- What are the most significant risks that could jeopardize the success of the project? How are these risks being managed? What contingency plans are ready?
The largest issue we currently have is that our waterproof ultrasonic sensor does not work. We believe the unit we received is defectful. We purchased a new one, and also purchased RS485 modules to test with a sensor we have, that requires this part to work. Another issue is that the difference of capacitance between liquids is not as large as we expected. We will try to use it as a dimension in classification, but we also have turbidity as an alternative metric to test.
- Were any changes made to the existing design of the system (requirements, block diagram, system spec, etc)? Why was this change necessary, what costs does the change incur, and how will these costs be mitigated going forward?
We are considering adding a turbidity sensor, to increase classification accuracy, either instead of, or in addition to, capacitance. We also purchased a new ultrasonic sensor and RS485 modules, as the sensor we were testing does not seem to work. We have room in the budget for these new parts, but we will also try to return the sensor that does not work to receive that money back.