[Charlotte] Status Update 10.26.2019
What did you personally accomplish this week on the project?
I have spent time this week researching and working on get Rpis to communicate over wifi with TCP connections. I am currently in California for over a week, so not being in lab has made working on the project a little more difficult. However, I traveled with 2 Rpis, the necessary power supplies, the pi cap, and a few other this, which is what has made it possible to accomplish work while I am here. Unfortunately, I only have one computer monitor at my disposable here, and I wish I could hook of each of the Rpis to their own monitor but it is okay.
I have also done research into alternatives to the PIR sensor that I have been testing in lab. I mentioned last week that I had been testing the sensor a lot but was somewhat concerned about it. I thought for a time that thermal sensors would be a good alternative, but they are about $25 bucks each so it just doesn’t seem like the benefit is worth the increased cost. However, Shreyas mentioned PIR sensors that he or others he knew worked with in the past that have a smaller visual range. Also, Professor Kelly mentioned trying to test the PIR sensors with a tube around the sensor that helps focus its visual field to a smaller range. Overall, I think this problem can be solved, but I won’t be able to make much progress on it until I am back on campus and can work in lab.
Is your progress on schedule or behind? If you are behind, what actions will be taken to catch up to the project schedule?
At this point we are slightly behind. This is partly due to the fact that I haven’t been able to work physically in lab because I am in California. It is also because we assumed/hoped we would not have problems with the PIR sensors but now we are having to rethink where to place them so that they will yield the results that we are looking for. I am pretty confident that I completely done interviewing once I am back on campus, so I will be able to dedicate much more time to this class each week.
What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?
I want to make sure I have the wifi communication fully completed between two RPis. I would also like to make progress one testing out the PIR sensors with the suggestions that Professor Kelly and Shreyas suggested to me. Assuming that all goes smoothly I can start putting more time into writing the code for the Pi Cap and such so that I am passing and processing the correct information between Rpis over the wifi communication.
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?
We are spending more time on sensors testing than we had planned for. This is to help make sure that they preform to the standard that we expect when we create our final project.