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?
This week, we worked on finalizing the design of the solenoid embosser, designing the x/y arm system to move the paper, setting up the web-app, and began working on the web-scraping algorithm.
These are the primary risks we identified for this week:
- The linear bearings of the x/y gantry must be manufactured to high spec. If they are not, this could impact the mechanical functioning of the braille embosser to not work as well.
- Mitigation: Source parts carefully and make proper cost benefit analysis of cheaper parts.
- Proper functioning of tensioning system for y-axis printing motion
- Mitigation: modularizing design such that size of enclosure can be remanufactured/re-designed as needed
- Lack of control over solenoids may cause complications with embossing because only have control over voltage variable
- Mitigation: Designing effective control circuit. If solenoids fail, use motors (however cost of time)
- For backend, considering the kinds of keywords people would use since we’re finding the website and not searching is a risk
- Mitigation: In worst case scenario allow users to do a google search
- keep researching websites to source from
- Frontend accessibility and usability
- Mitigation: planning user tests and debugging with apple accessibility debugger
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?
Provide an updated schedule if changes have occurred.
This week we made a few small components to the design. This however does not set us off track according the schedule.
- Downsized number of solenoids to a total of two solenoids. This change was made because after the number of solenoids passed 2 solenoids, the amount of time it took to emboss a single character begins to plateau. We chose 2 solenoids because it is most manageable without slowing down the overall system
- A large component of our design decisions was whether to couple or decouple the x/y gantry. We decided to decouple the gantry because it will be a simpler design overall, and will give us a bit more control and create a more stable system. Decoupling will reduce mechanical failure points and increases accuracy. It also appears to be cheaper than a non-decoupled system.
- We have also modified the webscraping methods. We will now only be webscraping from a select number of websites that already have products listed. This decision was made because of lack of supporting libraries in python.