Weekly Update: Week 5

     We made some more progress over week 5. The pace of our progress did slow down due to some design problems. We got eventually worked though the design problems and are now set to move forward with implementing the designs.

     During the weekend we had designed a mechanical design that would help the motor turn the CO2 canister. We stopped by the Machine Shop on Wednesday to help implement the design. We had thought that using one piece of metal and bending it at the right angles, we would be able to wedge the top of the CO2 release valve between the metal. This would be attached to the motor that would then turn the CO2 canister. After going to the Machine Shop we ran into problems. If we bend the metal too much, the metal would break. This problem forces us to work on a mechanical redesign.

     The design for the electrical components did change a little since we decided to stick with the motor shield since we might add more shields or sensors in the future. We bought a 4 AA battery pack that should easily work with the motor shield and power the servo. The accelerometer continues to have some wire problems. The ribbons keep falling out so we are thinking up a solution for this but haven't thought of something easy and effective yet. But we plan to get the done next week.