Category: Status Reports

• Spent time testing the filter circuit. After testing founding that the filter was starting to cut off around 60kHz, but the desire is to cut off at 14kHz. Started to build the same resistor and capacitor configuration as the current low pass filter. The plan is that with multiple low pass filters with the same configuration, the output of one low pass filter can be feed into the input of another low pass filter in order to achieve the desired frequency cut off.
• The progress is still on schedule
• The plan for the coming week is to continue working on the filters and solder the other 3.5mm jack breakout. Also, connect the mic, the two breakouts, the 2 sided cable, the 3.5mm jack to the usb converter, and the laptop just to see if the parts allow the mic to properly connect to the laptop

This week I tested the MATLAB Python Engine API, which will be used to integrate the DSP portion into the webapp. I am behind schedule on the whole GUI for the app but I aim to catch up this week.

This week I wrapped up the voice tempo detection. There are still areas to optimize, but for the most part it is able to detect on-beat rapping. I rectify and smooth the audio before running it through an onset detection algorithm. Then, I calculate where beats should be based on the bpm given by the backing track beat detector. Here is an example of amateur rap where it is able to detect on-beat rapping.

 

The magenta lines indicate hit beats and green lines indicate missed beats. You can see gaps in hits where the rapper is pausing and taking breaks. In the coming weeks I plan to begin integrating this into the backend and have it working on live-audio in the web app.

 

• Build the high pass filter circuit and connected the high pass filter circuit with the loss pass filter circuit. Had to put some resistors in series in order to achieve the desired frequency cutoffs. Also, soldered the 3.5mm breakout with metals pins so that the breakout could be put in the breadboard and connect to the breadboard.
• The schedule is on progress.
•  Plans for the upcoming week is to test the low pass and high pass filter, connect the breakout with the circuit using wires, and also connect the microphone to the breakout and circuit. Then test the circuit again after connection the microphone is implemented.

Built the backend models and created a CRUD system as promised. Also started working on the  gui decisions as per our schedule, since it has to be coordinated with the DSP part and should not block the main pipeline from moving forward.

Next week we have the ethics discussion and my plan is to wrap up the frontend part of our application in its basic form, so that we can join all our parts together and have a complete test run to whatever capacity possible, and spend some time ensuring they run together by the demo.

This week our team is starting to finish our individual parts so we can put them together in time for the demo. We have run into an issue where we are not confident about the latency of all the different parts being able to display to the UI on time. However, since this is in preparation for our demo, we can iron out these issues later down the road.

However, this is an issue we expected to run into as putting the different parts together is the most complicated. We are also all working on polishing our individual parts. We see no other project wide problems aside from those described in the individual parts.

This week I optimized the rapping tempo detection program by implementing better smoothing to the signal before onset detection. Here is a a 30 second long rap vocal track after it has been smoothed out.

I tested it on shorter signals and the beat detection seems to be much more accurate.

So far, I am on schedule according to the new schedule. I have used up my week of slack, which means from now on I need to be very cautious of how I use my time. I cannot fall behind now. Next week I will work with Saransh to implement rapping tempo detection into the backend so we can get a working UI display up before the demo.

• Built a passive low pass circuit, using a resistor and capacitor from the lab. Also, calculated the capacitor and resistor values for the high pass filter. The goal is a filter that allows frequencies between 40Hz – 14Hz, so picking the proper resistors and capacitors an important. Currently, there is a 4-kiloohm resistor and 1 microFarad capacitor for the low pass filter and a 10-ohm resistor and 1 microFarad. Also, parts were picked up and moved into the lab.
• The schedule is on progress
• Plans for the upcoming week is to implement the high pass filter. Also, test that the low pass and high pass filter works for the proper frequency range using the lab oscilloscope, and then start the process of connecting the microphone to the circuit.

This week our group made more progress in finishing our Minimum Viable Product. However, we had one team member out of town and another was sick, so we weren’t able to meet as often as we would have liked. However, we are still on track to finish the project on time given our slack. We are weary of last minute bugs that may crop up as we finish our code and it becomes complicated. Another aspect we have given plenty of time in case a problem does arise, is combining application features. We can definitely see a lot of issues during this last phase of putting everything together, so we are keen on testing individual units and making sure they work very well first.

This week was spent optimizing the voice beat detection with different bands. Instead of focusing on all frequency spectrums, different frequency bands were given varying weights. I also generated more 4/4 beat test vocals, however I was not able to finish testing because I was busy with midterms. In addition, I was sick beginning Wednesday and thus had to move most of the work to Friday and this coming weekend. Since I have a week of slack, I plan to shift everything back and still be on schedule.