AbigailsSummerBlog

SummerBlogs

Abby's Summer Diary

Week Three (July 8-12)

• Monday: I worked with the rest of the SURI/SURFs on a serial communications tutorial with Mark on Arduino. This'll be helpful for later this week when I recreate the TadBot program on a Particle Argon controller. I then listened to a research presentation on 3D metal printing strategies during the weekly SURI meeting.

• Tuesday: I created a diagram of the circuit on Fritzing because Tinkercad didn't have Particle controllers in their database, whereas I was able to download both the Particle Argon and correct motor driver carrier into Fritzing. This made it so much easier to create a clear diagram. EmJ and I took a trip to the med school to get ID access to the O'Connell frog lab in Gilbert.

• Wednesday: This morning I did some work on my presentation of biomimetic robots, then I soldered a TadBot board. I took it slow because it's still one of my first times ever soldering, but I'm growing to enjoy it. I started identifying specifically what on the older TadBot versions and CAD could be improved. EmJ informed me that several pieces in the original design ended up being unnecessary, so I'm working to strip it down to its most essential parts and see what can be changed. EmJ showed me how to do silicone casting for the tadpole body. I learned that there were also a lot of opportunities to make changes to the molding process, so I'll spend some time editing the mold cast in OnShape as well.
• Thursday:

• Friday: Presentation on examples of biomimetic robots used for biology research
• Things I learned: how to solder my first circuit board, what serial communication is and how to set it up on Arduino, how to use Fritzing,

Week Two (July 1-5)

• Monday: I completed a couple more lab trainings to gain access to the biology lab where they keep TadBot and the frogs. I started going through some Arduino tutorials -- it's my first time working with them! I also attended SURI's weekly meeting and listened to 2 ME PhD candidates talk about their experience doing research and give advice to undergraduates considering to go the same route.
• Tuesday: I completed more OnShape tutorials to familiarize myself with the interface. Soon I will find the current TadBot's weak points (friction is a big issue) and tweak the CAD to make it run more smoothly. I also started putting a presentation together on biomimetic robots for biology research and organized the CAD for TadBot to make it easier to navigate and edit. EmJ helped me use the Formlabs printer for the first time so I can construct a TadBot from scratch.
• Wednesday: I continued organizing the CAD files and made a Bill of Materials list, finding all the hardware on McMaster and linking it in a table. EmJ and I retrieved an out-of-commission TadBot from Gilbert (the biology lab where the experiment is being conducted) so that I can figure out how to make it better. I spent some time curing and sanding my first Formlabs 3D print -- the tadpole body pieces are way smaller and more delicate than I realized!
• Thursday & Friday: Travelled for the 4th

Week One (June 24-28)

• This week I: helped organize and clean the lab, started prototyping designs for EmJ’s “Flat Surface Two-tile Gripper”, visited the biology lab utilizing TadBot, and attended the lab retreat to Butano.
• Things I learned:

• commonly used instructable in Biology research
• Highlight: Getting to know more people in the lab and the cool projects they’re working on this summer!