Who wants to be able to swim with your coral?

[halmus]

Here's an extended version of the laser cutting we did. Some of the parts, like the DIY bearing system, and custom gears needed the type of precision provided by this sort of machine. Sorry about the cheesy music. I had to insert it to cover up some of my commentary that I had intended to edit out.

 

[halmus]

This is a video of some of the work being done on the camera system now. There's a lot of things to incorporate into a small area here. Movement up and down (z-axis), rotation (partially implemented so far with the DIY bearings and a custom gear that we're hoping to cut out on the laser cutter soon), the tilt of the camera itself, and the microcontroller integration for the camera.

 

[mrlang1981]

Very interesting

 

[halmus]

Very interesting

Thanks for checking it out MrLang.

 

[halmus]

The controller is basically finished now. We are using an Ethernet cable to link it with the main controlling box so that it can be easily removed. We also had to add the glowing logo we adopted for the project.

This is an end view of the aluminum rails we're using for the project. That's where the logo came from.

 

[halmus]

We're having too much fun with the laser cutter. We designed some fan covers to finish the back of the controller. They're now installed, but need a few more screws.

 

[halmus]

 

[cruzanm]

Some day, when I grow up, I'd like to be this smart. Great stuff.

 

[halmus]

Some day, when I grow up, I'd like to be this smart. Great stuff.

Thanks cruzanm. I'm a moron when it comes to some things, but I do enjoy working with electronics and I can't wait until I finish my degree and can get back in the 'reefing hobby. The job comes first, and then it's off to the races!

 

[halmus]

Video Update:



This video shows us controlling the X and Y axis through one of the joysticks.

 

[allenho1]

I wish I had a chance to participate in a project like that back when I was in college. Can't wait to see the videos of this in a live tank.

 

[halmus]

I wish I had a chance to participate in a project like that back when I was in college. Can't wait to see the videos of this in a live tank.

We're lucky to have been able to pick the project we wanted to work on. Many of the students that waited until the last minute have been assigned to work that they have no interest in. We're really enjoying the process.

 

[halmus]

We were able to get some more work done. The camera is now streaming locally to a monitor and all 5-degrees of freedom are working now. There's still a lot of work to do cleaning up the wires and tweaking how the hardware is controlled in the software.



The video doesn't convey the quality of the camera very well. The acrylic tank is pretty scratched and there's not much to look at yet.

 

[reefman069]

so are all the metal parts made out of stainless

 

[halmus]

so are all the metal parts made out of stainless

Most of the metal is aluminum but there are a few stainless pieces like the 1/4" shafts for all the gearing. The only thing I can think of that won't stand up to the salty humid conditions are the black fasteners holding all the aluminum brackets together. They sell those in stainless but they're twice the price and since this is just a prototype, I saved a little money. They can be easily replaced.

 

[halmus]

Things have been pretty quiet with the development of the project because we've been focused on completing a lot of documentation requirements for the University. That is almost done for now. One team member is focusing on the obstacle avoidance. We'll post details about how that turns out once we have some testing results.

I've been focused on getting the web interface up and running. Formally, in our curriculum here, we spend a lot of time writing code in Java and C. Website design is handled by the students in the IT section of the Institute of Tech. So, I've been spending weeks familiarizing myself with html, php, css, javascript, and sql. I have had a domain reserved at GoDaddy for over a year now, but couldn't find time to do anything with it. I finally found a reason to do something with the domain and have a VERY ugly product up and running for my website now.

http://halmusreeftank.com/senior_project.html

There are still some dead links, missing links, and other issues with the site. I intend to use the site to showcase some of the projects and work I've been a part of at UWT. I will also be posting future "reef" projects up on the site as well as pictures of my past SPS tank. It's been a good learning experience. Even though I was using a template from CoffeeCup html editor, I have been playing around with the code and learning how it all fits together.

As a result, I've made a little progress with the site that will host our project's GUI to control movement and view the video feed. All of the buttons are in place. The site is hosted from the microprocessor seen in the picture below. That is the microprocessor that will also transmit the video feed. For testing purposes, the web page buttons are just turning on LED's on a breadboard for now. Those signals will easily work with the existing microcontrollers to dictate movement. I'm going to try to clean up the GUI to make it look a little more professional, but my first goal is to have a working product with the video. Then I can spend more time making it look pretty.

 

[Peppie]

WOW that is a lot of planning, computing,building, failing, what if's,

This is an outstanding project. You should be proud to be a part of it.

Thanks for the update

I'm watching