{"id":2201,"date":"2023-09-24T14:44:49","date_gmt":"2023-09-24T13:44:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yannickkok.com\/?page_id=2201"},"modified":"2023-10-01T18:18:28","modified_gmt":"2023-10-01T17:18:28","slug":"elementor-2201","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/yannickkok.com\/?page_id=2201","title":{"rendered":"Elementor #2201"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Dog-E<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t
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A robot dog with basic interactive functionality. Designed to alleviate loneliness. Gives the best winks. Such a good boy. Wow!<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Metadata<\/strong><\/p>

June 2019 – 2 weeks<\/p>

School project on Human Computer Interaction (HCI)<\/p>

Group of 5 students<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Introduction<\/strong><\/p>

This project had an interesting setup. Us students would spend roughly 8 weeks in total on this, from start to finish. It started off with 6 weeks of preparation, after which we would spend 2 so called ‘lab weeks’ in a large warehouse, building some sort of product.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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In the first 6 weeks, we were introduced to four trendy topics: Wearables (products that you can wear), Artificial creatures (artificial animals), AR\/VR (Artificial reality & virtual reality) and playful interfaces. During these weeks, we would attend lectures done by experts in these areas, we would do research into these topics and we would use the knowledge we gained from this to do some short assignments. Definitely a good way to not just learn about these topics, but also to give us an experience as to what it might be like to build something related to one of these topics.<\/p>

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In the end I preferred Artificial creatures. I thought the lecture on that subject was the best. During the lecture they showed some examples of products that you might make if you would choose this topic, and I really bought into it. They showed some videos of people making artificial creatures that were designed to alleviate loneliness. I thought that was really nice, because I think it\u2019s important to do something good for society.<\/p>

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In week 6 everyone was asked what their favorite subject was. That way, the lecturers could group students based on their preferred topic. On day 1 of week 7 everyone was assigned to a group. In general you were grouped with people who had also chosen the same topic. That worked well, because people had more passion, so they worked harder. I was assigned to Artificial Creatures. I really liked that. In the group we were going to do something with that subject. What you ended up building didn’t really matter, as long as it was relevant to the subject.<\/p>

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In the end, we spent 2 weeks building a cool little robot dog. During this process, we made sure to capture as much of the experience as possible. We took lots of pictures, wrote daily reports and we\u2019ve also made plenty of videos. If you\u2019re interested in following along with the entire process, then feel free to read on. If you\u2019re short on time, I would recommend checking out the aftermovie, made by my lovely teammate, Hiba. If you want even more content, then I would recommend checking out the original website I made for this project. This also contains plenty of content from the first 6 weeks of the project.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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Day 1<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Day 1 started with a general briefing. This explained what the intention was for the next two weeks. A number of safety rules were explained and it was stated that student assistants would be present. After the briefing, people started looking for the forms that stated who you would be in a group with. I was in a group with Dennis, Nicolette, Danique and Hiba.<\/p>

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First of all, we started by setting up our workspace. There were fold-out tables and fold-out chairs. With this we have created a workplace. See photo below.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t

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The teachers advise us to use the SCRUM method. That meant we grabbed a large sheet of paper. That sheet looks like the images below.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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As you can see, 3 columns have been created on the sheet: To do, doing & done. This allows us to better keep track of what still needs to be done, what we are doing and what has already been done. By using post-its the sheet itself remains neat. The photos of the SCRUM sheet were taken at the end of the day. As a group we started coming up with concepts and a group name. Hiba immediately started making a mind map. The group came up with all kinds of ideas for our concept. Because our subject was ‘Artificial Creatures’, we soon started thinking about all kinds of shapes, for example animals. From dogs and cats to snails and turtles, we had all kinds of different ideas. See image below.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Not only about which animal our creation should be, but also about how the animal should move. We soon decided that we wanted to make a robot dog. In addition, we wanted to work with wheels instead of legs because that would probably be easier. Dennis then consulted with Chris Heydra. Dennis then returned a little later with a kit for a small car. We put that car together. See image below.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The robot dog had to at least be able to move in a certain way. We had already established this base when assembling the car. We were satisfied with this. Still, we wanted the robot dog to be able to do more than just walk. Yannick then made the following sheet with all kinds of things that the dog could possibly do:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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By describing all kinds of typical dog activities, we could make choices together as a group. For example, we first wanted to focus on making the robot dog move in a targeted manner. However, to achieve this, additional parts were needed. Parts that we did not have yet at that time. As a group we decided to order the parts. Hopefully they would arrive the next day.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Day 2<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Today we worked with 4 people because of Eid-al-Fitr. Fortunately, we were a lot better prepared than the previous day. We brought more things with us, such as Arduinos and screwdrivers, that we actually wanted to have on day 1. We also found our workplace a bit uncomfortable, so Dennis brought a kettle and a sandwich maker. See the images below made by Yannick.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The group really liked this. A nice, comfortable workplace is half the battle. This was followed by the daily briefing. The concept of the Daily Stand Up was explained. Stand around the doing, to do & done sheet as a group to discuss our progress. We did that. Day 2 was mainly about waiting for parts that we ordered on day 1.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In preparation, on days 1 & 2 we worked on gaining knowledge about how to work with the car. We looked at all kinds of different projects that other people have published on the internet. At the end of day 2 the car was able to drive short distances. The car was still attached to the cable. Tomorrow (day 3) we want to see if we can also drive without a cable. We also want to see if we can drive straighter. Currently the driving is still very crooked, while we only give commands to drive forward.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Day 3<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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Today we started soldering the Arduino to the battery shield. We were helped by Emma.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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The result:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In addition to connecting the Arduino to the battery shield, we also looked at the driving itself. The car is not yet moving forward properly, although that is the intention. We currently use 2 wheels that provide the drive. In addition, there is a wheel on the back that can turn in all directions. We call that a ‘trailing wheel’. We think this does not improve driving. Ultimately, we want to see if we can also arrange a car with 4 wheels, so that we can prevent this problem. Other groups with 4-wheeled cars look promising in their tests. Nicolette, Dennis and I were mainly busy working on the car itself. In the meantime, Hiba and Danique were working on some concept art for our project. See images below.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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These names were made up by our group for the robot dog. I then went around with this list to see what people thought would be a suitable name for our project. In the end, a few more names were added that people suggested during testing.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Ultimately, this is the result of testing the name for the robot dog. DOG-E was by far the most popular name. While coming up with the names, someone said that the proximity sensors looked like WALL-E’s eyes. When I heard that I immediately thought of the name DOG-E. Not very original, but apparently people thought it was the best name on the list. In the image below we see the results of testing with the different names.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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At the end of day 3 we placed a battery shield on the arduino. Soldering has been done to ensure that the two connect. The car was able to drive today without being attached to a cable. The batteries on the car provided the power for the engines. For tomorrow we will work on solving 2 problems. Firstly, the car does not yet drive straight ahead. To achieve this, we will see if we can use certain sensors that measure how much each wheel turns. That data is useful, because it allows us to adjust 1 wheel differently if that wheel rotates more than the other wheel. So this is a way in which we can make the car move straight forward.<\/p>

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The other problem we will be working on is mounting, using and testing the proximity sensors. We use that so that the car doesn’t crash into everything. We have already installed the sensors today. We have also been able to see in the IDE software that we are receiving certain data. However, nothing is yet done with this data. So we will have to come up with code for this.<\/p>

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We only work on 1 function at a time. On the advice of one of the guest speakers, we prefer to work on quality rather than quantity. Once DOG-E can move reasonably, we can decide as a group what the next functionality should be for our project.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Day 4<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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At the beginning of day 4, it was explained during the briefing that there had to be a promise. The promise had to be something related to your project. In the end we made a list of this again. We circulated that list to see which one was perceived as the best, just like with the name of our robot dog.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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A wooftastic experience quickly came out on top in the test. However, there were a number of other things that we could take with us. For example, \u201ca dog that will always be there for you\u201d and \u201che wont bite\u201d and \u201ca loyal doggo.\u201d We were advised to include this as features, rather than as a promise. Ultimately the promise had to be on a banner. I hung it above the poster. See image below.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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We also brought some cuddly toys today. Ultimately, the idea is that we mount everything on the car, and that you don’t see all the electronics because the cuddly toy is around it.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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In addition, on day 4 we started converting the entire project from the car with 2 wheels + trailing wheel to a car with 4 wheels. We chose this because in practice it turned out to be difficult to get the car to drive straight. We suspected that it would be an improvement if we used 4 wheels because there were many people around us with a car with 4 wheels. They rode a lot straighter than ours. So the choice was quickly made. Below we see the chassis of the car. The 4 servo motors are already attached. You can clearly see the small black wheels on the inside here. We want to use this to ensure that the car drives even straighter, by using sensors. Because the real wheels and these small black wheels are on the same drive shaft, they rotate the same amount, so you can measure the same output. If you can measure output, you can also see whether everything is going well and you can ultimately make adjustments.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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We also installed the proximity sensor today. See image above. We have also already linked the sensor to the software, so we have a new form of input. By using this sensor we can ensure that the car does not crash into everything.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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