Week 8 - Concept Test on Aesthetics and polishing the software with hardware.

 Week 8 - Concept Test on Aesthetics and polishing the software with hardware.

Concept Test with Aesthetics

After the previous week's concept test I realised I gathered insufficient data and decided to do a second concept test into the actual aesthetics of how the target audience would react to organic and non-organic designs. I've only managed to interview 2 at the moment due to the others being busy but I managed to compiled them into a spreadsheet to review the answers.

Animals

A series of images involving cute animals were shared with the target audience to better understand how they perceive cuteness in organic visuals. I then move on to how a paper cutout design or any other low poly visuals would interest them.

Robots

Continuing on from last week I asked additional questions of how a robotic visual would affect their sense of positivity.

Concept Test Question Template

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScQ8tMme4oyim6SerXCG22lm8SqoJz6dhppiie_qSodn8oo1Q/viewform

Concept Test Feedback

Coding for Prototype

Coding wise the code for the prototype at the moment is alright, I've managed to test the Ultrasonic Sensor to see if it was faulty to rule out the possibility of it causing issues to the robot. I haven't implemented a few features such as audio and also behaviour besides its movement to avoid walls. I will need to deal with the technical side of the robot first, that being the robot's lack of power supply.

Prototype Progress

Not much progress on the prototype's physical form unfortunately, the wires were tidied up and the tracks of the prototype were decreased in the amount of links to tighten the chassis together. The problem at the moment is the lack of power for the robot as stated before, the entire robot or B.u.g.g.y needs at least 12V along with a high number of A to properly function, as of now there is a lack of power from my observations with how the Ultrasonic Sensor is not active and the tracks do not move when placed on the ground. 

I have tried multiple approaches such as charging the batteries beforehand, changing to a power socket adapter to supply more power, checking for faulty wiring, and finally settling on the fact that the L298N Motor Shield may either be faulty or is a badly made product that does not supply power appropriately.

For now I will need to divert time and attention towards solving this obstacles, I am fairly certain the sole issue is the power, therefore I am currently searching for a suitable power source to replace the current low power supply.

Self Reflection - Concept Test

Based off the answers given by the target audience during the concept test, I think I can finally make an accurate judgement on what sort of visual I should research and sketch. What I can see from the answers from the test is that 50% of the feedback preferred having a robot to spread positivity to an animal. 100% of the feedback when it came to the robot design aesthetics was that they preferred the robot design as it made more sense to have a robot companion than an imitation of an animal. One of the suggestions that I did like is that addition of giving the robot big cute eye designs to radiate cuteness that spreads positivity.

Self Reflection - Prototype

Power Issues! I discovered that the cause of problem for the prototype was the lack of power within the robot, I tested with multiple different power inputs to substitute the battery before realising it was not functioning due to a lack of power. Therefore, I will need to keep a note and be careful in the future about what power source is appropriate for a robot to run for at the very least 30 minutes. At the moment additional time is needed to understand what is causing the lack of power even when connected to a 12V power supply with a high Amp count. The issue could range from faulty wiring, lack of power from the batteries, bad adapter used for supplying power from a power socket, and finally the weak motor shield used. I'll try to spend more time trying to resolve this issue in the coming weeks.

As for the rest of the prototype, I've managed to secured the wires and tidy up to better teach myself about wire discipline, this will prove beneficial in the long run when I actually move on to the final product.

I've also managed to have a look into the codes to determine how to change the variables such as the speed and sensitivity. I'm quite certain to avoid further issues that I should move the sensor to a higher elevation at the top front of the robot, giving it a clearer view and preventing interference.

Plan

The current and most immediate plan is to find out what is the problem that caused the lack of power, I highly suspect it is the Motor Shield however it could be related to the power output as well. I will focus on the power socket adapter first and move towards the Motor Shield and finally the battery issue through process of elimination to save time and be thorough.