Expectation
FunnyRobot Platform
Expectation
I applied the controller version 1.0 in A Vehicle Biker Detection System , another project of mine, and have found several deficiencies; therefore, I conducted the FunnyRobot V2; however, the version 2.5 is still imperfect.
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Deficiency 1
The ATmega128 chip has the instruction processing rate of 1MIPS/1MHz; thus, on the maximum system clock of 16 MHz, it can approximately run 16 million instructions per second (MIPS). However, when I monitored the code efficiency via the software simulator of AVR Studio , Atmel’s official IDE, I found that the parallel communication with LCD takes extremely long delays, sometime reached the ten-millisecond level even the hundred-millisecond level, while most other hardware modules work in microsecond to ten-microsecond levels; therefore, the LCD occupies most CPU resources.
Prospective solution
The long delays taken by LCD data transmission are caused by the fixed slow LCD clock, which is not able to be accelerated; thus, the delays are technically not able to be avoided; however, I have found an alternative method to decline the delays: to add a low-end MCU controlling the LCD module and communicating with the main processor via USART; thus, the main processor treats that MCU as a buffer and sends data for display to it while the low-end MCU takes the responsibility to put those data on the LCD screen. As a result, the main processer can save considerable time for data transmission. Yet this sketch raises a new problem that three MCUs will exist on one small PCB: one is the main processor; one works only as a USB programmer; one is only for LCD display; therefore, the MCU resources are wasted, and the expenditure also rises. To solve the predicament, I plan to combine the USB programmer and the LCD controller into one MCU; nonetheless, I have to understand the assembly code written by the USBASP provider first. I will try to apply this scheme in the next version.
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Deficiency 2
FunnyRobot is originally designed to be an educational robot platform for Juvenile's Activities Center of Xuhui ; therefore, It should fit a variety of educational use. As a result, the ability to drive high-power motors is essential. However, currently the L298 chips cannot afford this function.
Prospective solution
I plan to substitute L298P chips with a circuit consists of field-effect tubes (FET) and logical gates because the latter one amplifies signals better than the former one, but the latter scheme requires a larger place for component placement and wiring.
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