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Today in the class session we learned more about the Arduino program and its code, differen types of motors and what they do, and also we studied other prototypes that were previously done. Two of these ptorotypes were the musical tower with the doll parts and bells. The other ptorotype was the sharpie line drawer that drew when there was a shadow projected on a canvas.

New things we learned about Arduino code was about the different commands on the code. Input is the pin to where code is being sent to. Output is the pin where code is going out of. Input pullup is when the input pin is set to high (around 5V) so when you have a button open it will read as high voltage and when it is closed it will read as low. This is so the floating wire before the open button is not affected by surrounding "noise". This pullup method uses built-in resistors inside of the chip so it isn't necessary to use or make other resistors.

Other important things we learned are about ways to use Arduino to control motors with the use of a MOSFET. We were also taught of Flyback Diode. The MOSFET works like a controller for the speed that voltage goes through the system ultimately controlling the speed of the motor's RPM. The Flyback Diode works like a loop where electrons are 'trapped' so they don't try to escape somewhere else and damage the rest of the circuit. Another explanation for this is that the diode protects the FET from high pulses of current when cutting off the current with the gate on the MOSFET part of the transistor.

In the second half of class we were allowed to continue working on our prototypes. I decided to redesign a press fit kit that would turn out to be a car that had a main body that could fit the Arduino UNO or the Arduino NANO and two DC motors on either side. I designed all of the shapes in Fusion 360, laser cut them, and assembled them at the end of class. Here are pictures of the first designs of all the shapes and the ending result of the assembly of the kit:

Designs On Fusion 360:

Finished Product Finished Product

Assembled Kit:

Finished Product Finished Product

Today's goal for the lab was basically designing and working on our prototype due on Thursdays session (7/11). Since in yesterday's session 4 my cardboard press-fit kit didn't fit that well, I made the notches in the cardboard smaller so glue will not be necessary once assembly starts. I also found out that the motors I used were too big for the holes that I designed on the cardboard kit. Once talking to the assistant teachers over my project, I was suggested to use these small motors with gears on the ends of them. Once I got those motors I soldered the negative and positive prongs to two wires and assembled a circuit that works on the pressing of a button. I did this for two small dc motors in onr circuit.

Below is a video of the circuit in action: