Week 17 - Printing the visuals, finalising the project.

 Week 17 - Printing the visuals, finalising the project.

Printing the visuals

Finally managed to complete the skeleton of the robot, there was a problem with a weak wire connection that I managed to fix. The entire setup is done for the skeleton and I can finally proceed with the visuals.

In the end I redid the entire shape from scratch, which ended up becoming my final visual sent for printing.

Failed prints due to the bad quality of the printing material.

Completed half of the print with a different matte material.

Setting up the robot 

It's time I started to set up the robot and combine all the parts together, below are the documentation of the setting up for the robot.

Tutorials 

Below are a list of tutorials used by me to help accomplish the project.

Tracked Arduino Robot : 21 Steps (with Pictures) - Instructables

This tutorial helped with the basics of the robot such as the basis for my blueprint and parts. The code provided is very messy and doesn't help too much besides providing some basic information, which I ended up scrapping and redoing from scratch due to how useless it was.

Arduino: Sensitive Robot : 6 Steps - Instructables

I used this tutorial to understand how similar Autonomous driving robots were, although I did not reference this tutorial too much, it did provide some insight into how exactly these Arduino robots were built.

https://www.instructables.com/Ollie-a-DIY-autonomous-robotic-blimp/

Slightly different from what my project is yet similar in terms of problem statement and idea. This tutorial uses a floating blimp that flies around an office area to spread joy. I primarily used this for understanding my project and making sure the pipeline is more or less correct.

https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/ryanchan/how-to-use-the-l298n-motor-driver-b124c5

This code helped to guide me through how the L298N Motor Shield worked, it provided clear instructions with diagrams to understand how the whole circuit functions. Ultimately helped in the end to finish the robot.

https://www.arduino.cc/en/pmwiki.php?n=Reference/Else

A simple code tutorial to help with building the robot's code. Nothing too special besides creating the essential code for the robot.

https://www.arduino.cc/reference/en/language/functions/random-numbers/random/

The random code helped to switch audio and turning direction for the robot. This mean't that the robot would turn left randomly or right randomly after detecting an obstacle in front of it.

https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/ByronSpars/autonomous-car-bc10ac

Another code that helped to push my understanding of the autonomous robot code and circuitry. I took reference and inspiration from the code of this tutorial to implement it into my robot.

https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/aaravpatel0124/self-driving-arduino-car-using-l298n-motor-driver-f1cf05

Most likely the most helpful code since it provided a clear and simple code that is open source and easily understood. Contributed greatly to understanding how the robot behaviour was done.

https://wiki.dfrobot.com/DFPlayer_Mini_SKU_DFR0299

Since audio was an important feature for the robot, following this tutorial helped to understand the component and how the circuit is assembled. One thing to note is that the code provided by this guide is wrong and needs to be amended by changing the RX and TX positions around, otherwise the code wouldn't work.

https://learn.sparkfun.com/tutorials/how-to-install-ch340-drivers/all

An important tutorial that helped me to accomplish coding with a MacBook Pro, I had to download drivers from online due to the problems of Apple not allowing their products to work with Chinese products like the Arduino's I used.

User Test Findings

All user tests were conducted outdoor with users present around Jolly the Positivebot.

All in all the robot does what is expected to do but isn't properly optimised, sadly I couldn't finish the entire project properly due to bad planning. The feedback from the user test was more or less expected from the behaviour of the robot.

Learning Plan

BA Digital Media Design 

INDEPENDENT PROJECT 

Self-Determined Learning Plan 

 

Phase 1: What is my learning goal?
To learn what and how to create a physical interactive project within the Fablab. To be able to learn something new about Arduino Coding and Technical integration into something physical that benefits my understanding while giving users a good experience.
What do I want to learn?	1. Learn how to code in Arduino to address the integration of the digital media artefacts. 2. Learn how to fabricate and create a physical piece of Digital Media work from scratch into functional works to give users an unforgettable experience.
What do I know about it now?	1. Know where to find the basic necessary materials for fabrication and know where to get help from.  2. Where to find tutorials for Arduino coding, and how to use each individual physical part appropriately for the project. 3. Know how difficult and tricky the project is to manage/complete.
What needs to change to learn what I do not know?	1. Change my attitude from procrastinating and waiting for an answer to being self reliant and only seeking help when necessary. 2. Change my study approach from always waiting for answers from others to searching for the answers myself especially when dealing with the coding and technical part of the project. 3. I need to properly plan everything from start to finish otherwise the project will be a hit or miss failure.  4. My learning schedule needs to be properly created so I know what to do and plan.
What can I do to make this happen?	1. Research everything relating to the project such as Arduino, the materials and parts required thoroughly, make sketches, plans, mockups, and create the framework/foundation for this project early.  2. I should start by quickly building a test run prototype with the tutorials and materials at hand to have an understanding of how the project will work, test and trial what I’d learnt.
Phase 2: What is my action plan?
What can I do to learn what I do not know?	1. Look up online for Arduino building tutorials, tips, and ask smart questions to lecturers about what to do regarding the project.  2. Plan ahead and try to create a prototype beforehand and test with what is available to learn by trial and error to avoid further complications in the issue.  3. I think some self reflection and thinking could also help in developing the idea.
What could keep me from taking action?	1. My own procrastination or lack of knowledge about the project.  2.Lack of time or bad time management could be a big problem especially for a physical project.  3. Difficulties in learning advanced coding skills complicate me to attain the technical knowledge.
What can I do to remove these barriers?	1. Working hard and getting my personality fixed to define my personal quality addressing the learning goals. 2. Courageous to ask for help when necessary but relying solely on myself to see the project through.  3. Building a proper plan around how to proceed to learn the complexity of the technical skill set with appropriate schedule and planning. (Test & trial early, fail early & succeed early)
When will I take action?	Week 1 - 3 : Research and interview, focusing more on what  I plan to do and what I need to do before proceeding further. Week 4 - 6: Build prototype, case studies, further research and ideation, and group discussions with peers. Week 7 - 10: More group discussions, polishing the prototype, uploading the code into the Arduino Nano for the prototype. Week 11 - 18: Finalising the features, more peer feedback, polishing the design, creating a version 1 of the final design outlook.
Phase 3: What have I learned?
What actions have I taken?	1.Creating a prototype with on-the-shelf products along with parts from the Fablab to determine the time frame, effort, and planning required to see the project to an end. 2.Doing research on how to craft the best possible user experience. 3.3D Modeling and Printing for Jolly the robot.
What barriers have been removed?	1.It’s easier for me to plan out how I want the project to run along with what materials and tutorials to source from. 2.I know where to source specific parts and materials for building a physical artefact. 3. How to plan a roadmap/Gantt Chart for the project to run smoothly by referencing other projects of physical artefacts.
What has changed about what I don’t know?	1.How to do technical fabrication such as wiring, how a motor shield works, the process of building something, 2.The knowledge of the amount of time needed to plan, build, test, and feedback gathering for the physical artefact. 3. The experience to solder wires and parts appropriately for the physical artefact, along with how to test the connections appropriately. 4. Always optimise and make sure that every part is properly built for accessibility instead of a quick bandaid solution. 5. How to clean up 3D Printed parts properly. 6. How to 3D print an object over the course of a few days without wasting materials for supports.
Do I know what I want to know?	I know how to start and proceed with the physical artefact. By starting with the prototype and seeing how users react to it, I’m able to further implement further features based on my findings. I should also start to look at how to improve UX based on simple designs that will make the project more attractive. In fact I think I'm more willing to learn about physical projects in the semester break to better optimise future projects and hopefully create an interesting and responsive artefact.

Does the project meet the prerequisites?

User tests have shown that the robot does in fact give users a good chuckle, which means it does touch the prerequisites. The problem is due to the lack of interactions Jolly cannot live up to its true potential, pair that with its technical parts means that it isn't reliable and needs to be properly fixed and optimised if it were to ever be used in the future. All in all it at least satisfies some part of the prerequisites with making users laugh and spreading positivity with how silly it is.

Rationale Video

Located in folder called rationale upon hand up.

Self Reflection - Entire Project

Finally after weeks of pain and emotional rollercoaster ride, I managed to complete Jolly. Although the outcome was sadly not what I wanted as it still had issues regarding its technical parts such as it the motor being loosened after continuous usage, wires tangling, but all in all I managed to learn alot in this semester along with understanding just how physical interactive artefacts are made. This experience has emboldened me to try better during my semester break to build a better interactive project.

Annotated Bibliography

Instructables. 2016. Tracked Arduino Robot. [online] Available at: <https://www.instructables.com/Tracked-Arduino-Robot/> [Accessed 10 December 2021].

Arduino Project Hub. Autonomous Car. [online] Available at: <https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/ByronSpars/autonomous-car-bc10ac> [Accessed 10 December 2021].

Arduino Project Hub. Autonomous Car. [online] Available at: <https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/ByronSpars/autonomous-car-bc10ac> [Accessed 10 December 2021].

&raquo;, M. Arduino: Sensitive Robot. [online] Instructables. Available at: <https://www.instructables.com/Arduino-sensitive-robot/> [Accessed 10 December 2021].

Instructables. Ollie - a DIY Autonomous Robotic Blimp. [online] Available at: <https://www.instructables.com/Ollie-a-DIY-autonomous-robotic-blimp/> [Accessed 10 December 2021].]