This robot is my first electronics and embedded systems project. I studied Electronic Circuits and Applications by Senturia and Wedlock for six months and then rebuilt and cross compiled my home computer systems with a Linux From Scratch book to prepare for it. This project is also the first time machining moving parts (as simple as the front suspension is, the parts do move).
I've maintained what a friend referred to as an “mail blog” during the project. After some progress or discovery, I emailed a status report of sorts, usually with pictures and (rarely) movies attached. A coworker convinced me there is value in these emails as artifacts of the project history.
What is most interesting from the mail blog are the technical misconceptions and classic mistakes I made throughout the project.
One example is the waterfall project model I fell into initially. I felt I was minimizing risk by extensive planning. What I was really doing was wasting time. Any plans I came up with were more than likely to be pure guesswork. Time would have been more productively spent in investigation and prototyping.
Another example is a tendency to rush to the solution. I kept packaging untested electronics, assuming that it was working. The electronics were subsequently discovered to be faulty which then required hours to disassemble enclosures and remove the boards.
The worst mistake was to “work harder, not smarter”.
These are classic engineering syndromes: waterfall development models, not testing and declaring victory, overwork without increased productivity, etc. Even with total control over this project, I fell into the patterns of failure engineers usually attribute to management. I believe this is human nature.
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06/27/06 |
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06/24/06 |
Road segmentation works! |
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06/15/06 |
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06/07/06 |
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06/02/06 |
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05/24/06 |
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05/23/06 |
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Realized how primitive robots are today |
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05/15/06 |
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05/13/06 |
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05/10/06 |
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05/03/06 |
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04/25/06 |
Image processing is main problem now |
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Old movie made 04/06/06 |
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04/22/06 |
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04/20/06 |
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04/20/06 |
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04/18/06 |
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04/16/06 |
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04/12/06 |
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04/12/06 |
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04/06/06 |
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04/04/06 |
Motor control ok |
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04/03/06 |
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04/01/06 |
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03/29/06 |
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03/25/06 |
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Motor control issues return |
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03/23/06 |
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03/21/06 |
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03/20/06 |
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03/17/06 |
First cool driving video |
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03/17/06 |
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03/15/06 |
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03/13/06 |
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03/11/06 |
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03/10/06 |
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03/09/06 |
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03/08/06 |
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Begin extreme development? |
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03/07/06 |
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03/04/06 |
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03/03/06 |
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02/28/06 |
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02/23/06 |
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02/20/06 |
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02/20/06 |
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02/12/06 |
First time driving robot |
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02/11/06 |
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02/08/06 |
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02/04/06 |
Second time robot in public |
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02/03/06 |
Hardware done |
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01/31/06 |
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01/27/06 |
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01/24/06 |
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01/23/06 |
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01/22/06 |
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01/20/06 |
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01/18/06 |
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01/17/06 |
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01/16/06 |
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01/13/06 |
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01/11/06 |
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01/07/06 |
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01/04/06 |
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01/04/06 |
electronics and battery mount solution ; urban grand challenge ; undervolting radios |
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12/30/05 |
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12/27/05 |
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12/26/05 |
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12/22/05 |
Website marketing begins |
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12/16/05 |
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12/12/05 |
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12/05/05 |
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11/30/05 |
Motor control done |
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11/28/05 |
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11/23/05 |
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11/20/05 |
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11/15/05 |
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11/14/05 |
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11/10/05 |
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Motor control redesign |
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11/09/05 |
Crisis |
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11/07/05 |
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11/06/05 |
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11/04/05 |
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10/28/05 |
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10/27/05 |
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10/25/05 |
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10/05/05 |
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10/02/05 |
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09/28/05 |
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09/23/05 |
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09/21/05 |
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09/18/05 |
Simple but effective hack |
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09/16/05 |
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09/15/05 |
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09/08/05 |
Working harder, not smarter |
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09/07/05 |
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08/30/05 |
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08/28/05 |
Decided to purchase an oscilloscope |
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08/25/05 |
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08/24/05 |
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08/23/05 |
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08/20/05 |
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08/16/05 |
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08/05/05 |
Motor control board fabrication begins |
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07/30/05 |
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Critical mistake – decision to fabricate motor control board instead of prototyping despite lack of experience |
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07/28/05 |
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07/26/05 |
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07/25/05 |
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07/20/05 |
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07/19/05 |
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07/15/05 |
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07/12/05 |
Ridiculous thermal and electrical design |
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07/06/05 |
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07/04/05 |
Electronics packaging begins |
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07/01/05 |
Second vehicle mature |
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06/27/05 |
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06/23/05 |
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06/23/05 |
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06/23/05 |
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06/17/05 |
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06/15/05 |
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06/10/05 |
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06/08/05 |
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06/05/05 |
Field mockup boosts morale |
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First time robot in public |
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06/05/05 |
Field mockup boosts morale |
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First time robot in public |
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06/01/05 |
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05/30/05 |
Epoxy bond fails – not unexpected |
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05/28/05 |
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05/24/05 |
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05/23/05 |
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05/19/05 |
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05/13/05 |
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05/06/05 |
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04/26/05 |
Waste of time distraction |
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04/19/05 |
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04/18/05 |
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04/15/05 |
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04/08/05 |
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04/06/05 |
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04/06/05 |
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04/04/05 |
Second vehicle fabrication begins |
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04/02/05 |
CAD design paralysis ends |
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03/31/05 |
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03/28/05 |
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03/27/05 |
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03/23/05 |
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03/18/05 |
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03/17/05 |
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03/15/05 |
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03/13/05 |
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03/11/05 |
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03/09/05 |
CAD design paralysis begins |
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03/06/05 |
First vehicle scrapped |
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03/04/05 |
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02/27/05 |
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02/26/05 |
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02/25/05 |
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02/22/05 |
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02/20/05 |
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02/18/05 |
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02/09/05 |
First vehicle fabrication begins |
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02/09/05 |
Re: one side of motor drive circuit ; universal gender serial cable |
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02/09/05 |
Re: one side of motor drive circuit ; universal gender serial cable |
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02/09/05 |
RE: one side of motor drive circuit ; universal gender serial cable |
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Reality check – a laptop is necessary |
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02/08/05 |
one side of motor drive circuit ; universal gender serial cable |
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02/07/05 |
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02/04/05 |
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02/01/05 |
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01/31/05 |
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01/29/05 |
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01/28/05 |
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01/27/05 |
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01/26/05 |
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01/25/05 |
Should have obtained an oscilloscope at this point |
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01/21/05 |
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01/21/05 |
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01/19/05 |
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01/12/05 |
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01/10/05 |
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01/05/05 |
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01/02/05 |
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