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?
The most significant risk heading into this week was PCB delivery timing for our demo. We successfully managed this risk by maintaining close communication with the manufacturer throughout the assembly process following our USB connector redesign. The boards are scheduled to arrive tomorrow morning, giving us a critical window for validation before the demo.
Hardware validation risk remains our primary concern. We need to verify that the high temperature USB connectors were correctly installed during assembly and that they perform as expected for USB enumeration and data transfer. We have comprehensive validation procedures prepared, including power supply verification, USB signal integrity checks, and basic read functionality testing. Our contingency plan includes having detailed software demonstrations ready even if we encounter unexpected hardware issues during bring up.
Software architecture risk was addressed this week through a complete redesign. The previous PyFTDI based implementation had fundamental limitations in low level control and timing precision. The new architecture provides much more direct control over USB communication and better integrates with our power cycling hardware. This was a significant undertaking but positions us much better for reliable operation. The new implementation has been thoroughly tested and is working end to end.
Integration risk is elevated given that we’re now working with a single team member handling both hardware and software responsibilities. This has streamlined decision making but increased workload. We’re managing this by focusing on critical path items and preparing comprehensive backup materials for the demo.
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?
We made a major software architecture change this week. The entire PyFTDI based implementation was scrapped and rebuilt from the ground up. This change was necessary because the PyFTDI approach had fundamental limitations in low level USB control and timing precision that would have caused issues as we scaled up functionality. The old architecture couldn’t provide the fine grained control we need for reliable power cycling coordination and USB communication recovery.
The new architecture gives us direct control over the USB communication layer and integrates much better with our hardware power cycling control. This required essentially rewriting the core imaging and recovery code, representing a substantial engineering investment of approximately 15 to 20 hours this week. However, the new implementation provides improved error handling, more predictable behavior, and better performance characteristics.
We’re mitigating the time cost of this redesign by leveraging the improved architecture’s capabilities to accelerate future development. The cleaner design will make adding features and debugging issues significantly faster. Testing has confirmed the new implementation works end to end with better reliability than the previous approach.
No hardware design changes occurred this week. The boards currently in production incorporate the high temperature USB connector changes from our previous revision.
Provide an updated schedule if changes have occurred.
Schedule remains consistent with our previous update, with boards arriving tomorrow morning (November 16th) and demo occurring shortly after:
Week 7 (current): PCB delivery November 16th morning, immediate board bring up and validation. Software architecture redesign completed and tested. Demo preparation and execution.
Weeks 8 through 9: Full board characterization including signal integrity measurements and power cycling timing verification. Testing with wider variety of USB drives across different manufacturers. Hardware issue documentation and rev2 improvement planning.
Weeks 10 through 11: System optimization, cross vendor drive compatibility validation, performance measurements, success rate analysis across different drive failure types.
Week 12: Final demonstration preparation, comprehensive documentation, demo video production, poster completion, final report drafting.
The critical path runs through successful demo execution and subsequent hardware validation. Software architecture is now solid and ready for integration with physical hardware.
Progress summary and demonstrations
Hardware Progress: Boards are scheduled for delivery tomorrow morning after successful completion of assembly with the high temperature USB connectors. All test equipment and verification procedures are prepared for immediate bring up upon arrival. Component inventory is complete with 100% BOM match for any potential repairs or modifications needed.
Software Progress: Major architectural overhaul completed this week. The entire PyFTDI based implementation was replaced with a new architecture providing much more direct control over USB communication and better integration with power cycling hardware. The new implementation has been thoroughly tested and demonstrates end to end functionality with improved error handling and more predictable behavior. Demo script has been prepared showcasing key functionality.
Integration: Currently operating with a single team member handling both hardware and software responsibilities; Hopefully the other team member is doing documentation, he has an update for this Friday to see his progress. This has required careful prioritization but has streamlined decision making processes. All preparation work is complete for rapid hardware validation tomorrow morning and demo execution. Comprehensive backup plans are in place in case of unexpected hardware issues.