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Zoe’s Status Report – 2/24/2024

This week, we received the components that we ordered and we started sensor testing. After seeing the components in person, and after considering the rough sketch of our PCB that I had made, we decided that we will make our PCB later. For now, we are going to wire everything directly. This is because the PCB is not strictly necessary, and we want to make everything work first.

Since I didn’t have to work on the PCB schematic, I spent my time working instead on the mat software and the React Native app. I made considerable progress with the app, which I show in photos below. Specifically, I made the page that will have the list of songs to choose from. I also made it so that when you click on a song’s image, it takes you to a new page. On this new page, I will make it so that a Bluetooth signal is sent out to the mat.

These photos show the Songs page, and what it looks like when the user hovers on the song choice. The next page is currently empty.

My progress is behind schedule, because I have not had much time to work on the mat software, and I will be traveling this week to attend a visitation day for a Ph.D. program, so I will not have a lot of time this week either. However, I plan to work on the software during Spring Break, because I have nothing else to do then. I hope to finish the app and make significant progress on the software during the break, so that I can start testing on the microcontroller as soon as we get back from break. That will get me back on schedule.

This week, I am going to research how to implement Bluetooth in the app, and I am going to continue to work on the mat software.

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Brooke’s Status Report – 2/24/24

My primary goal was to begin testing the sensors we selected, finalize the presentation, and prepare to present. I successfully completed testing, verified the devices we had were functional, and got comfortable with how they worked. With that testing, we found the solenoid for the lock was able to function at 5V, saving some trouble with dealing with the advertised higher voltage, which I was initially worried may be a bit high for a low-powered lock (this image is attached).

Additionally, I began the process of designing the CAD for the doormat. I’ve attached a render of it to this update. The plan is to have the front part act as a traditional doormat to wipe off shows while the other part is the dance pad. The front part is also currently planned to store the battery to allow easy battery swaps.  I also planned out the wiring for the project to move towards developing the PCB from the work I completed on the presentation with hardware diagrams.

So far, the progress for the project is mostly on schedule. I was not able to do thorough testing of each device, but verifying the functionality should be sufficient moving into the following week. I am a week behind the official schedule on finishing the CAD, but that should be completed early this coming week. To remain on schedule next week, I also plan on putting together all of the electronics for the project and verifying they will fit within the CAD before we proceed with creating the case.

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Jada’s Status Report – 2/24/24

At the beginning of this past week, I worked primarily on researching the dimensions of the parts that we requested, as they had not been ordered until Tuesday. I used these dimensions to begin mocking up a CAD model of the door lock cover that will house the electronics for the door lock, as seen in the first image below. Before I move to 3D printing the door lock cover, I want to test the door lock electronics and get them to a functional state so that I can 3D print with certainty that the parts we use will fit in the 3D print. Thankfully, the door lock parts came in Thursday so that I could begin testing and assembly. Friday and Saturday were spent breadboarding the keypad and Seeed Studio Xiao microcontroller as well as beginning to write code for the microcontroller, as seen in the last two images. I had to spend most of the time researching how to get the right board onto the Arduino IDE and what libraries I needed for the I2C communication between the keypad and microcontroller, as I have very little (or fading) experience with how to use I2C. I ended today (getting kicked out of Techspark at 6 pm is too early) writing a simple test script using the Wires.h library to test my current understanding of how to retrieve the information being passed from the keypad. This is so that I can build upon this with the actual functionality we require once I gain an understanding of how to code the basics.

I feel that I am currently on schedule. According to the Gantt chart, Brooke and I should have had the PCB design almost done at this point; however, we decided to push this back and move up the testing and assembly of the lock and mat, as that is a higher priority.

Next week, I will be continuing to work on the door lock, getting a working script written for the microcontroller to talk with the keypad that can be modified to include communicating with the mat once it has also been made. If I can get the simple script written before spring break, I think I will be in a good place for when we return in March.

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Brooke’s Status Report – 2/17/24

This week was spent researching the possible ways to integrate all of the technology and assembling a parts list for ordering. After much research, I was able to compile some options that ranged in complexity to build for the dance pad microcontroller and sensors. The current path we agreed upon sticking with for now is to use the same microcontroller for both the pad and lock and have a custom PCB using set-up components. After researching the possibility of designing a development board from scratch using an SoC, I realized finding a middle ground between that and a built-up board was the way to go. I’ve spent time from here drawing up some rough sketches for the charts that Jada and I can finalize with proper Visio maps for the presentation on Monday. There, the more finalized plans will make sense and be visualized appropriately.

The schedule is mostly on track as we are ordering parts through Amazon, so they should arrive by tomorrow. We didn’t order everything as we are still trying to finalize the board’s audio output, but that shouldn’t be much of an issue as we will be busy testing the other parts this week. Overall, we should continue on schedule as planned. This week, I hope to get the sensors working and verify their functionality, and from there, we can begin building in the coming weeks. More pictures of actual progress should accompany the following updates once parts arrive and work begins.

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Team Status Report – 2/17/24

This week, we focused on researching and choosing parts in order to begin assembly and testing. Additionally, we have worked on creating block diagrams and presentation for the upcoming design review.

The most significant risk at this stage is receiving our ordered parts much later than expected next week. This will set us back in terms of testing, however, if this happens, we can switch gears and work ahead on making CAD models of the electronic housing and construction of the dance mat as a whole while we wait for parts to arrive. We can also begin to construct the code for the microcontrollers based on the specs found online for the microcontrollers we chose.

 No changes have been made to our current design. We are currently working to figure out what type of speaker to use but want to consult Professor Sullivan for his advice before moving forward with a decision.

Ethics Considerations:

Part A) Our product solution is designed to meet the need for greater home security. As our solution involves two-factor authentication as well as more key combinations than a traditional keypad, our product will be more secure than current on-the-market options, meaning that homeowners will feel that they are safer. Another need our product solution considers is public health. The BeatLock dance mat engages users physiologically through the implementation of dancing as well as psychologically by adding an upbeat change of pace to the user’s day.

Part B) Social factors were considered during the conceptualization of our product solution. One of the main purposes of using a dance mat as our method of input is to make unlocking a door more fun and engaging. The same idea could be implemented using a touch screen, but that would be less fun. An important consideration is that our idea of “fun and engaging” comes from our perspectives as American college students, and there are many people of different ages and backgrounds that would not enjoy having to dance in order to unlock their door. For this reason, we have decided to design our doormat with our target audience being young adults like us who would enjoy this product.

Part C) For economic factors, affordability for a device like this is a must. Fortunately, we are currently at a very reasonable price with our focus on designing everything we can from scratch and the absence of unnecessary bloat in tech. The most expensive part of this project we originally thought would be the force sensors. Currently, we are testing sensors that are rated for extreme accuracy enabling precise weight measurements, all for $20. With the cost of the rest of the electronics so far being minimal, the budget will rely entirely on the materials used and how the mat itself is manufactured, which should not be too difficult to keep down in price in a complicated way. Furthermore, with the device relying on common Bluetooth systems, the ability to work with any possible open-source locks should be possible, furthering the economic accessibility of the device.

Part A was written by Jada Fink, part B was written by Zoe Rudnick, and part C was written by Brooke Rodriguez.

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Zoe’s Status Report – 2/17/24

This week, we finalized our list of materials and ordered our first parts. The parts most relevant to my work are the microcontrollers we decided to use for the mat and the door lock. We decided to use the same microcontroller for both, so we ordered one, which we will use to test both. We bought the Seeed Studio XIAO ESP32S3 microcontroller, which can run code developed for Arduino and supports wireless communication via Wi-Fi. Now that we have compiled our materials list, I can start writing the schematic for our PCB, which we are going to use for our mat. I plan to use Fusion360 for PCB development. We have allocated one week for schematic design and one week for board design, so we should expect our PCB to be here after spring break at the latest. If we can expedite the development of our PCB, we might be able to get it before break.

In addition to doing research into required parts, I worked on our app development and pseudocode for the mat. For the app, I am using React Native and Expo, which allows me to write in JavaScript and create an iOS app from my laptop (which uses Windows). So far, I have created a user interface with song names and images. The next step is to make it so that if an image is clicked, then the corresponding song will be sent via Wi-Fi to the mat. For the code for the mat, I only wrote high-level pseudocode, because I was not sure which microcontroller we would choose to use (we were considering Arduino and Raspberry Pi). Since we have chosen to use microcontrollers using Arduino, I can now rewrite the pseudocode in the Arduino IDE.

My progress so far has been on schedule, but I will need to put in more hours during the next few weeks in order to stay on schedule. This is because the amount of work that we can do is now much greater, and the more work we do sooner, the more time will be left for debugging, ordering new parts, and testing. This week, after finishing our design presentation slides, I will focus on the PCB schematic. After that is complete, I will continue working on the app and the software for the mat. I will also help Jada and Brooke if needed with manufacturing.

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Jada’s Status Report – 2/17/24

This week, I accomplished getting parts ordered for the door lock. Brooke and I collaborated on determining the best parts to get, ensuring they should work together properly based on given part specs, and looking for the best vendor to order from. Our biggest concern at this point is getting to testing on time, so we chose to order with Amazon due to prime shipping instead of choosing the cheaper vendor option. I also created the door lock and dance mat diagrams for the design review presentation that will be next week.

My progress is on schedule. As long as the parts ordered this week come early next week, my task next week will be to begin assembly of the door lock and write simple code to check functionality.

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Zoe’s Status Report – 2/10/24

My main focus for this past week was on presenting our proposal presentation well. Additionally, I researched my plan for the software for the two-factor authentication app. We discussed as a team what materials we want to use and what kind of user experience each decision leads to.

I feel that we are on schedule. This upcoming week, I plan to continue researching software for both the app and the dance mat. I plan to work with Jada and Brooke to ensure that their hardware plans will work with my software plans, and make suggestions as necessary.

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Jada’s Status Report – 2/10/24

Progress on the project has been less quantifiable, as we are still figuring out what mechanisms and processes we want to use and want the user experience to be like- knowing that the hardware that we decide on now will determine the user experience at the end of the project. Brooke and I discussed different methods of two-factor authentication, backup methods of door entry, and the various hardware methods we can implement in the door lock. We also attended a meeting with Lorrie Cranor about ideas to consider in ensuring our door lock, mat, and app will be a secure (and more secure than current options) method of door locks.

This upcoming week, I hope to work closely with Brooke to get the parts list created so that we can begin building and testing.

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Team Status Report – 2/10/24

As we are essentially in the middle of the planning phase. One of the most significant issues that could jeopardize the project’s timeline is the ordering of parts and them being what was intended. To mitigate this, we have focused on choosing highly rated parts that we know will work and using past experience on robotics teams to gauge the likelihood of things working as intended. Additionally, another factor we have been taking into account is where we are getting the parts. To maintain our strict schedule for the initial testing phase, most of the critical sensors and electronic components we need will be ordered from websites like Amazon to ensure timely shipping. Many of these devices are also available at similar prices on more common tech websites, but with Amazon, we can guarantee shipping times of around two days. In the event that a component does not work as intended, we can simply take advantage of Amazon’s lenient return policy and acquire the correct component within the same week.

In the end, as long as we quickly put together a parts list that we can guarantee will be functional within the next week, we should be able to begin the testing the following week as intended and remain on our planned schedule.

Jada and Brooke are also working to ensure that the hardware solutions will integrate well with the software solutions proposed by Zoe. We plan to meet outside of class regularly on Mondays and Wednesdays after class until 1 pm, and more frequently as necessary.