[Charlotte] Status Update 10.12.19
What did you personally accomplish this week on the project?
This week I spent lots time attempting to get the Raspberry Pi connected to wifi. This unfortunately is taking a lot longer than initial anticipated. I spent countless hours in lab researching how to connect the Rpi to wifi as well as communicating with Shreyas (our TA) and getting suggestions from him. These attempts included trying to connect to every network the Rpi recognized, trying to connect to a hotspot created by my iPhone, and trying to register the device so that CMU_DEVICE wifi would work. This is all necessary because (1) we eventually plan to have our Rpi(s) communicate over wifi and (2) because in order to test the Pi Cap (the proximity capacitive sensor) that arrived in the mail, libraries must be download and installed to interact with the Pi Cap and test it.
Is your progress on schedule or behind? If you are behind, what actions will be taken to catch up to the project schedule?
We are still on track. We are finalize sensor testing in the next few days, and plan to have a sensor system schematic by the end of the week according to our gantt chart.
What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?
Our design doc is due this week, so clearly we intend on finishing that. I also hope that we resolve the issue of getting our Rpi connected to wifi, which I have been struggling with for some time now. Once we do that, we can test the Pi Cap, and have a clear sensor system schematic.
What are the most significant risks that could jeopardize the success of the project? How are these risks being managed? What contingency plans are ready?
Currently, I still believe our biggest risk is the sensors working appropriately for the space that they will be utilized in, because there are different sizes of study carrels, and the hight at which they are mounted makes a difference in how much space they cover for the PIR and ultrasonic sensors. However, we are mitigating this risk by putting so much time in to testing the sensors up front before we finalize the design of our sensor system.
Were any changes made to the existing design of the system (requirements, block diagram, system spec, etc)? Why was this change necessary, what costs does the change incur, and how will these costs be mitigated going forward?
After connecting the Pi Cap to the Rpi, I realized that all of the pins on the RPi are used when the Pi Cap is connected. Initially we thought that 11 carrels could be covered for each sub hub. Now we have realized if we decided to use the Pi Cap and a proximity sensor as our two sensors in the sensor system, fewer study carrels could be connected to each sub hub. I believe it would be 5 or 6 rather than 11 study carrels. This doesn’t have too much of an effect on our design; it just means, if we chose to use the Pi Cap, the cost per study carrel of our solution would go up.