DC Motor
In this lab we had to use signals and motors to try and create a controllable motor circuit using an H-bridge for the first time. This Lab was difficult in a lot of ways, more so than any other we have done this semester in my opinion. Without the resource of an in-person lab and tactile feedback from instructors it is hard to gain a sense of what step in the project one is even on, or if they have missed something along the way. This was the case for me once I began the lab in earnest.
Materials for the Lab
Getting started on this wasn't too hard. At first all I did was begin to set up the circuit as described int he Lab instructions. The button was simple, just repeating steps that I've ingrained into my head over the past semester from doing it so often. The Lab said to use a switch, but I searched through all of my materials and could only find buttons, so I worked with that. After the button circuit was completed, I started working on the H-Bridge and its connections.
The H-Bridge was fairly complicated, but the initial set-up was not too difficult. I followed the instructions and began to wire up the connections to the bridge. everything was fairly straightforward, including the Vin power supply and the connections for that. I had two DC motors, one from the Kit and one received from Zach before I ordered it. Both of the motors didn't have wiring instructions, so I used the online resources posted on the canvas page as well as looking at various internet sources to wire it up correctly. I initially used the one that Zach provided, as I thought it made more sense for this lab. Here is what the final circuit and setup looked like once all connections were made:
I followed the code procedures from the lab to a T, and tried to run the program that I had created. The link to the code is at the bottom of this section. Once I verified that the code worked within the arduino IDE, I tested it out using the circuit. To my surprise nothing seemed to be working. I started backtracking my steps to see if there was something wrong in both the code or the circuit, but after nearly an hour of checking I couldn't find anything wrong. So I started from scratch and just wrote a simple button script to check if the input was working. Again, it failed to detect anything. At this point I was pulling my hair out, I didn't know what was going on or even what the issue was.
The troubleshooting process continued for a while, with no progress being made whatsoever. I ended up calling a friend of mine who has a lot of experience with motors and arduino, and he talked me through steps in getting this resolved. It didn't work over FaceTime, so he said that he would come over the next day to help me fix the problems in person. This page will be updated after those issues have been ironed out and I have a working circuit.
Stepper Motor