Weekly progress

Week 1 ( April 1st ):

• A team of talented engineers is put together.
• Project Venom, as an idea, is born.
• The design and the final deliverable product is agreed upon.
• Each team member is assigned roles based on their particular skill sets and a team leader is elected.
• Rough sketches for the design are made:

• The design proposal is drafted and submitted.

Week 2 ( April 8th ):

• A rough 3D model is created.

• Dimensions of Project Venom are finalized and agreed upon.
• The HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor and servo code is written.
• Group members complete safety quizzes.

Week 3 ( April 15th ):

•  Group members begin modelling the skeleton structure in AutoDesk Inventor. 
•  The following models for the mechanical arm are created:

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• All the possible designs are compared and debated upon in order to determine the best design.
•   Group members begin writing the pseudo code.

Week 4 ( April 22nd ):

•  Keeping in view the speed requirements, the group members go back and re-discuss the materials for the mechanical arm. 
• After comparisons between wood, PVC, K'nex and several other possible options, the group members decide that wood is the best possible option. It is decided that evenly spaced holes will be drilled along the length of the arm to shed the extra weight.
• The following design for the mechanical arm is agreed upon:

Week 5 ( April 29th ):

• The group members begin working on theoretical system integration.
• Mounting the motors onto the arms and wiring the system seemed like a major challenge.
• After bouncing ideas for a couple of day the group members came up with a very clever solution. It was decided that the motors will be used as hinges!
• The machine sketch is finalized:

• The rating of the motors required to generate the required speed of motion are determined using the following calculations:

• The pseudo code is written:

Week 6 ( May 6th ):

• Group members complete Tier 2 training.
• The construction of the mechanical arm is started.
• Code for the motors is written.
• Progress in this week was significantly hindered by the failure of the team members to acquire Tier 3 training and the shipment of the equipment being delayed. 

Week 7 ( May 13th ):

• The construction of the arm and the jaw is finished.
• The assembly and system integration are started.
• Team members begin work on aesthetics.
• Power supply issues for motors is resolved.

Week 8 ( May 20th ):

• Jaw system is completed.
• Group begins aesthetics work.
• All systems are attached.
• Plans for testing and finalizing are made.

Week 9 ( May 27th ):

• Aesthetics are applied to structure.
• All systems are put together.
• Testing is finished; everything runs well.
• Last minute issues are caught and resolved.
• Group prepares for Oral Presentation to be given in Week 10.

Week 10 ( June 3rd ):

• Arduino gets hot and can only run the machine through one cycle.
• Minor edits are made to the system.
• This causes a short circuit through the Arduino and into the laptop it was connected to.
• Code is lost and Project Venom stops moving moments before presentation.
• Group gives oral presentation, and is given one day to get the animatronic presentable.
• The group spent the next 24 hours rewriting code, and fixing wires so that a presentation can be recorded.
• Project Venom is alive.