figure 1

figure 2

figure 3

WEEK 10

This week we were to modify the Internet 0 boards to transmit clicks (packets) wirelessly. I chose Infrared sensing as my mode of communication. This first thing I did was to modify the original board i0.6 and i0.7 so that there was a infrared LED and phototranisistor to send and receive the clicks. Then, I modified the assembly code so that one board sent clicks and the next board received them.

The first issue I had was with the Modela boards with the greenish backing. The resolution was very bad (see figure 1) so I had to cut the board three times -- finally using an older board that I found with a white background. The next issue was with the 4pin molex that is used for power,transmitting and receiving information. My seriel cable stopped working so I had to make a new cable. For some reason, the new cable I made still had problems, so I stopped using the molex and created a board with a four pin header (figure 2)

Once this was finished, I was able to program both boards. I played around with lots of configurations of the boards pointing at each other to make sure the clicks were received. After many tries, I still did not have any result. My first try at debugging was to use the oscillocope to se if the clicks were being sent. Luckily, I saw the clicks on the oscilloscope, so I am assumed that was not the problem. I then played around with the receiving board, but couldn't figure out the problem. I then worked with Patrik and Grace to see how they were approaching the problem, but to no adue. Forty (or more) hours later I'm stumped as to what the problem is. Maybe some insight during class will help to clear this all up.