We created a mover mechanism and powered up a stepper motor for the first time, which taught our programming team (Wanyao and Wenshan) plenty about the process of preparing the software and hardware necessary to control them. We believed that a long claw was necessary to guarantee that it would be sufficiently large to control the motion of all eggs, regardless of size.

The forward rotation of the claw allows the eggs to enter the maw, while the backward rotation then blocks off all the other eggs, gently pushing them back and holding them on the ramp while the first one is released into the cracker module.

In theory, this looks like a great plan. Unfortunately, we underestimated the power of gravity, which resulted in the first egg, crashing a little too hard against the claw, covering the components with egg. Fortunately, the stepper motor was still clean, but it was a miserable experience disassembling the ramp to give it a good rinse-down.

If only the cracker module could work half as well smh >.>

We determined that the problem was the length of the claw’s prongs, and will have to go back to the drawing board to redesign it. The revamped ramp claw will need to be smaller, to reduce the distance that the eggs will have to roll, while still being large enough to manipulate them effectively.