S18: XY-Plotter

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Grading Criteria

  • How well is Software & Hardware Design described?
  • How well can this report be used to reproduce this project?
  • Code Quality
  • Overall Report Quality:
    • Software Block Diagrams
    • Hardware Block Diagrams
      Schematic Quality
    • Quality of technical challenges and solutions adopted.

Project Title

XY-Plotter

Abstract

We live in an epoch where the world is driven by technology. In recent decades, there have been so many advances in the field of technology. With this advancement for human upliftment, automation has become a paramount factor. This project aims at building an automatic 2D XY-plotter which can efficiently draw 2D figures. The plotter machine is assembled based on the H-bot mechanism where the two stepper motors are on the main chassis connected to the single belt. Both the motors account for the movement of the chassis in X and Y axis. A servo motor is used to control the pen height which is connected to the main chassis. Gcode interpreter is developed in order to make the SJ one board decode the G-code and control the motors accordingly. Sd-card is used to provide the Gcode to the SJ one board.

Objectives & Introduction

Computer numerical control (CNC) is the automation of machine tools by means of computers executing pre-programmed sequences of machine control commands. These machines finds their use in any process that can be described as a series of movements and operations. These include 2D printing, laser cutting, welding, hole-punching etc.

XY plotter is a CNC(Computer Numerical Control) based drawing robot capable of drawing 2D figures. It uses LPC1758 ARM Cortex M3 based microcontroller(SJOne) as a brain of the robot. The SJOne board is interfaced to the motor shield PCB which connects two stepper and one servo motors. SD-card is selected to provide the 2D figures to the SJ one controller in the form of G-codes instructions. A G-code interpreter then decodes the instructions and generate the required movements for the stepper motor and servo motor. The home position for the plotter is specified using the limit switch.

The objectives of the project are:

  • To learn FreeRTOS multitasking and demonstrate it.
  • To acquire knowledge about intertask communication using queues.
  • To become competent in implementing device drivers like GPIO, SPI, PWM.
  • To make use of GPIO external interrupts and timer interrupt to connect with the limit switch.
  • To understand software watchdogs and apply the same to the project.
  • To learn mechanical aspects of rotating a motor through belts and pulleys.

Team Members & Responsibilities

  • Akshay Kurli
  • Gaurav Yadav
  • Pritam Gholap
  • Tanmay Kishore Jambhekar

Schedule

Week# Date Task Actual Problem Encountered
1 03/27
  • Research different mechanism for plotter assembling.
  • Requirement documentation.List out the parts required.
Completed on 03/31
2 04/03
  • Order Components
Completed on 04/08
3 04/10
  • Determine the required software for generating and visualizing the Gcode.
  • Read file from Sd-card and interpret single line G-code.
  • Completed on 04/11
  • Completed on 04/30
4 04/17
  • Test both the stepper motor and servo motor with the SJ one Board.
  • Design the PCB shield for servo and stepper motor.
  • Completed on 04/19
  • Completed on 04/23
5 04/24
  • Assemble the plotter machine.
  • Circuit testing on protoboard.
  • Calculate the relation between G-code values and PWM pulses on both the stepper motors.
  • Completed on 04/25
  • Completed on 04/27
  • Completed on 05/05
6 05/01
  • Develop the motor task to run both the stepper motors and servo.
  • Run the stepper motor according to interpreted G-code.
  • Test the plotter machine for drawing a straight line (Single line Gcode).
  • Completed on 05/01
  • Completed on 05/05
  • Completed on 05/08
7 05/08
  • Interface limit switch for determining plotter initial position.
  • Develop the interpreter task to read multi-line G-codes.
  • Establish communication between interpreter task and motor task.
In progress

Parts List & Cost

Item# Part Desciption Vendor Qty Cost
1 SJOne Boards From Preet 1 $80.00
2 Nema-17 Stepper Motor Amazon 2 $28.00
3 Micro Servo Motor 9G Amazon 1 $2.6
4 GT2 Timing Belt and Pulley wheel Amazon 1 $14.99
5 $
6 $
7 $
8 $
9 $
10 $
11 $

Design & Implementation

The design section can go over your hardware and software design. Organize this section using sub-sections that go over your design and implementation.

Hardware Design

Discuss your hardware design here. Show detailed schematics, and the interface here.


Hardware Interface

GT2 Belt and Pulley

A 2mm pitch and 6mm wide GT2 timing belt and pulley are used to transfer rotational motion (from a stepper motor) into linear motion (along a rail). The figure shows Timing Belt Pulley Pitch Diameter & Outside Diameter Charts.

  • Calculation

As per the above diagram, the pulley has 16 teeth and the pitch is of the length 2mm. Therefore,

Circumference = pitch * number of teeth = 2 * 16 = 32mm

Software Design

Show your software design. For example, if you are designing an MP3 Player, show the tasks that you are using, and what they are doing at a high level. Do not show the details of the code. For example, do not show exact code, but you may show psuedocode and fragments of code. Keep in mind that you are showing DESIGN of your software, not the inner workings of it.

Implementation

This section includes implementation, but again, not the details, just the high level. For example, you can list the steps it takes to communicate over a sensor, or the steps needed to write a page of memory onto SPI Flash. You can include sub-sections for each of your component implementation.

Testing & Technical Challenges

Describe the challenges of your project. What advise would you give yourself or someone else if your project can be started from scratch again? Make a smooth transition to testing section and described what it took to test your project.

Include sub-sections that list out a problem and solution, such as:

<Bug/issue name>

Discuss the issue and resolution.

Conclusion

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Project Video

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Project Source Code

References

Acknowledgement

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References Used

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Appendix

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