Author: djge

Progress:

This past week, as a group we worked on specifying what we needed for our project as well as the Design Review. I worked on the full diagram depicting how the parts of the project fit together and how they are connected.

Individually, I got started with the code for the Light Area of Effect (LAOE) algorithm. I made a rough outline/layout of the different working functions that I would need to write, as well as implementing a few of them. I wrote out the algorithm for the projection of the light coming through the window onto the floor using the manual testing we had done last week. This is the code so far, but it will need to be changed after doing some testing with the data we have on hand:

Additionally, I wrote the start to some code for checking for the intersection between a point (person) and the volumetric prism where the light is cast into the room. All my changes were reflected here: https://github.com/djge/18500_GroupC1

Next Steps

So far, I am on track with the development of the algorithm. Next week, I hope to work on the rest of the code to a point where we are able to start writing test cases for individual functions and the functions that will determine what the changes to the blinds should be. We will also be working on the Design Report as a team throughout the next week.

Current Progress:
This week, I got started with coding the API for the Light Area of Effect (LAOE). We first wanted to make sure our math was correct, so we took data points from one of our living rooms. We measured the horizontal distance from a corner of the window to the respective corner cast onto the ground (x) as well as the distance away from the window (y), and recorded the time of day so that we could find the altitude and the azimuth of the sun at that time.

I took these data points and applied the formula we had in mind to check the formula. Here is the manual math done with the data points to find the (x, y) position relative to a spot on the window:

The values did not match the data points within a 5 cm range as we had originally intended. We may need to make revisions to the formula going forwards, such as accounting for refraction and other factors.

Next Steps:
First, I will finish coding up the formula to map corners of the window projected onto the ground. Along with that, we will write an algorithm that will have to check if a point intersects this area/volume created by the window, as well as the algorithm for calculating the change to the blinds.

ECE Courses:
Since I am working on the software track, the greatest contribution to the skills I have utilized are those from software courses. This includes 15-112 for a great foundation in computer science and 15-462 for help with the LAOE algorithm.

Focused on fleshing out the design of the project and looked into how we will be designing the APIs, specifically the light area of effect algorithm. I created the following Git repository for the code we will be writing in the next week or so: https://github.com/djge/18500_GroupC1

I worked on a few diagrams to illustrate how the calculation in the Area of Effect of the Sun API works. Our group was not sure how the angle from north for the position of the sun might effect the reach of the area of effect from the window, so we conducted a few experiments using a paper bag with cutout windows and a flashlight. The following images clarify our vision for this function:

The results of the experiment seemed to show that the azimuth angle does not affect the distance from the window that is affected by light. We decided to go with this result and change the algorithm accordingly if it results in problems during testing.

So far, we are on schedule. Next week, I hope to get a working Sun Position calculating API with Elizabeth, start implementation on the area of effect API,  and focus on the design review/report with fully fleshed out diagrams of the schematics with our whole team on both the software and hardware end of the project.