Senior Design Team 7
GPS Homing Robot
ECE290 - Spring-Fall 2004

Project Statement

Zachary Chaves (CMPE)
Phillip Johnson (EE)
Gregory Wilkosz (EE)

Week 5

Motor Control Aspect

Used program from Zilog as a base, to create the motor controller program.

The program, when completed, should mimic the RC's controller input which

allows the vehicle to move forward, left, right, reverse, and stop.  The

base program only produces one frequency currently, but with its assistance

I will try to create a signal that will produce two different signals on the

output channel.  The signal will have one signal, the carrier signal, at

approximately 840 Hz with an information signal which runs at approximately

1.64 kHz. The carrier signal will output 4 pulses at 840 Hz, then the

information signal will begin for a specific amount of time.  The duration of the

information signal corresponds to the actions of the vehicle.  The following table shows

the duration of a information signal with its corresponding action:

            17 ms               Forward

            32 ms               Left

            21 ms               Right

            28 ms               Reverse

Stop will be acheived by introducing no signal to the vehicle.  Currently the

program is able to approxiamtely produce the proper frequencies, but I am having

prblems introducing the information signal to the carrier signal without major

interruptions.

I have not looked into the microprocessors ability to interrupt the drive

program and allow the RC's controller to take over command.  Along with completing

my drive program this obstacle is another that I will hope to resolve next week.

Digital Compass Aspect

Reviewed the code provided by the Zilog web page application notes.  The code, however,

uses two Zilog Z8 boards to implement the compass.  Continued research as to how to

combine code to implement the compass on one board and display the directional output

to the 5x7 LED matrices. 

Created a mount for the Dinsmore digital compass.  Need to find a point on the Zilog

board where 3.3VDC can be obtained for use by the digital compass.

Priority:  Combine code to implement digital compass using one Zilog board.

               Determine useful outputs for use by the GPS aspect of the project.