This week I finished up the wiring of the smoke sensors that I was stuck on last week. After consulting with Aidan too, we agreed on how we wire the sensors up and were finally able to get some readings. However, we are a bit confused on how to set a good and accurate threshold that indicates a fire as the readings fluctuate from sensor to sensor. I did a lot of research to figure out how other usages of the sensor were related to the presence of a fire and what exactly the output means but am still searching for a definite answer. This part should be a quick fix to the code as we would just create a threshold variable in our code that would indicate a fire if reached, similarly to how we did it for the temperature sensor and it alerted a fire once we got above a certain temperature.
Furthermore, after our weekly meeting with Professor Mukherjee and Kaashvi, we went to see the machines that allow us to print our PCB on a copper sheet in Techspark. We are still confused on how to use the machine but it definitely relies on an Eagle file which is my goal this week to get a version completed. I would also like to talk to Quinn to see if he has anyone with experience with the machine that we could reach out to for extra assistance. I have a copy of the manual as well which I’ve been reading through but want to ensure that I am going about it properly. We also discussed several backup options regarding the PCBs. While most start with the Eagle file, ideally we can make them in house. But we also have the option to send them out to be made, ordered, and delivered in parallel as well as simply using solderable breadboards/protoboards for each individual node which would be easy to obtain but maybe not the most sleek solution. Finally, the only thing really holding Aidan and I back on the design would be the delay of the batteries as the rechargeable battery circuit is also another component of each individual node. Ideally they would have arrived in the last week like we expected, but they still have yet to come in despite being in stock through Amazon prime. We want to be able to confirm this circuit to work as we have already created small circuits for the rest of the components that make up each node. We can still create the design for the rest of the circuit and add in the batteries when they come in, which is hopefully soon.
In the upcoming week, I want to build the PCB design in Eagle based on everything but the batteries (unless the batteries come in then we can build the entire design for an individual node) and reach out to Quinn to see if we can talk to someone who has experience with the PCB making machines. We also have our interim demo on Wednesday this week so the first half of the week will be spent doing some extra integration of the communication side of our project with potentially the displays. Jason did a lot of great work in the past week which helps to put us in a good place for our demo as a huge part of an entire subcomponent of our system is very close to being finalized. We would just like to further this even more to show some integration between subcomponents for our demo if possible. We plan to take videos as well just in case for whatever reason we cannot show in real time or create some sort of slideshow with these clips if we feel it is necessary.
With regards to the Gantt chart, I am pretty much on schedule with the exception of pushing back the PCB design as I had mentioned in last week’s status report. Once we are able to get a design going and either upload it to the machine in Techspark using their software or submit it to be printed I will be exactly on track as we planned to start moving our node from breadboard to PCB by April 12 which might be too soon but we hope to get as close to this deadline as best as we can. The other task for this week on my schedule is to start thinking about direction testing with real time smoke and temperature data which is the integration bit that we discussed would be cool to include for our interim demo and something we want to prioritize as well.