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Vedant’s Status Report 2/27/21

Last Sunday we confirmed our  Gantt chart and schedule. Then we divided up the components we planned on using to research so we could place an order . I researched the display we would use and how we can integrate the start/stop button with the TX1. For the display, I concluded we should buy a small 5 inch HDMI display from Adafruit.

The display can be powered by micro USB. The TX1 has an HDMI port and a micro USB that can supply the 500 mA current required by the display. This display was ideal as it is small, so it can be something we can wear on our arm, and requires no custom power management circuity as it can be powered through USB. Since right now we are planning to place the TX1 in a backpack and display on the arm, it is important to minimize the wiring between the two components.

Next, I created a simple circuitry to connect our start/stop button to the TX1.

The J21 header pin 13 on TX1 has a pull down network which will complete the circuit when the button is pressed. The 3.3V is provided by the TX1 GPIO pin 1. I initially plan to have this circuitry on a small breadboard next to the display for testing and later transitioning to through hole assembly. I plan to get all the components for the button circuitry from the ECE lab.

I also researched a JTAG debugger we can use for the TX1 as the kit we have did not come with a JTAG debugger.

Next week I hope to start researching on the color/blob filtering. I want to get a basic filter implemented on the TX1 using the built in camera to detect a bright orange sticky note. Since we do not have the camera we will use on the drone, I am using the TX1 built in camera as the processing will be done by the TX1 in any case. I also plan to help my team place the order for some of our critical components like the camera and display.

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Team’s Status Report 2/20/21

This week, we spent a significant amount of time debating between our final drone idea and a bluetooth network-based localization system. During our first meeting with Professor Savvides, we asked him for guidance on how to choose between these projects and how he felt about them. We decided to write two entire abstracts to fully consider available resources and areas of expertise. After fleshing out both these ideas, we were excited to choose our drone idea. From here, we worked on the presentation. We also started brainstorming on parts involved and how our choice of parts would impact our budget.

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Vedant’s Status Report for 2/20/21

I helped write and discuss the abstract for all our ideas (bluetooth triangulation and drone tracking system) to aid us in mapping out the feasibility of each. For both of them, I worked with the team to identify the challenges that would be involved and how to solve them (like finding if there is an existing API for bluetooth angle of arrival for BLE direction finding). This information allowed us to understand if the drone or bluetooth localization problem was more feasible. After we picked our final project, I helped brainstorm the goals that we can achieve for the MVP and what we can aim for as stretch goals. Finally, I am also working on creating the proposal presentation. Next week, I will start researching the microcontroller and on ground compute that we can use. I will also work on the schedule. I will also work with the team to determine how we can mount our extra hardware on the drone.