Inspiration
As engineers, our ambition tends to takes over our organization during building. While working on the wiring for another one of our projects, we noticed that a clean table was NOT a thing that engineers can maintain. For example, there were more than 32 times (yes, we counted) where we basically wasted time just looking for parts. Time so valuable that we knew something had to be done. So, we made something to save you from making the same mistakes we did.
How we built it
Challenges we ran into
While building Houston, a few major challenges occurred:
1 - Servo Motor Failure: Our initial prototype of Houston started failing at around 11 p.m. when the servo motor controlling the laser blew out due to a powering failure. We spent around an hour troubleshooting the issue until we realized it was not a code or soldering error, but the motor itself. Thankfully, we were able to fix it in a reasonable amount of time, but it was quite a frustrating hurdle.
2 - Choosing our API:
3- Calibration: Since we are college students and don't have an immense amount of funds, we had to use servo motors for our pan-tilt, which heavily limited its range of motion. While our initial plan was to cover the entire desk (which it still does for the most part), the monetary restriction has created a slight issue that took a while to fix.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
Zachary Edward Bierker
What we learned
What's next for Houston
-With adequate
