The biggest risk of our project right now is the inconsistent printing. The software is working correctly and the hardware pieces are moving as expected. We are working on machining different pin variations to overcome this problem, but multiple iterations have not worked. There is a possibility our final demo will not have the printing that we anticipated. For testing, we are placing everything in the final casing and will be getting our final weight for portability requirements. We are doing user testing for easy of use, we unfortunately will be doing this with non-visible impaired users, but used feedback from the school from the blind and the ODR throughout our process. We are continuing to work on the pins and will be able to get a final force test for them. Our OCR is working up to our standard of accuracy as we test it on physical objects in addition to taking pictures of labels we have pulled up on the screen of our laptops to use more variety. It is successfully working on curved objects.
Abby’s Status Report for Dec 6
This week, we wrapped up our mechanical design and construction. The software side is working to our standards, one change we made was moving on from Tessaract to EasyOCR. This is a relatively quick change, all that needed to be done was download the new program and replace it in the script where Tessaract was used. While Tessararct worked up to our standard for the demo, we believe once we incorporated pictures on the Rasp. Pi camera, there were quality differences that were not visibly noticeable to us, but hindered the OCR. I worked on the final testing of the embosser. We are unfortunately having issues with inconsistent printing, but all the mechanisms are moving as we designed. There is a possibility the final demo will not be able to show as high quality prints as expected, but we are continuing to trouble shoot. We are excited for the demo and will be wrapping up this weekend.
Team Status Report for November 22
This week, we received the final main order of components. All subcomponents are coming together; a risk right now is the ease of integration. That will be the focus of this week as we plan the optimal way to start pulling components together. Our design has not changed, and with all the pieces, we can move forward at a faster pace. We’ve been meeting more outside of class and will continue to do so until the end of the semester. With the code working on CMU’s campus, the team will be able to work more efficiently instead of asynchronously. This week, we will begin to put our final presentation together and set goals for what we will have completed by the presentation date.
Abby’s Status Report for Nov 22
This week, we received our last round of purchases. I worked on editing some of the STL files for the pin selector to address issues from the demo. I also began joining parts more stably together with screws. Additionally, I figured out how to work with the Raspberry Pi with the CMU wifi that previously gave us issues. This week we will continue working on integration and final prints of the components. I’ll specifically focus on getting the final version of the pin selector working to pass on to be integrated with the mapping code. Additionally, I will print out the wheel that will be driving the tape through the device. We are still a little behind because of the HAT delay, but see a clear path forward at the moment.
Team Status Report for November 15
This week we are on track and focused on successfully completing our demo. We worked with presenting partially virtually, but the demo sessions went well. We met our goal for what we wanted to show: a function Tesseract, a proof of concept for the pin selector, and an early design of the base. The main goal was to show how the wheel will raise/lower the pins. The group spent most of the week together for the demo, but this coming week will continue again working on the separate components. Towards the end of the week, the goal is early integration of testing the mapping code with the functioning pin selector.
There needs to be continued work for editing the Raspberry Pi code over CMU wifi, but it is functioning with other methods, so this is not a critical issue at the moment. We will be printing early designs of the top of the embosser and the base.
Abby’s Status Report for Nov 15
This week we were focused on our demo. We laid out a presentation and practiced to ensure we would remain in time. I continued work on the embosser and started work machining better pins for our device. We will most likely need to put an order for wires in if we can’t find enough in the TechSpark scrap bins, but so far we have found enough. With the HAT, this week I will be focused on incorporating and running all three servos and soldering the pins for the HAT. Bella and I will continue to work on printing the rest of our 3D components and work towards a complete first prototype.
This week we will reflect on how the demo went and where we can improve presentation strategies for our final one.
Team Status Report for November 8
This week we are on track and focused on our goal for what we want to show in our demo. There is no design change at the time. For our demo, our goal is show a functioning Tesseract read a series of label images. For the mechanical side, we will show the functioning pin selector and the first half of the wheel mechanism. We started splitting the work with Bella and Francesca continuing to work in the lab and Abby working in TechSpark. We additionally work towards creating a final design for the handle of the device, figuring out the best orientation of the components.
There were some issues with the Raspberry Pi booting with CMU wifi, but when brought home, it functioned with home wifi. A possible issue could be ensuring the device will continue to function without wifi. The 3D prints (about a third of the device) only took about 90 minutes to print, so there will be no issue with timing when needing to create multiple iterations of the prototype.
Abby’s Status Report for Nov 8
This week I focused on the embosser. I booted the raspberry pi and worked with running it with one servo. We ran into an issue where the mail room sent a notification that we received a part, but it was not there. This limits us to testing with 1 servo for now, but the HAT piece will soon be here. This doesn’t significantly put us back. We are on track otherwise.
I additionally printed out the first three parts of the base. This will complete the selection wheel and prototyped pins. The goal for the physical component for the demo is to have the pin selector working smoothly. This week, I will complete the demo and continue printing out the rest of the embosser.
Abby’s Status Report for Nov 1
This week I focused on ordering final components needed to complete the demo. In addition, I started sending 3D prints to TechSpark to be completed. I continued to work on the CAD for other aspects of the design. I altered our design a little bit. Instead of a cam rotating to act as the “printing” mechanism, I moved to change this to a circle with a small cut out. By making it a circle instead of a cam, I hope to keep the design more balenced and easier to design and print out.
We are on track for our goals of what we want to show for the demo. By the end of this week, I hope to have the servos running with the RaspberryPi and a completed first mock-up of the embosser.
Team Status Report for October 25
Some risks that have come up are our motors not being strong enough to run the device. We are first hoping to have lightweight components, but is the need arises, we can order stronger motors. Of now, there are no changes to our design from the update from last week. We will continue forward as we begin to test the OCR. We are moving towards the deadline of the demo in two weeks.