Description
Plant Robots is about learning how to integrate information from multiple MCU college classes
(Photons, Raspberry Pi's, PIC24's, etc) into a functioning robot platform for taking care of plants.
So far, our breadboard prototypes have left us wanting more, so we're moving into the soldering
prototype stage. Our members have struggled with the I2C communication protocol, so that's
this semester's goal: getting I2C working with various components and between robots
(because we live in a society, why shouldn't the robots?) Our goal is real world production
hardware integration, NOT maker hardware. This is more commonly known as DME (Durable
Medical Equipment) in the medical field. Having the experience at this level of integration is the
value of the project. The robot part is just makes the whole experience fun. Students receive a
significant amount of PLA per semester for printing the “body” of the robot. Each student is
expected to at least try to make their own body (we help get you going).
General Focus Areas
Soldering → Test circuits using perfboards
(ref: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=perfboards&i=industrial&ref=nb_sb_noss_1 )
Programming → C++, PIC24 (some C and ASM)
EE1301 (Particle.io ref: )
EE2315 (PIC24 ref: https://www.microchip.com/development-tools/ )
Scripting → Python on a Raspberry Pi
Some I2C testing requires a more complex environment
HTML5 → A combination of HTML, PHP, and Javascript (FYI: not Java)
EE1301 Photon is web-enabled
Rules Engine → IBM's Node RED on a Raspberry Pi
More complex iterations in the future may require a rules engine
Notice
This project is currently on hiatus or has been archived. For more information about this project, talk to any officer or contact us at tesla@umn.edu
