Goals for previous week:

• Capture schematic of base station – Achieved
• Run diagnostics on all sections of track – 2/5 Stations tested
• Have a basic Bluetooth setup for testing and proof of concept – Close, hit unexpected complications

Work Completed:

Greg:

• Captured the schematic required for a base station
• Programmed a PIC to be able to send valid packets to the train tracks

Jack:

• Test Bluetooth code written, but still needs to be debugged.
• Researched Redbear Bluetooth chip.

Challenges:

The biggest challenge at the moment is time management.  With a large amount of additional projects it is challenging to invest enough time into this project.  After Thanksgiving we should be able to add additional time to this project.

Another challenge is working with the Bluetooth code from last year, which is far more hacked together than we initially thought.

Additionally, I found a problem with one of the Bluetooth chips when attempting to change its software from the slave code to the master code. I connect the chip to the computer and it comes up fine, but when I try to copy the updated software onto the chip it disconnects mid-transmission.

Upcoming Goals:

• Perform hardware test on the station boards
• Create a map of bytes to rail sections
• Create a map of switch bits
• Test remaining base stations
• Build a routing map so that trains can be steered from one area to another
• Finish implementing basic Bluetooth communication
• Begin connecting the Bluetooth and the train control