Team Black Box Down: Black

Box Acquisition

The Mission Structure/Propulsion

● Locate and navigate to the black box within ● 220x345 mm Plywood Chassis
250mm (using its infrared pulses as guidance) ● 4-wheel drive skid-steering
● Large diameter (120mm) and width (60mm) rubber wheels with
● Transmit the black box coordinates with 75mm of spiked pattern for increased traction on sand
its true location. ● Four 6V 77RPM DC Geared Motors
● Two Aluminum L Bracket Pairs
● Lift the box fully off of the sand ● H-Bridges on the Arduino Romeo
● Return the box to the mission start location

INSERT
Product Specifications CAD
● Final Weight: Approximately 2.8 kilograms
DRAWING
● Dimensions: Approximately 345 x 340 millimeters S HERE +
● Cost: $141.65
CAPTIONS
Figure 1: Initial CAD drawings representing the proposed build. Figure 2: Photo of the final OSV.

Preliminary Design Shortcomings

The Claw:
Electronics
Our initial design carried through most of our final design except for
the claw and how it would operate. The claw we bought was too small for ● DFRobot “Romeo” board based on Arduino-Uno architecture.
what we needed, so we extended it with 3D printed arm extensions that ● One 38KHz Infrared sensor to detect the pulses being emitted by the black
were attached splint-style to the existing arms with two-part epoxy and box
right angle plastic pieces. Instead of being directly attached to a motor that ● Two Elegoo HC-SR04 ultrasonic distance sensors used to detect objects
would tilt the claw mechanism up, we had developed a system where a ● Four 6V 77 RPM DC brushed motors for propulsion
motor was attached to a pedestal, and a wire attached the claw to the motor ● One Vex EDR 393 motor to raise and lower the claw
via a spool. ● One Vex 3-wire servo to open and close the claw
● One TSOP4838 38 kHz infrared sensor to detect the black box’s IR pulses

Final Design Schedule

Figure 4: Breadboard view of the OSV’s final circuitry. Includes all of the motors and
Figure 3: Flowchart representing the
sensors.
logic of the control algorithm.

Product Performance Evaluation

Final Bill of Materials
Item Single-Item Cost Amount Total Cost ● Fit the weight and size requirements
Dagu Thumper Wheels $14.95 4 $59.8
● Motors stopped working and we were unable to troubleshoot why
● IR sensor was failing to work so we could not locate the black box in the first place
6V 77 RPM DC Motors $9.95 4 $38.80 ● First scored run: OSV slightly turned, but other than that, did nothing
● Second scored run: we placed the OSV right in front of the box so that we could gain
Section of Plywood $1.02 1 $1.02
the points for picking it up
VEX 2-wire Stepper $14.99 1 $14.99
Motor 393

VEX 3-wire Servo Motor $19.99 1 $19.99

IR Receiver

Ultrasonic Sensor
$6.69

$1.77
1

2
$6.99

$1.77
Lessons Learned
L298N Dual H-Bridge $3.50 1 $3.5
Motor Drive Controller
● Long term projects tend to fall out of the spotlight overtime, but constant work
Romeo- DFRobot $32.50 1 $32.5 and adhering to strict deadlines is important to achieving the final goal.
Control Board
● When a problem arises with an unclear solution, try to attack it from as many
VEX Claw Kit $19.99 1 $19.99 different angles as possible instead of picking one solution and throwing
everything at implementing it.
Breadboard $1 1 $1
● Focus on initial goals and ensure those are met before attempting advanced
Arduino KIt wires $1 1 $1 goals.
● Cheaper is usually not better when it comes to sensitive electronics.
TOTAL $141.65

Ayman Amdad, Jonathan Bertiz, Joshua Hood, Robbie Ho, Jenn McGrath, Alex Rosenthal, Colin Sauers, Alex Shafer

ENES100 SECTION 0602