30 June – 2 July: Wheel, Arduino & water Pump (WAP)

Next we designed our wheel to attach to the stepper motor. 

Wheel to Hold Test Tubes

In addition, we designed a container holder and stepper motor holder.

Waste Container Holder

Stepper Motor Holder

While waiting for our 3D prints, we programmed our arduino and coordinated the different motors to work together. 

(code)

Furthermore, we tested our water pump to ensure there was sufficient water flow rate to wash the test tube. We did a test with chilli sauce to simulate a dirty test tube.

6-9 July: Strong Structure, Paltry Presentation

With the arrival of our aluminium profile, we assembled the structure of our machine.

Frame of Machine

On 9 July we had our presentation update. Dr Ho seemed to be unimpressed with our progress and presentation as we had scaled back and removed quite a number of features from the final product. After a group meeting with Tony, we decided to revert back to CODESYS and raspberry pi. Since our raspberry pi does not have enough GPIO pins, we had to use a AdafruitPWM. 

Wiring to Rpi