ASR research log-log 1

ASR researching log

 

ASR group designer

NSFZIB

Tom

2013/8/21

 

Summary:

This researching log will describe the whole processof the development of the ASR project, especially the embedded electronic controlsystem which I lead and participate from the beginning of the project. In theother words, this log is the record of things I have beset with during theresearch. So, this log is not strictly in the form of the formal paper and itshould be just considered as the simple memorandum which is used as the raw material for thefollowing paper writing.

Thislog will follow the order of researching time. Each chapter will state oneprogress or the mistake that I have made or faced. In the last chapter I willwrite about the final model of all the components of the whole project.

 

Log1:

 

Sinceour project, ASR, is focused on the construction of the highly functional,stable and adaptable rocket, we need to build a reliable and flexible electroniccontrol system for the rocket in order to realize or solve the different demandin the various situations, which involve the design of both the hardware andsoftware. Due to the fact that I have three years’ experience in the computerprogramming, I was chosen to be the head designer of the electronic systems,who is responsible of the whole process from the testing hardware to the operationof the system at the final launching. To design such a system is not a veryeasy task due to the fact that we have to make the system work stably with thehigh acceleration and severe vibration, which is common during the process ofthe rocket launching. Also, I have faced a problem that we need to base on theembedded electronic system, which means that we need to program and perform onthe chips which have nothing on them-----since they are only the raw chipwithout the base operational system-------and we need to make the wholeorganization of the communication between the different chips. After the studyof the MCU, the microcontroller chip, I decided to start the research with theArduino board which contains AVR series microcontroller. This chip has its ownIDE and mostly its programming language is adapted from the common C/C++, whichis very easy to learn for the c-programming-familiar-beginners like us. Althougheverybody said so, I feel a little confused with this since I am not veryfamiliar with the electronics, embarrassedly, and the chip-based-programming isso different from the computer-system-based-programming. Most of the time, Iwas searching on the internet for the information. Luckily, people are glad toshare their experience of “making friend with” the microcontroller and theother chips. I am very appreciated of the all the help they offered, especiallythe people on the Arduino forum and STM forum. More specifically, the processof learning how to operate the microcontroller is the process of gettingfamiliar with how to operate the different ports to communicate and transmitthe data by using changing electric voltage or something else. This is also themost different part between the computer-based-programming and chip-based-programming.In the computer-based-programming, the convey of the data or the order is assimple as one line of code, but in the chip, everything become hard to do. Forexample, the most commonly used input and output port is IO port, which couldinput or output the high or the low voltage, like the binary switch, just onand off. In order to get information from this IO port, we not only need togive the microcontroller the order “Input the data!”, we also need to make thehardware run step by step. For instance, we need to first start the clock forthe port, which gives the heart beats to the port, and we need to set up thedefinition of what is the IO port and how to be a good IO port---just like tellthe baby what is the human. After so many steps of setting, the microcontrollercould finally use the IO port. What a silly chip, I thought. But when I gotdeep in the learning of the MCU, I began to notice that such complicatedsetting before the using will give the whole MCU, even the whole programmable system,the unbelievable flexibility. For instance, we can give an IO port another parameteror even rebuild an IO port to adapt the requirement of the some extreme tasks. Thismakes me think about whether the construction of the organization of theprogramming, even all the kinds of the engineering, is better or more efficientto be built “from the bottom to the top”-----which means the higher level oforganization will wrap and concise the lower level of organization. That isquite an interesting question.