Category: Team Status Reports

This week, we all worked on polishing our game up in time for the final demo. Frances worked on attaching the hardware to the frisbee itself, Michael worked on tweaking the values to make the game playable with the frisbee controller, and Alex worked on helping debug the implementation of the hardware and software.

We believe we are on track for our Demo, and we are having a lot of success with the implementation of both, hopefully creating a fun experience for all of our users!

This week we were successfully able to wirelessly communicate data between the Arduino and the computer. We are also able to successfully power the Arduino with a battery. This week, Michael further developed the game experience by making a scoring system with targets that the users can hit, and we have also decided to no longer use a ToF sensor, and instead use the CV model to measure the distance the frisbee is off of the ground. We were able to attach the wrist strap to the frisbee controller, however it was too flimsy, and broke, so we have put in another order for another wrist strap. Next week, we are planning to get the 3D printed casing attached to the frisbee with the hardware inside. We are also planning to finalize the communication protocol between the CV computer and the Unity Game computer in hopes to finally implement the CV data.

We are still on track to finish in time.

For this week, we spent a majority of time setting up for our interim demo. Alex and Frances worked on getting a wireless communication working between the controller and the Unity Game, as that is a crucial and critical component of the product. Michael added more parameters to the frisbee’s path of flight within the Unity Game, and fine tuned the game’s physics. Next week, we are planning to finish setting up the wireless communication, and set up the communication from Alex’s computer (which hosts the CV) to Michael’s computer (which hosts the Unity Game).  We are mostly on track to finish in time.

This week, we did a lot more development into the implementation of our Design. Frances worked on figuring out how to get the ToF sensor working, as the IMU was transmitting data successfully, and we needed to also get the ToF sensor working as well. Michael worked on developing the game environment and smoothing out the physics of the model. Alex found a better CV model with a lower latency for our design.

We are fairly on track, however our Gantt chart had to be updated to account for using CV as well as giving ourself more time to get the hardware implemented. We are in a good spot for the interim demo, as we successfully are able to connect the hardware movement with a software response.

 

This week, we spent a lot of time working on our design presentation. We fleshed out both our hardware and software implementations, and specified our Gantt chart in more detail. We are currently on track with our schedule.
This week, we added a software step in our software implementation that included syncing all our data, as we realized that the multiple sources of inputs (webcam, Arduino Nano) would potentially cause out of sync data. This should be relatively simple to implement, since all of the hardware has this capability of sending timestamped data.
In the case that this does not work, we will try assuming data sync, since there is already low latency with both the camera and the sensors. If that does not work, we will try sending the webcam data to the Arduino Nano/RPi to sync the data all together.

This next week, we are planning to work on the design report, and once we receive our critiques, order our hardware sensors.

This week our team decided on which sensors we believe will be the best fit for our project. We have not yet purchased them as we are hoping to receive feedback on our design during the design presentation this week. Additionally, we found a pre-existing frisbee physics model that we are hoping to test out and decide if it will make sense to use with the project.

During this week we decided to try and use open pose to decide where the frisbee is thrown in relation to the person. This will have no negative impacts on our project yet as we are not too far into it.

A was written by Frances, B was written by Michael and C was written by Alex.

A. The Whee! Frisbee game directly contributes to public health by promoting both physical and psychological well-being. By requiring players to simulate throwing a real Frisbee, the game encourages physical activity that supports health and overall fitness. While many students face academic pressure and lack opportunities to exercise in large outdoor spaces, this game provides an excellent opportunity for them to exercise indoors. Additionally, the game’s interactive design and engaging in-game maps foster enjoyment and stress relief, which are important for maintaining mental health. By combining exercise with entertainment, the solution offers a comprehensive contribution to public health, improving both physiological and psychological well-being.

B. Oftentimes, many people use a competitive setting to bond and relate to each other. Many sports teams or sports fans are socially connected, and this is due to a mutual love and appreciation around a single team’s wellbeing, or love of the game. In the case of inclement weather, or reduced access to spaces, or even a lack of numbers, our project, Whee! Frisbee, can be used to bond and unite those with a love of disc sports. Not only that, but Whee! Frisbee can also allow users with limited athletic capabilities to still participate in the competitive nature of a sports game. Because the actual throw is simulated, the user does not need to be physically fit and able to throw a frisbee, however they are still getting the immersive experience of playing disc sports through the physical mechanics of simulating a throw. Our hope is that through Whee! Frisbee, those with an interest in disc sports will have more ways to connect with each other, and those who are interested but have limited resources may still maintain their social connection to the community

C. Within our Whee! Frisbee game, economic factors played only a minor role in our project. We had to decide how to allocate our $600 budget effectively, but beyond that, economic considerations were limited. However, if this product were to be mass-produced, it would likely be expensive for consumers since the controller alone costs over $50 to manufacture, and the computer/Raspberry Pi adds additional costs. A more practical approach might be for a frisbee coach to purchase one device for team use, allowing multiple players to practice on it at different times, or for it to be offered as an attraction at a frisbee simulator venue.

This week, our team successfully created our Proposal Presentation, and presented it. We spent much of our time researching the needed requirements and finalizing the preliminary solution approach, therefore giving us a good idea of what parts and setup we need to being working.
We also spent a good amount of time reviewing our peers’ Proposals as well, giving constructive critiques.

We are currently still on schedule, as this upcoming week will include more research into parts needed as well as the setup required to start working.