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Aaron’s Status Report for 3/6

This week I worked on the system specification and implementation plans for the design review proposal. I created a new, more detailed version of the overall system block diagram, and I also created an independent software block diagram that goes into more detail about our app.

For the communication between the Raspberry Pi and the phone, we are planning on using the BlueZ Linux Bluetooth stack to handle Bluetooth pairing and data transmission.

I also did more research into determining beacon distance using Bluetooth. I found this webpage which details the math and some code behind how Bluetooth distancing calculations can be done. Although Bluetooth distance measuring is not very accurate, this is not a problem because we do not need precise distances. Since we only need to determine whether a tag is inside of the backpack or not, we are able to get away with the distances being off by up to approximately 10cm.

Next week I plan on working on the design review document and creating more diagrams to detail our system even further.

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Team Status Report for 2/27

Currently, the most significant risk for this project is finding a reasonable and robust testing plan for the learning system where the system will learn the user’s habits (which items they bring at which times of day on which days), as we can’t afford to wait 2 weeks for our system to learn habits each time we’d like to test the feature. One possible solution is to immediately begin collecting data from one of the team members as soon as the tags and integration with the device is done (i.e. one team member will tag and register all their items and bring their items with them from event to event for a period of time). We can also come up with carefully constructed synthetic data for testing purposes. Contingency plans we have ready include allowing the user to see their schedule as it is being developed and learned by the system so that the user can correct any mistakes our learning system makes.

Some changes were made to the existing design of the system based on feedback we received from others after our proposal presentation and more team discussion. The biggest change to our project includes the learning system, where we can learn a user’s habits after a period of time to craft their schedule and item notifications. This change was necessary because, as Professor Kim suggested, the user burden might be too large to require them to create events or sync their Google Calendar and assign items to each event. However, this change imposes additional strain on the user, as users may have to “wait” for their habits to be learned. For example, during the two weeks where our product learns about the user’s item habits, they could have already been able to use our system to help track and manage their assets. As a mitigation, the learning system will only be optional for users, in case they prefer to sync with Google Calendar or create events themselves.

We’ve currently made some tentative changes to our schedule to accommodate the learning system.

User flow diagrams and wireframes have been made for our phone app, which can be seen below. Additionally, our team has also decided on the most important items for item recognition as well as the hardware we need to purchase.

 

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Aaron’s Status Report for 2/27

This week I helped finish the proposal presentation, and I began finding specific parts to order for our project. For the proposal presentation, I created a preliminary system block diagram. I used this block diagram to help me create the item list.

I also began documenting the choices made in selecting these parts for use in the design review.  For example, we chose the Raspberry Pi Zero W for its cheap cost and small form factor, while still retaining Bluetooth and WiFi connectivity.

For next week I will work on selecting a protocol for communicating between the Raspberry Pi Zero and the Android app. This protocol will need to be able to quickly send the item list after the RPi finishes its item scanning.

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Aaron’s Status Report for 2/20

This week I worked on the proposal presentation, setting up the WordPress site, and creating our GANTT chart. For the proposal presentation, I focused on fleshing out implementation details and determining what our technical challenges will be.  We plan on using a Raspberry Pi Zero to manage a set of BLE scanners to determine what items are in a backpack. This list of items is then used by our phone app to notify the user if they are missing any items.

For the WordPress website, I set up the menu bar, and I helped write the introduction and summary for our project. For our Gantt chart, I helped list out the tasks which we need to accomplish to make our system functional, from building the scanner array to registering new items in the phone app.

For next week, I will begin designing the system, and looking at which specific tags and readers we will purchase. I will also finalize the block diagram for our scanning system.