GitHub Repository Link

https://github.com/MahboobMMonza/McMaster_1P13_P3_Recycling_System_Computing

Milestone 1 DS1 — 2022/01/10

• Created a high-level pseudocode and diagrams of the entire computing process for the project
  • Outlined program skeleton
• Will use the concepts outlined in the pseudocode and the diagrams to further break down the programming process and create functional and efficient code
• Pseudocode:

Repeat forever:
	set Qarm to go to home position
	set Qbot to go to home position #might need to move from a bin
	determine container attributes:
	load containers onto hopper with Qarm
	move Qbot to indicated bin location
	tilt hopper and drop off containers in the bin
	if user wishes to terminate:
		terminate program

• Created a refined problem statement for the project

• Problem Statement:

  Design a system for a sorting facility that can efficiently handle, identify, and determine the recyclability of different containers. The system should identify the material type of a container and determine whether its contents are recyclable in an integrated sorting system, and then transfer and deposit the container from the sorting system to a terrestrial drone, and then transport the drone to drop the container in the corresponding bin, and repeat this process.

Milestone 2 DS2 — 2022/01/18

• Researched sensors to use (pre-DS)

• Decided on Ultrasonic sensors to be used for the Q-bot

• Wrote pseudocode for each of the 5 main actions and functions that the system must go through

• Pseudocode Example:

  Loading gripper:
  	Open gripper
  	Move the Q-arm gripper end-effector to wrap around the container
  	Close gripper to grab the container
  	Move Q-arm with the container to the Home position
  	Move the Q-arm with the container from Home position to the hopper
  	Open gripper to release container
  	Return Q-arm to Home position
  

• Next steps:

  • Create actual Python code and test it
  • integrate system with modelling team requirements and features

2022/01/23

• Worked on preliminary code for design review
• Discussed with team members on how to create line-following code
  • Different readings indicated different signals
    • [1, 1] indicates that both sensors detect the line
    • [1, 0] indicates that only the left sensor detects the line
    • [0, 1] indicates that only the right sensor detects the line
    • [0, 0] indicates that neither sensor detects the line
      • In this case, the most likely cause is due to the bot overshooting while following the line, and due to the loop being a left turn loop, this can be tackled by just turning left
  • To reduce the amount of branching in the code, the speed wheels were set to were dictated by the readings on the opposite sensor by using multiplication
    • Left wheel set by right reading
    • Right wheel set by left reading
  • This works decently, however, the bot constantly overshoots, causing a drifting motion while following the line
• Dealing with floating point precision means it is not always possible to exactly pinpoint where the stop location is during the bot’s movement
  • The bot could detect its position just before and just after its HOME position, which would cause it to not stop if it stopped by checking matching coordinates
  • To counteract this, the check for stopping was made using a margin of acceptable error
  • This allowed the bot to stop closer to its required stopping location