Mechatronics

In the Spring of 2019, four students in a class on Mechatronics and Robotics joined together to build something fun and automated. Throughout the semester we completed guided labs on motor drivers, serial communication, and other basics of robotics prototyping. These labs all built towards the creation of a final robotic prototype. Each group in the class created a miniature automated forklift robot to run a package through a mock warehouse. At the end of the class we competed to see which robot was the most successful. In the end, only one group's robot managed to complete the course.

I enjoyed this class immensely, but found it a serious challenge. We went four or five iterations of forklift mechanism designs. We spent late nights running 3D prints, noticing design flaws, rapidly modifying the parts we had, and tacking together a prototype with the limited resources we had on hand.

We spent tons of time hashing out communication and control between raspbery Pi, Arduino, PC computers, motors, limit switches, and pi-cameras. But, eventually we created a system that could respond to reading QR codes by making turns, lifting and lowering the forklift, line-following driving, and planning a path through through the warehouse.