Mechatronics Gauntlet Robot

Lab 1 · Introduction to C Programming

• Set up the STM32 Nucleo-L476RG in STM32CubeIDE and used the HAL API to read, write, and toggle GPIO.
• Compared fixed-width integer types, signed values, floats, and doubles for memory use, range, and precision.
• Programmed changing LED blink intervals and button-to-LED behavior; inspected signals through serial output and Serial Wire Viewer (SWV).
• Wrote temperature-conversion functions using integer and floating-point math, and used standard C libraries to produce bounded pseudo-random dice values.

Lab 2 · Digital Signals

• Read component and microcontroller datasheets to check voltage tolerance, source/sink current limits, and the overall GPIO current budget.
• Calculated current-limiting resistors and built a four-color LED sequence on a breadboard.
• Worked with floating inputs and internal/external pull-up and pull-down resistors, then implemented independent button-controlled LEDs.
• Compared active and passive buzzers and added a button-controlled active buzzer after checking its electrical requirements.

Lab 3 · The Flamethrower — analog signals

• Used an LM34 temperature sensor and related its voltage output to temperature, sensitivity, and ADC resolution.
• Calculated the gain and resistor values for an OPA340 non-inverting amplifier, built the signal-conditioning circuit, and checked voltages with a multimeter.
• Configured ADC polling, converted readings to temperature, and sent measurements over serial.
• Added red/yellow/green temperature-status indications and a separate indication for invalid readings.

Lab 4 · Robot Eyes and the Guillotine

• Assembled and adapted the Elegoo platform for the STM32 controller, breadboard, and support caster.
• Used the HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor's echo timing to measure distance, with timer/prescaler configuration for microsecond timing.
• Planned a ranging state machine and implemented button interrupts, timer-based measurement, and serial readouts.
• Moved from button-triggered readings to periodic sensing, then integrated battery-powered motion with a gate-approach routine: stop, wait for clearance, and continue.

Lab 5 · The Cliff Path

• Interfaced the TB6612FNG H-bridge with the drive motors and worked through direction, standby, stop, and braking behavior.
• Generated timer-based PWM, compared frequency/resolution tradeoffs, and swept duty cycle to find the motor dead zone.
• Counted Hall encoder pulses using interrupts and measured each motor's tick rate across duty-cycle settings.
• Built motor calibration curves and applied feed-forward gain matching to compensate for left/right differences.
• Programmed the cliff-path sequence with a stop at the end and compared behavior at different driving speeds.

Lab 6 · Tunnel of Poison Darts

• Implemented a distance-keeping PID loop using ultrasonic measurements, building on the earlier motor-matching work.
• Converted distance error into forward/reverse motor commands around the lab's 20 cm reference distance.
• Tuned proportional, integral, and derivative behavior while considering overshoot, steady-state error, oscillation, sensor noise, and the motor dead zone.
• Used SWV to inspect sensor readings and error while testing the robot's response as the wall moved.

Lab 7 · The Labyrinth

• Controlled an SG90 servo with PWM, related pulse width to angle, and checked positioning resolution and the component current budget.
• Built a transistor-and-flyback-diode driver for a 28BYJ-48 stepper, then programmed wave-drive, full-step, and half-step sequences.
• Mounted the ultrasonic sensor on the servo, collected distance readings at successive scan angles, and stored the scan in a C array.
• Established a zero reference for the stepper pointer and pointed it toward the scan direction with the greatest measured clearance.
• Combined scanning and drive control to navigate the labyrinth, with a button-operated stop.

Lab 8 · The Spinning Wheel

• Connected the MPU-6050 IMU over I2C, worked through its device address and register map, and used HAL memory reads/writes with communication error checks.
• Read temperature and three-axis acceleration, configured measurement range, combined register bytes, and handled signed acceleration values and unit conversions.
• Reviewed sensor offset tolerances and sampling behavior, then integrated the supplied Kalman-filter library to inspect angle and acceleration around the wheel axis.
• Completed the spinning-wheel task: track a platform turn, turn the robot back toward its starting orientation, and drive down the ramp.

Self-balancing with a PD controller was a separate bonus in this lab. The main sequence above is the focus of this project.