Author: bdwei

I have set up the web application that uses React and Django and learned about how to get and send data between React and Django using Axios, which can send GET and POST requests between React and Django, and learned about the Django REST framework, which can take data from the POST requests and create objects based on the Django models to store in the database. Though I have some experience with React and Django, I had no experience with using Axios and the Django REST framework, which took a few hours of learning and debugging to learn the full capabilities of these tools. After learning these tools, I implemented allowing the user to upload images for pet classification. Specifically, I designed a frontend page that allows users to upload images and a Django model to store these images and the type of these images (png, jpeg, etc.). After the user uploads an image, a POST request is called using Axios that sends the image to the Django REST framework, which creates an object based on the Django model specified above that stores the images into the database.

Based on my schedule, I am currently behind on tasks for the web application side. The plan is to push back my tasks back a week as I have other work commitments this week and have been having technical issues with my computer recently, and there are no major tasks that other people are relying on me finishing at the moment so pushing back tasks by a week is okay.

The task I hope to work on this week is to test our ideas related to users choosing forbidden zones for a pet. I want to test both the frontend, specifically users choosing spots, which designate forbidden zones, on a grid overtop a 2D room image, and the backend, specifically storing this data in an array-like structure, implementation of these tasks. Though I am pushing back tasks by a week, I believe this is an important task to do before spring break as it is a core task of the project that other teammates will eventually rely on, and it is important to see what changes I will have to make based on testing our implementation ideas of the forbidden zones this week.

I worked on setting up React integrated with Django. Previously I have used each framework by itself, but I have never used them together so it took some time and debugging to set this up. I looked at my previous implementation of a user uploading images on Django and thought about how to replicate this with React and Django, but I have not implemented this yet. As well, I worked on the Design Review Presentation. Specifically, I thought about the solution approach as it applies to the web application side of the project. I chose React and Django due to my previous experience with these frameworks and how they are the leading frameworks in frontend and backend respectively. One safety concern is related to the privacy of the user, specifically how users will be able to see a live video feed of their room. Hence, a malicious user may be able to see the live video feed of another user, which is an invasion of privacy. But, there are security protection tools supplied by Django that can address these concerns. I have made minor adjustments to the block diagram from last week for the web application side, and I will be finishing up the other points of the Design Review Presentation with my team within the next day. 

Currently, I am behind schedule due to the tests and homeworks of other classes. I will be working on how to use the React and Django frameworks together, and I will implement a user being able to upload pet images to the website to catch up on the schedule.

After I finish working on the tasks that I am behind on, I will be working on one of the core features of the website, which is allowing users to choose forbidden zones for a pet and figuring out how to store this data into the database.

Web Application Development (17-437) covers the engineering principles related to my part of the design process, specifically working with the backend using Django. I have basic experience with React, and I will be learning more about developing with React in the upcoming weeks.

During class, I presented our proposal and did peer reviews of other proposal presentations. Outside of class, our team met to have an initial discussion of the design review for the project. We fleshed out the specific tasks that we each need to complete based on our role for the project, and we figured out how we could integrate all parts of the project together. Personally, this helped me have a greater understanding of what I specifically needed to do for the web application and what data I needed to send to or receive from the Raspberry Pi. After the meeting, I created a block diagram for the Web Application side of the project (as shown in the diagram below). Specifically, I listed the tasks that the user is able to complete on the frontend, and design Django models on the backend that would be used to store data in the database. Finally, I updated the schedule based on what we discussed in the meeting for the design review.

Based on the schedule we created, my progress is on schedule. For next week, the main priority is to finish the design review presentation, specifically finishing the block diagram and discussing testing, verification, and validation. In terms of the web application, I hope to set up a React application integrated with Django. Also, I hope to work on letting users upload images for pet classification, which I have prior experience doing.