22: May 29, 2025 Final Blog Post

Some major lessons about engineering I learned during this project were the importance of trial, error, and correcting; coordinating the mechanical and engineering parts of the project; and utilizing a range of tools to help my group complete our project. There were many times where our first prototypes failed and we had to change it. This included the code, where I had to try three different methods of alleviating the problem, and finally finding success by editing the radiohead command in terminal. The prints also failed many times, sometimes due to the printer and sometimes due to us. We tried different 3D printers, and also tried out the resin printer and Voltera—also leading me to become familiar with many different new tools in the process. On the technical side, we tried different ways to slice and arrange the print file, and also adding different types of supports. This process also allowed us to better understand the strong and weak points of a print. We also had to coordinate the code, circuit, and chassis. Obviously, the code had to have the same pins as the circuit, but it was also important to make enough room on the chassis to actually house the circuit.

Regarding my particular project, I learned how complicated the many mechanical and electrical parts had to be, and work in coordination with each other! I hadn't realize how many mechanical parts there had to be, including the axels, different types of motors we were choosing from, different batteries, and the ESC. I originally thought that there was just a one-size-fits all type of motor, (which was naive) but researching the brushless motor and ESC was interesting and helped me better understand how a motor works and the nuances between each type. My group and I had to make decisions on which type of each part to use and weigh the pros and cons of each. Before making the car, I hadn't appreciated the complexities that come with each part like the axels, knuckles, and differentials, and only thought about what was on the outside, such as the wheels and rear wing.

I wish I knew how to use more softwares before embarking on such an ambitious project. While my group mates and I have been familiar with 3D printing, it wasn't to this extent of such a large project. I also wish I was familiar with more circuit board design softwares. While we were familiar with Fusion from fall term, it was difficult and time consuming learning all of the functions of KiCAD. In addition to connecting and making sure the pinouts were right, assigning footprints and designing the board from the parts was something I didn't realize was part of the process. As time was our greatest enemy, I wish we had become familiar with the resin printer and Voltera beforehand.

If I had another two weeks, I'd definitely fix the Ackerman steering to make sure it works cleanly while also looking nice. Although it works, it is very ugly and not how it was intended. That would help the project be able to work better and be shown off. In addition, I would try to make a PCB using the Voltera to replace the soldered circuit board, which was our intention from the start—and why we worked so hard learning how to use it. Although we made progress, there are definitely things that took a long time to do, and especially building the car after making the parts. We had to compromise on a lot of "looks" for time.

If I could start this project over, I would aim to be better at time management and planning. In the beginning, we spent a lot of time figuring out how to use the Voltera. We also had to familiarize ourselves with many different softwares that we had never used before, such as KiCAD. This could also include splitting up the work. While Ava figured out the Voltera and Fusion360, I could work on the KiCAD and Sarah could work on the code. This way, we would be finished with each of our separate parts quicker and potentially allow us to make more adjustments as necessary, or to take our project to the next level. However, the reason we did not do this was because we wanted to all learn about each part individually, and especially the Voltera and resin printer as it was new to all of us. But strictly speaking on time-wise, we would split up to be the most efficient.