Sprint 2

Having demonstrated the basic concepts, our next step was to scale up and find out what kind of problems we would have to solve for the final piece.

Goals

Mechanical Goals

Prove concept at scale with found materials
Purchase requisite electrical components
Complete initial frame design
Identify potential failure modes

Software Goals

Implement software angle tracking
Initial integration testing and tuning
Complete tests for software motor encoders

Deliverable

At the end of Sprint 2, we had the start to our final piece, but it was clear some components weren't going to work. Our frame was made of a mix of PVC and wood, and our 3 shafts were made with two interconnected shafts of metal we had scavenged. Unfortunately, these components weren't strong enough for what we needed - the PVC bent under the weight of the axles, and the 3D printed connector holding the shafts together bent under the weight of the pulleys. Worse, the software side positional tracking for motors wasn't accurate at all, and we were reliant on manual stops to prevent the pulleys from winding too far up. We would have to tackle these obstacles in our last sprint.