In engineering, before a product is brought to life, it goes through multiple stages from prototyping to testing and so on. This semester has been a game changer for me as a mechatronics student, helping me to develop the intuition of conceptualizing an idea, prototyping , simulation and testing and finally developing the idea into consumer product according to accepted standard.

What started of as an assignment ,"Design a 3d robot with at least 3 degree of, design a micro controller that can control this robot".
I started off with the idea of designing a robot leg. In this phase i had to break this idea into smaller achievable goals.

1. Asked myself how many degrees of freedom do i want the leg to have.
2. Make a sketch of how i want it to look like.
3. Write equation of kinematics and identify types of joints and their required torques
4. Select the type of motors that can handle the torques while meeting the joint requirement.
5. Find 3D models of the selected motors and if not available, model them using measurement from datasheet.
6. State the current and voltage requirement of motor, controlling and output signals.

These are the actionable steps i took to develop the 3D model of the leg however that is not what i am here to share. I am here to share that I have simulated and designed the micro controller PCB that :

1. Monitors current flow in the motor to make sure that motor current is not exceeded.
2. Monitors motors speed and position- which in this case will be useful in precise controlling of robot joints

The board also comes with features such as :
1. Providing the user with programmable pins like that of arduino
2. Board can work through USB and ISP protocol
3. Has reset feature
4. Led for testing
5. Power indicator
6. Two power channels- USB and 12V external power supply. In the case of the USB it will just power the board and not the motor
7. Automatic selection of 12V to power board if it is provided as my motors required 12V for operation.

Throughout the stages of development, I learned:

1. How to select components for PCB design
2. Read datasheet
3. Assign different netclasses depending on current requirement
4. Avoid passing tracks under inductive loads and components capable of inducing currents
5. Avoid longer tracks
6. Filtring noise
7. Stepping down voltages
8. Routing tracks
9. Creating custom footprints and component schematics if not provided (KiCAD)
10. Import 3D models into KiCAD and correct labelling of silkscreen.

Thank you.