chassis requirements
Expected results in the nearest future:
  1. Mechanics
  2. Electronics
  3. Software
Final results:
  1. Mechanics
  2. Electronics
  3. Software

Science task & containers

Current state:
  1. Mechanics:
    • Containers
      Drawer like-containers, sealed, with electric motors to close it
    • Drilling
      PC tube, wiper motor
    • Bełchatów module
      To be done
    • Sealing
      Rubber window seals
    • Microscopes
      Purchased several microscopes
    • Other
  2. Electronics
  3. Software
Expected results in the nearest future:
  1. Mechanics
  2. Electronics
    • Check whether microscopes can work with RPi
  3. Software
Final results:
  1. Mechanics
  2. Electronics
  3. Software

High level software design and implementation

Current state:
  • Basic software written in Qt
Discussed design:
  • gRPC
  • Boost
  • Qt only for ground control software and UI: decided to use Electron so it is multiplatform
uC - on-board computer communication:
  • providing low level API
  • power control / angular velocity control
  • UART or something else?
C++:
  • CMake
  • Git
python:
  • good for prototyping
  • good for providing microservices type-like services
  • not very good for quasi-realtime systems

Any other languages are permited for simple microservice-like services. The language must be compiled to binary code.

Java - not permitted, period. No question ask.

Wireless communication

Wifi 2.4GHz

Consider moving to 5GHz WiFi: to be tested, we have a point-to-point solution

Shopping

  • A pink case
  • 2x Arduino Mega
  • Streaming module found in banggood

TODO

  • Dissassemble manipulator cabling
  • Dissassemble manipulator
  • Design and print a case for manipulator gear-motors of the wrist + encoders (potentiometers0
  • Develop a linking element between a PVC pipe and a worm drive
  • Develop a manipulator trass
  • Analyze and suggest an overall design of a Falcon Milennium controller (Marcin’s fancy joystick)
  • Develop an early design of Bełhatów module