SFC 5.

Mechatronics

Mechatronics Project Kit 40-100

Mechatronics is a discipline which integrates mechanics, electronics and computer
technologies to enhance the performance of products, systems and processes.
Typical products exemplifying the approach are camcorders, computer disc drives, industrial robots & Motor cars.
The Mechatronics Project Kit provides the means for students to design a self-guided vehicle from a set of
modules, including two drive modules, two steering and one jockey wheel solutions & a microcontroller (PIC).
The Project Kit enables students to develop skills in:
● Mechanical & Electrical design ● PIC Programming ● Project Management
Programming of the PIC is achieved through the Microchip’s own programming environment called MPLAB,
which is freely downloadable from the website at http://www.microchip.com/.
The kit comprises of a number of different modules that
can be used to construct a wheeled vehicle that will be
capable of following a predetermined circuit on the
laboratory floor. The modules include:
● Microprocessor control board with a microchip
PIC16F877 running at 10MHz.
● dc Motor drive circuitry which has an interchange-
able single or dual motor arrangement.
● Stepper motor drive either:
Ackermann steering module or
Single wheel steering module.
● Pivot wheel (using the same mechanism as the
single wheel but with no motor).
● Five individual optical sensor boards.
● Short rectangle chassis. Curriculum Coverage
● Long rectangle chassis. ● Electronic control systems
● Long rectangle chassis tapered at one end. ● PIC usage and development
● Ni-Cd 7.2V 1800mAh battery. ● PIC programming
● Battery charger. ● PC interfacing and applications
● A selection of brackets. ● Analogue and Digital I/O interfacing
The dc motor controller board has two MOSFET ● Electrical wiring
H-Bridges so is capable of driving one or two dc motors ● Mechanical construction
independently. The motor control circuitry requires
three input signals, one pulse width modulated and ● Power electronic H-bridge FET motor drive
two TTL. ● Stepper motor drive control
The PWM frequency of the motor drive is 600Hz with ● Sensors – optical and magnetic
an adjustable mark/space from 0 to 100%. ● Project work – design and construction of a
The maximum speed is 20mph or 9 metres/second. wheeled vehicle
The minimum speed is 111mm/second.

The following minimum PC configuration is required to

run MPLAB:
● PC compatible 486 or better (Pentium recommended)
● MS Windows 3.1x or Windows 95/98
● VGA display (Super VGA recommended)
● 8MB memory (32 MB recommended)
● 20MB of hard disk space
● Mouse or other pointing device

Visit the Feedback Website on www.fbk.com

Mechatronics
Project Kit 40-100 continued
The dc motor controller board has two sets of sensors
to detect the wheel speed and distance:
1) Magnetic Hall effect sensors.
2) Optical sensors.
Circuitry is present to condition the back emf signal
of the motor for analogue feedback to the PIC for the
determination of the motor speed.
An analogue temperature sensor has been placed
next to the motor for analogue to digital conversion.
There are three different steering options to choose
from, two use a stepper motor with step increments of
1.8° with the stepping motion incremented by the PIC
via individual MOSFETS.
The first uses an Ackermann steering arrangement
which has a limited turning radius. An optical sensor
mounted at the front detects whether the steering is
straight.
Option two uses a stepper motor controlled single wheel
mounted onto a shaft which has a full 360° rotation.
The third option uses the same single wheel but
without the control of the stepper motor, in a jockey
wheel arrangement.
There are five individual optical sensor boards for
detecting the presence of the tape the buggy has to
follow. The boards can be mounted in a variety of
different combinations and the student has to find the
most effective.
A manual is provided detailing the parts available and
one solution to the vehicle design is provided.
For further information on these and other equipment in the Feedback range please contact . . . . . . .
Feedback Instruments Limited,
Park Rd, Crowborough, E.Sussex, TN6 2QR, England.
Tel: +44 (0) 1892 653322, Fax: +44 (0) 1892 663719,
E-mail: feedback@fdbk.co.uk, Website: www.fbk.com
PIC board specifications
● Powerful Microchip PIC16F877 controller running at
10MHz, with 368´8 bytes of data memory, 256´8
bytes of EEPROM data memory and 8K´14 bytes
of FLASH program memory.
● High performance RISC CPU with a 35 single word
instruction set and an interrupt capability of up to 14
sources.
● On-board low dropout voltage regulation allows the
unit to be powered from an unregulated 5.5V to
18V dc, via a 2.1mm power inlet.
● Regulated +5V dc can be sourced from several screw
terminal connectors.
● RS-232C serial port for downloading program to the
on board PIC, via a 9-way D-type connector, and can
also be used as a stand-alone serial communications
port.
● Synchronous serial port (SSP) with I2C (master/slave).
● Up to 8 analogue input channels with a 10bit
analogue-to-digital converter.
● 2 pulse width modulation output channels.
● 3 timers and a watchdog timer.
● Up to 5´8bit digital input/output channels.
● All inputs and outputs are available via pluggable
screw terminal blocks.
● Digital I/O ports are also available via 26-way and
40-way IDC.
Software Features
l Provides communication between the PC and
the target board PIC16F877.
l Allows download of programs developed
with MPLAB directly to the on-board PIC.
l Reads programs from the target board and
verifies correct programming.
Feedback Incorporated,
437 Dimmocks Mill Road, PO Box 400, Hillsborough, NC 27278
Tel: 800-526-8783, 919-644-6466, Fax: 919-644-6470,
E-mail: info@fbk.com, Website: www.fbk.com
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