On November 30th 2012, after receiving the electrical components in the mail, we held our first engineering meeting afterschool. We opened packages of photocells, Radio Frequency (RF) receivers and transmitters, lasers, infrared, and bike reflectors. We tested the photocells and lasers using 4 AA batteries to see if the photocell responds appropriately to the laser signals.
Additionally, we tested the reflective properties of the bike reflectors. We plan to take apart the reflectors to determine the best way to reflect back the lasers to the photocells.
In the upcoming meetings, we will tackle how to attach the components to an Arduino board. We will also start coding by experimenting with the Arduino syntax.
—FG
