Electrical Systems & Miscellaneous
For our prototype to be more in-keeping with an actual radio shuttle, an electrical circuit had to be introduced to operate both the motors instead of a team member manually operating the belts to achieve rotation.
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Due to our lack of experience with electrical circuit programming some electrical students were enrolled to assist us with this particular stage in the design process. Using whatever resources possible, our goal was to develop electrical codes which would allow manual operation at a distance (via a joystick found) and also a semi-automated sequence utilising sensors to achieve this.
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After describing our project to the electrical team, we showed them two schematics detailing the processes we wished the electrical design to carry out. These procedures involved collecting the first available pallet on the shelves and transporting it to the beginning and also delivering a pallet already loaded on to the prototype to the next available space.
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A power supply was available to power both motors and a control circuit along with plenty electrical wire. The electrical team themselves had equipment of their own to assist them with the design of the circuit including a soldering iron, breadboard, transistors and a micro controller to name a few.
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After the joystick was sourced, it was decided that for the manual operation of the radio shuttle that the four cardinal directions equate to a motor rotation direction. For example, moving the joystick in the "North" direction would result in the drive motor operating and moving the prototype to the end of the shelf structure while the opposite was true concerning "South". With this concept in place all vital shuttle operations could be carried out using the joystick.
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The electrical team used Arduino hardware to incorporate the electrical code written for the radio shuttle procedures. An electronic schematic diagram with all the wired connections displayed can be found in the final report. Once both codes had been written we were free to test them once the radio shuttle had been completely manufactured.
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Aside from the main aspects of the radio shuttle design, there were a few parts which warranted close attention to detail before it was possible to input them into the Solidworks models.
Shaft and motor supports were designed carefully so that the correct height of the shafts and motors would be achieved and that enough material was present to support the components under forces appropriately. A great deal of care was given in designing these components specifically to ensure they were as secure as possible as any failure would have resulted in a great deal of damage to many key components of the radio shuttle.
Further auxiliary components designed which contributed to the complete prototype design included the lifting plates which rested upon the linkages and also filler pieces inserted into the main wheels so they rotated with the drive shaft at all times.
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