Carnegie Mellon ECE Capstone, Spring2021
This week we experienced some major setbacks as we had not yet received all the parts we had ordered. Due to this, we were not able to set up all the hardware components we had previously planned on developing. In light of this, we focused on the iOS application and were able to create both login and sign-up pages. In the coming week, we will begin to work on both the hardware components and enclosure for our system.
This week I worked on the iOS application we are creating for our project. I began by creating an application in Xcode and initializing a repository on Github. I ran into problems early on, as I had never worked in Swift before and had to learn the language from scratch. This proved more difficult than expected as many of the tutorials found online are made using an old version of Swift. We were able to create a simple application and have created login and sign-up pages so far. Much of this week was spent learning the syntax and controllers in Swift.
In the coming week, I plan on expanding on the application we currently have built out. The current plan is to have Aryan continue to develop the interface for our application and I will begin to work on connecting our application with the DSD Tech HM-10 Bluetooth Module. Once this connection is established we will be able to communicate between the application and the ELEGOO Mega.
Unfortunately, I was severely bottlenecked this past week due to us not receiving the rest of our order of supplies until this Thursday (3/24). Our wood for our structure wasn’t ready to pick up until Thursday, and our remaining hardware components were not delivered until Thursday as well. Some of our key components, such as our DC barrel jack and 12V DC power supply were necessary to power all of the components we plan on using in our design. I spent the week working with both Aryan and Tyler on building the basic functionalities of our iOS application. We were able to develop and configure a majority of our login/sign-in page of our application, but I myself was not able to make much progress on my hardware and structural tasks.
Due to this, I am a bit behind on my deliverables for this week. We decided to use a new bluetooth module than the one we initially ordered (we decided to switch to the DSD Tech HM-10 because of the feedback we received from our Design Presentation). After researching the module a bit, we discovered this chip is able to more easily handle certain aspects of our iOS application, such as being able to seamlessly send notifications of completed drinks orders and drink status updates. Now that these components have arrived, I’m planning on getting our bluetooth chip configured with our iOS application and setting up the bluetooth communication with our iOS app next week. I will also be testing and writing our Arduino code to perform the tasks required to operate our system this week, including controlling our peristaltic pumps, stepper motor and servos.
This week we all met on Monday to sort through our package that arrived the previous week and we wanted to ensure that we received all required parts and begin to separate and go through them to ensure we did not need any further parts. However, while doing this process we realized we had forgotten to order a few parts needed for connection between devices and motors and hence added an updated version to our order list which we will place with Quinn next week. The list is below:
As well as this we worked on our design presentation and finished it. We first outlined the entire report and split up the categories as we felt was logical. Tyler and Aryan primarily worked on the software layer and redesigned the software system diagram and Tom worked on the System Diagram and Object Model as well as lower-level diagram of the wiring between Bluetooth module ELAGOO MEGA and the motors. We all evenly split up the other sections of the report such as design requirements, risk mitigation, project management and budget. Our detailed report can be found on the website as well.
We’re all very excited to begin the implementation stage and hopefully share some working motors videos to you next week!
This week Tom, Tyler and I met early in the week to finalize and complete our design report submission which was due on Wednesday. I was primarily focused on the design requirements for the project as well as the software system diagram. I created a new software system diagram along with Tyler as seen below:
The design requirements section was where we formalized our points from both the proposal presentation as well as the design presentation and hence helped us refine our ideas a little more and helped me gain a lot of clarity on the final product specification and designs. I truly do understand the benefits of this design and presentation process now as if it weren’t for this I believe that it would’ve been a lot harder for us in the implementation stage as we would not have accounted for so many external factors.
Early this week I spent time preparing for the Design Review presentation which I gave on Monday, 3/8. After receiving feedback from the presentation I began to work on the report itself, ensuring to take into account the notes we were given from our instructors and peers.
I realized the Bluetooth module we had planned on using was not the right fit for our project and began searching for a replacement. The module we ordered (DSD Tech HC-05) came only with support for Android systems, but the same company makes a more advanced module (DSD Tech HM-10) that is able to support the Bluetooth protocols used by Apple products.
Additionally, I created a CAD representation of what we will be building. This will be the design we use moving forward and will enclose hardware components so they are not visible from the outside.
Our parts arrived this week! We went through all of them and ensured everything we ordered was there (which they were!).
The feedback from our design proposal presentation made us realize we were missing a lot of detail about our design, so we spent the first part of the week ironing out some of the wrinkles. We noticed that we were going to need to order some parts we previously neglected and will organize and send an order hopefully sometime next week.
Our previous thoughts on implementing the bottle casing had us thinking we would use valves and hold the bottles upside-down for dispensing. After some thought we chose to use peristaltic pumps in lieu of valves, removing the need to create a structure that could support multiple inverted bottles.
Receiving the majority of our parts was a huge milestone for us, as now we can begin the building phase of the project. We hope to begin building the casing to house the hardware and bottles and are waiting only on the wood we ordered to arrive in order to start. However, if the wood does not end up coming soon, we will begin work on the hardware and software components.
In the coming week, we will be finishing our design report and beginning to work on the construction of our project.
This week I began making progress towards completing our design report. After going over the feedback from our design presentation and receiving our initial order of parts, I realized we had overlooked a few components.
I’ll be working to get a new order ready by early next week, just in case we overlooked anything else.
I also updated our hardware diagram. It now shows all wire connections between components and shows exactly which components interface with one another.
Since the parts just arrive this Friday, I’m a bit behind on setting up some of the components, such as cutting/adding the tubing to the pumps. This upcoming week, I’ll be working to finalize our design report as well as starting to set up our hardware components.
This week we had the design review presentation and I worked on implementing the slides for the design review presentation. The main slides I worked on was the software layer slide, and the project management slide.
We also finalized the master ordering list and placed the orders using the forms provided to us on Canvas. We have received the orders today and picked them up from the ECE department and we will begin separating and sequencing these parts into the stages of the project so that when we start implementation and building will be easier.
We have also begun work on our formal design review submission and I aim to complete my sections (Abstract, Introduction, Risk Mitigation, Bill of Materials, Cost Management and Project management) by EOD Monday.