The idea was to build a swing for the 476 Final Project. We took that idea, ran with it, and ended up with this project. The project is based on an Atmel Mega32 MCU. The device consists of a platform mounted in a swing-like fashion. The platform has an attached servo motor that swings a heavy arm. The timing of the arm swing is determined by an accelerometer configured as a tilt sensor. The operation is autonomous. A picture is above in Figure 1. The rest is history.
Result Analysis
Our swing works a lot better than expected. Our initial use of a solenoid was disappointing at best, but the consequences of the consequent use of a servo were surprising. We are happy that we did not need to implement a more elaborate control system. It is nice to know that the swing generally worked more or less as we originally intended it to.
Our results exceeded our expectations: we were able to get excellent performance without any additional elaborate software or hardware. We even have an icing on the cake since we will attempt to swing in a full circle during the demo.
For next time, replaced the rigid rods with chains would make the swing more authentic. We could also make the swing prettier and add flare by including buttons to control the maximum amplitude, for example. To make things interesting, we could turn this into a dynamics and feedback problem by creating a swing that starts from a standstill and ends balancing itself upside-down at the top of the swing. Unfortunately, I believe that this interesting project would be outside of the budgetary constraints of the project.
Link: http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/e...t/476final.html
Result Analysis
Our swing works a lot better than expected. Our initial use of a solenoid was disappointing at best, but the consequences of the consequent use of a servo were surprising. We are happy that we did not need to implement a more elaborate control system. It is nice to know that the swing generally worked more or less as we originally intended it to.
Our results exceeded our expectations: we were able to get excellent performance without any additional elaborate software or hardware. We even have an icing on the cake since we will attempt to swing in a full circle during the demo.
For next time, replaced the rigid rods with chains would make the swing more authentic. We could also make the swing prettier and add flare by including buttons to control the maximum amplitude, for example. To make things interesting, we could turn this into a dynamics and feedback problem by creating a swing that starts from a standstill and ends balancing itself upside-down at the top of the swing. Unfortunately, I believe that this interesting project would be outside of the budgetary constraints of the project.
Link: http://instruct1.cit.cornell.edu/courses/e...t/476final.html