Over the course of the last week I’ve been primarily working on getting the C++ code to work on my Windows computer, as well as prepping for the upcoming interim demo on Wednesday 4/6.
Although last week I mentioned that I was expecting the PCBs I had ordered to arrive, I had actually misread the manufacturing completion date as the shipping arrival date. The true shipping arrival date turned out to be 4/4, so I haven’t gotten my hands on the PCBs yet, which has prevented me from soldering the components and printing the final drum design like originally planned.
As such, I’ve mainly been working on other minor tasks in preparation for next week. For example, both I and Shreya spent some time working with Visual Studio 2022 in an effort to get the C++ code working on our Windows machines. We did manage to get it working eventually, but only after removing an audio library, which will be necessary in our final product and so we’ll need to find a way to incorporate it back into the Windows version of the codebase later.
Additionally, I’ve been prepping the demo drum module for use in the interim demo. A video of such can be seen here:
When pressing the drum, the ESP32 simultaneously sends a serial signal to the computer (to be read by the C++ code) while also powering the feedback LEDs that give users a physical means of knowing their hit was detected. Other than improvements to the design/layout, this is exactly how the final drum module is planned to function.
Other than those two tasks, I’ve also been working on some modifications to the ESP32 code to handle multiple drum inputs as well as designing some drafts of what the ESP32 housing will look like. Due to the cost and time required to get custom PCBs, that likely won’t be feasible for the ESP32 module. As such, I’m planning on using a combination of breadboards and internal wiring to achieve the needed stability and connection quality with the ESP32.
Regarding where I feel this progress is at, I think I’m on schedule as what I have currently is sufficient for presentation during the interim demo next week. Although I would’ve liked to have the final drum module/PCB printed, soldered, and assembled together by then, I may still be able to do so depending on when the PCBs arrive next week. Once I do get that final module printed and assembled, most of the remaining objectives I’ll have going forward will be related to integration and helping out on other tasks where I can.