🛠️ Hardware
We began working on the attachments for the last stepper motor, which includes a redesigned slanted ‘chair’ with tracks along the sides for us to secure a 3D-printed part to hold the stepper motor in place.
However, we did run into some unexpected problems. The platform could not handle the weight of the motors and succumbed. We reprinted it, but got a rude shock the next day (our one day off!). We returned to this:
Mind you, we printed a platform, not Shrek’s dinner! The printer is probably jealous of our success and wants to give us some setbacks. The printer is a hater 😡. It’s safe to say we will not be using that printer again.
We also worked on a solution to fix the slanted chair in place. Our initial prototype involves a holder which is screwed into the wood. However, due to the chair being top-heavy, it didn’t work very well as the tower was still shaking.
💻 Software
I started the week off with an insane discovery… The arduino code for the stepper motor was wrong the whole time… After making the change, the motors finally worked properly. We also fixed the auto-focusing algorithm, by changing the way we calculated the sharpness of the image, we could consistently find the best position at which the platform had the best focus. Now, all we have left is to print a screw mount for the lens rotator motor, before Cooper can fulfill his prophecy and do what he was destined for.