Micromouse Meeting #2

1. Micromouse Meeting #2 Program details, applying for funding, overall systems

2. First thing’s First:Teams! There were a lot of you this year.

3. This Year’s Program • $75 deposit • $250 in funding from IEEE • Must traverse 16 maze cells, which must include right turns, left turns, and dead ends. • $150 deposit • $500 in funding from IEEE • Solve the maze! Easy, right? • Almost all the teams that signed up went for the basic budget

4. In the Past… • Pros • Flexible • Provides freedom to teams • Simple and Efficient • Cons • Provides little accountability • Teams unlikely to finish • Funding can be wasted

5. New System

6. New System • Pros • Ensures teams have completed preliminary design, not just parts, before proceeding • Allows motivated teams to receive more feedback from IEEE • Teams are actively engaged with officers about design requirements • Emulates a “real work” environment, the key being design reviews • They won’t be too crazy in depth, but we are doing this to ensure that teams are serious about creating a working mouse. • Cons • We do a lot of work • Can be a little micro-management-y • We will try to avoid this as much as possible. We are here to help you and give overall guidance, not to micromanage.

7. Things You Need • When applying for funding, we will request three documents • Parts List/BOM with datasheets for active IC’s and parts • List of all the parts, part number, cost, and link • Datasheets for all active parts • Preliminary Hardware Design • Schematic Outline of hardware I/O systems • Preliminary Software Design • Quick, high-level drawing of software plan

8. Sample Parts List

9. Sample Hardware Design • This is a very crude hardware I/O layout • Probably about 80-90% of what we will be looking for in your design • Things missing from this design • Labels on pin headers • Details of the encoders • Where are the motors?

10. Sample Software Design • High-level drawing of software systems of the mouse • Feedback control (PID?) • Left/Right/U-turn decision making • Maze-solving logic overview • Algorithms • Floodfill • http://web.cecs.pdx.edu/~edam/Reports/2001/DWillardson.pdf For each cell: Get sensor data Determine where walls are Decide movement:     Push move forward if not visited Push move left if not visited     Push move right if not visited Pop stack   Move mouse according to top of stack

11. Approval • We will review your 3 documents as soon as possible and get back to you on whether or not your design was approved • If it was not approved, we will give you advice on things to change and revise. If necessary, the process will be significantly guided • Otherwise, once you receive approval, turn in your deposits. Once we receive the deposits, your funding will be cleared and you can start ordering parts • Depending on time constraints, we may set up an online submission portal. If this doesn’t happen, then we will do it through regular e-mail. • Time between submission and approval/revision should be < 3 days. • If it takes longer than 3 days, please e-mail us and we will get on it right away.

12. Micromousefrom a High Level • We are trying to build a small robot. Parts that are essential to all mice are the following: • Microcontroller • 5V Regulators • H-Bridges • IR Sensors (or maybe a different technology?) • Motors • Encoders • Batteries • Gyroscope (not necessary, but useful)

13. Microcontrollers • Small, low-power computers • Runs custom code that you compile and upload to the controllers • Almost all run C/C++ code • Provides multiple inputs and outputs • Things to consider in your microcontroller choice • Clock Speed • RAM/Flash memory • I/O (Analog or Digital) • Size • Power consumption/requirements • Logic Level (Voltage range)

14. Arduino Software • Common platform for microcontrollers • C/C++ • Simple to use • Standard Arduino software used for: • All Arduinos • Teensy (2.0, ++, 3.0, etc.) with Teensy Loader • Modified Arduino software used for: • LeafLabs (Maple Mini)

15. ArduinoNano • 16 MHz, 32KB Flash, 2KB RAM • $10

16. Teensy 2.0 • Common choice, built-in USB • Arduino IDE • 16 MHz, 32KB Flash, 2KB RAM • 25 I/O • $16

17. Teensy 3.0 • Built-in USB • Arduino IDE • 48 MHz • 34 I/O • 3.3 V logic level • $19

18. mBed • Web-based compiler • 96 MHz, 512KB Flash, 32KB RAM • 25 I/O • $60

19. Maple • 72 MHz • Runs Arduino code • $45 (Mini is $35) Maple Mini

20. Microcontrollers • Find more information online! Useful links here: • Arduino • http://arduino.cc • Teensy • http://pjrc.com • mbed • http://mbed.org • LeafLabs (Maple Mini) • http://leaflabs.com

21. What’s next? • E-mail us at micromouse@ieee.ucla.edu with your preliminary choice of microcontroller by next Wednesday, October 30th! • Include a short blurb including your reasoning/theory behind why you chose the one you did • Meet with your team! This is only a little bit important, except for the fact that it’s really important. • We will be designing and planning out our future lectures. A schedule will be sent out by e-mail.

22. Next Week • Next week’s lecture: Motors and Encoders • What are motors and encoders? • How are motors controlled? • Powering your mouse • Attaching an AC 120V to your mouse is not ideal • Batteries will probably work better • Power consumption, voltage, current, etc.