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Team Status Report for 03/16/24

  • 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.

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Alan’s Status Report for 03/16/24

What did you personally accomplish this week on the project? Give files or photos that demonstrate your progress. Prove to the reader that you put sufficient effort into the project over the course of the week (12+ hours).

This week, I worked on bluetooth. I managed to connect the ItsyBitsy boards to my phone using the Adafruit’s testing app, to my computer using a python script and, finally, to our app (with Erin working on the bluetooth code for React)! I relayed sensor data (temperature, pressure, and color), and tested that transmission is reliable. I also received data back from my cellphone to the Arduino board, also reliably. Furthermore, I wrote the FSM to only relay liquid level data the first time after a bottle is closed (to avoid wasting power).

Other than this, I tested the new waterproof ultrasonic sensor, which doesn’t seem to be working, so I ordered a new one, as well as RS485 communication modules to test with another sensor we had also tried. I did some work (both by myself and with Matt) on capacitance testing, and it seems that the variations found in liquids (from a study done by Matt) are rather small, and heavily affected by room temperature. Finally, I looked into turbidity as a possible metric and ordered a sensor to test it.

• Is your progress on schedule or behind? If you are behind, what actions will be taken to catch up to the project schedule?

On schedule

• What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?

Over the next week, I plan on writing a classifier, based on color, density, and possibly capacitance and turbidity, and tests its accuracy with different drinks. For this first step, I will write it in a Python project, for ease of testing.

 

Bluetooth communication:

Arduino serial monitor:

 

Adafruit’s Bluefruit testing app, showing the device, the transmitted data, and the received data:

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Erin’s Status Report for 03/09/2024

• What did you personally accomplish this week on the project? Give files or photos that demonstrate your progress. Prove to the reader that you put sufficient effort into the project over the course of the week (12+ hours).

This week I created the storage system and the home page of the app as well as an async function that saves total intake at the end of each day. I also created the template for the streak calendar page and created the react objects behind them.
In terms of project management, I helped write the design report and created most of the figures in the report. I also helped CAD a more detailed version of the bottle.

• Is your progress on schedule or behind? If you are behind, what actions will be taken to catch up to the project schedule?

On schedule

• What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?
Finish streak page, integrate Bluetooth

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Alan’s Status Report for 03/09/2024

• What did you personally accomplish this week on the project? Give files or photos that demonstrate your progress. Prove to the reader that you put sufficient effort into the project over the course of the week (12+ hours).

Last week, I mostly work on the design report. Once this was finished, I turned back to the hardware and integration. I helped Matt test the waterproof ultrasonic sensor, and figured out the issue was with the RS485 protocol. I placed the order for the new sensor. I also investigated an issue with an order we hadn’t received (a photoelectric water level sensor) and coordinated to re-place the order – the sensor should be here sometime next week.

Finally, I picked up the Adafruit ItsyBitsy board from receiving, set them up for usage (soldered pins and burned bootloaders) and assembled the bottle circuits on a breadboard! As you can see on the picture, there are two independent circuits. The one on the left is the bottom assembly, with a thermometer, color sensor, and pressure plate, while the one on the right is the top assembly, with an ultrasonic sensor and a pressure plate. I used driver code (adapted and combined from online tutorials) to ensure that all the sensors worked together as I assembled them.

Finally, I began testing the bluetooth connection. I succesfully ran bluetooth code from the ItsyBitsy, but am having issues on the React end.

• Is your progress on schedule or behind? If you are behind, what actions will betaken to catch up to the project schedule?

On schedule

• What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?

Next week, I hope to successfully connect the ItsyBitsy board to the app over BLE. I will also write the FSM to only update the level reading when necessary, according to the pressure plate readings.

 

Circuit:

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Team’s status report for 03/09/2024

  • 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 main issue we found is that the waterproof ultrasonic sensor we were using was not working as expected. We discovered that this is because it communicated using the Rs485 protocol, and we need an adapter for it to work with the arduino boards, leading to added space, power consumption, and engineering complexity. The order for our contingency plan – a photoelectric water level sensor – had some issues, did not arrive, and needed to be reordered. It should arrive sometime next week, and we will test it as soon as we receive it. We also purchased a sensor that does not require an adapter. In the meantime, we are testing for our proof-of-concept with a non-waterproof ultrasonic sensor.

 

  • 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 changing the ultrasonic sensor for a photoelectric sensor. We also purchased a new waterproof ultrasonic sensor. We have room in the budget for it, but it can be returned (within 30 days)  if we deem the photoelectric sensor adequate.

 

Please write a paragraph or two describing how the product solution you are designing will meet a specified need…

Part A (Erin): with consideration of global factors. Global factors are world-wide contexts and factors, rather than only local ones. They do not necessarily represent geographic concerns. Global factors do not need to concern every single person in the entire world. Rather, these factors affect people outside of Pittsburgh, or those who are not in an academic environment, or those who are not technologically savvy, etc

The smart water bottle we are proposing will remind people to drink more water and help them meet their intake goals. A smart water bottle like Aqualotol can benefit everyone in the world but more so people in first and second world countries due to the cost of the water bottle. This bottle is also better for people with smart phone access since it will allow them to use the full feature set of the bottle. People who are not good with technology will still be able to use our intuitive UI in the phone app to track their water consumption level. This bottle is meant for anyone who has a smart phone and can afford the bottle. Although this may seem limited, 68% of the world owns a smart phone and many may want to buy the bottle.

 

Part B (Alan): with consideration of cultural factors. Cultural factors are encompass the set of beliefs, moral values, traditions, language, and laws (or rules of behavior) held in common by a nation, a community, or other defined group of people.

It has been concluded that the majority of Americans do not drink enough water each day [1] . The current culture, where people have very busy lifes, is, reasonably, one of the factors that impedes people from hitting their water drinking goals. This water bottle, as it is designed to be carried throughout the day, will help people incorporate more water drinking into their routines, helping in the mitigation of this issue. This effect will be further enhanced by the tracking of the amount of water drank, the reminders sent when the user hasn’t been drinking enough, and the social media hydration-streak tracking, allowing friends of the user to remind them to drink more water. Thus, our project can help improve water consumption among Americans, incentivizing healthier habits and reducing the health issues that stem from insufficient water consumption.

 

Sources:

1-https://civicscience.com/forty-seven-percent-of-americans-dont-drink-enough-water-plus-more-h2o-insights/

 

Part C (Matt): with consideration of environmental factors. Environmental factors are concerned with the environment as it relates to living organisms and natural resources.

The aqualotl project takes into account major environmental factors, since it is a smart and refillable water bottle. Plastic water bottles litter the ocean, and are harmful to the environment, causing the deaths of the unfortunate sea creatures who happen to stumble upon them. In fact, 500 billion plastic water bottles are being used each year, but at least 250 billion of it isnt properly recycled, and is usually littered and it is estimated that around 9 million tons of plastic waste is dumped into the ocean per year. We hope that our bottle will help promote reusable water bottles, instead of one time usage ones that several consumers are accustomed to today, as well as reducing the need for people to litter the environment.

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Team status report for 02/24/24

What are the most significant risks that could jeopardize the success of theproject? How are these risks being managed? What contingency plans are ready?

Right now, the biggest risk to the process’s success is the unreliability of the seeed board. We decided to pivot away from it to a different board (though we are still deciding between Adafruit ble boards, the Arduino nano ble, the Arduino Uno R4 Wi-fi (which is bluetooth capable), and the bluetooth module for non bluetooth-capable boards sold by Arduino).

• Were any changes made to the existing design of the system (requirements,block diagram, system spec, etc)? Why was this change necessary, what costsdoes the change incur, and how will these costs be mitigated going forward?

Yes, we decided to pivot away from seeed boards. This change was necessary due to the unreliability of these boards when connecting to our computers, hindering development. We will incur costs in purchasing new boards. We will investigate whether we can return our seeed board, but, even if we can’t, we still have substantial room in our budget to purchase new boards, as our original plan was well below half of our budget.

We also decided to begin using the Expo framework, on top of React Native. This is because it will simplify development (due to simpler, friendlier starter code, and smoother connection with bluetooth libraries). Since it is strictly a software change, with no licenses involved, it will not incur any costs.

• Provide an updated schedule if changes have occurred.

Some of the goals for bluetooth connection and app settings were moved back to allow for the new boards to arrive.

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Alan’s status report for 02/24/24

What did you personally accomplish this week on the project? Give files orphotos that demonstrate your progress. Prove to the reader that you put sufficient effort into the project over the course of the week (12+ hours).

At the start of the week, I worked on rehearsing the presentation and preparing for questions. Once it was past, I focused on the design review, bluetooth connection, and sensor testing. I finished the sections that were assigned to me in the status report, successfully tested the color sensor and the temperature sensor (using an arduino nano), and found good references for bluetooth connection, both on the arduino side and on the React side.

Unfortunately, this week, Matt and I noticed the seeed boards are quite spotty in their connection to the computer (when testing and uploading arduino code), so we’ve decided to use a different board. We are still deciding on the new board, but the current options we are considering are Adafruit ble boards, Arduino nano ble, Arduino Uno R4 Wi-fi (which is bluetooth capable), and the bluetooth module for non-bluetooth capable boards sold by Arduino.

Erin and I also decided to rebase the app to use the Expo framework (which works on top of React Native). This will make development and bluetooth integration smoother. I helped her with setup and creating the new codebase.

• Is your progress on schedule or behind? If you are behind, what actions will be taken to catch up to the project schedule

I am ahead of schedule on sensor testing, on schedule with the design report, and behind schedule with the bluetooth code (due to issues with the seeed boards and our decision to move to Expo). I will have plenty of time next week to work with our new board and codebase to bring progress to schedule.

• What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?

By next week, I hope to have received the new board and be working on it with a basic bluetooth project. I also hope to work with Erin on the app, working on the backend for local database connection and to integrate it with the bluetooth library (though bluetooth may not be completely finished by next week).

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Team Status Report for 02/17/2024

 

 

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 most significant risk for our project is related to the sensors since the only way to verify that they will work as intended is to directly test them out on a microcontroller. Our main contingency plan is to come up with different sensors that we can use in case our primary plan does not work, such as an implementation of piezosensors instead of an ultrasonic to estimate volume of liquid in the water bottle.

 

• 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?

Most changes regarding the system were mostly hardware-related, as we found more sensors/utilities that we may potentially want for the product, such as a temperature sensor, gyroscope sensors,  and even an OLED display and solar panels. These changes were mostly for battery purposes, and potential costs may include the need to waterproof these specific parts as well.

 

 

 

Part A: … with respect to considerations of public health, safety or welfare. Note: The term ‘health’ refers to a state of well-being of people in both a physiological and psychological sense. ‘Safety’ is the absence of hazards and/or physical harm to persons. The term ‘welfare’ relates to the provision of the basic needs of people. (Alan)

Welfare – encourage more water drinking, help people track, prevent health issues

Health – reading about sensors, following 3-A standards

Our bottle helps promote welfare by promoting more water drinking. The act of carrying a water bottle can increase water intake and hydration [1][2]. Given that most Americans (86%) drink less than eight sixteen ounce glasses of water per day, and 47% of Americans drink woefully little water, at less than  three sixteen ounce glasses a day [3], increasing hydration could help prevent health issues among the population. This would be especially true with our smart bottle, that can track how much water a person drinks and motivate them with the social component of comparing their hydration levels with their friends.

As for health, we are carefully considering the materials we use. For sensors, we’ll abide by the 3-A standard – we are looking for sensors that have surfaces that are“smooth, non-porous, non-reactive, and easily cleaned” [4]. Similarly, we want a bottle that can be simply opened for cleaning, and be safely used in support. Reusable water bottles, when not properly cleaned, can accumulate dirt and mold [5], so we will make sure our bottle is easy to wash.

References:

1-https://flaske.com/blogs/news/stay-hydrated-refill-a-reusable-bottle

2-https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3103565/

3-https://civicscience.com/forty-seven-percent-of-americans-dont-drink-enough-water-plus-more-h2o-insights/

4-https://www.omega.com/en-us/resources/3a-sensors-sanitary-applications

5-https://www.allrecipes.com/the-repulsive-situation-in-your-reusable-water-bottle-lid-7553197

Part B: … with consideration of social factors. Social factors relate to extended social groups having distinctive cultural, social, political, and/or economic organizations. They have important to how people relate to each other and organize around social interests. (Erin)

With the recent Stanley and Hydroflask trend, people have been more and more concerned about their hydration levels. Many people have brought into this trend and Stanley has made over $750 million from water bottle sales. On Tik tok and instagram, people have begun advertising their “It Girl” lifestyle which is an extremely healthy lifestyle that includes a early wake up, healthy eating, working out, and staying hydrated. The need to become like these influencers have caused a craze to buy these bottles.

Our bottles will also fit into this social need. With a cute aesthetic to the app and a well designed bottle this could be easily advertised as part of the it girl lifestyle. We hope that we can support this demographic’s hydration goals by allowing them to better track their intake. Instead of figuring how many Stanley refills are 8 glasses of water and if they counted that matcha latte, we will be able to track that all for them. The social media aspect of this app will also be beneficial for the gamification and social connection for users. We hope that we can make this bottle accessible cost wise and safe for use especially since the user base can be young teens or young adults.

Part C: … with consideration of economic factors. Economic factors are those relating to the system of production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. (Matthew)

Our product helps promote reusability. Rather than having to use one-time cups and discard them, it would be far more efficient to have a bottle to reuse which could also potentially keep track of the liquid being consumed.
Such usage can help reduce the amount of plastic/paper being wasted for one -time use, leading to more efficient usage of limited resources rather than wasting production costs. Furthermore, the reusable water bottle market has been headed towards a steady upwards trend, making a total of 8.3 billion dollars in 2020 with an estimated growth of 4.8 percent per year. This implies that there is a constant demand for reusable water bottles, and it is only fitting for a high-tech water bottle, with several consumer-friendly notifications to perform well in that market.

The product may not just directly impact the water bottle market, but other markets as well, such as the gym industry. The gym industry is all about achieving personal accomplishments, and the introduction of the smart water bottle can help them accurately keep track of the amount of water/liquid
that they actually intake to keep up with hydration goals. Therefore, consumption of this product would primarily be correlated to the people who are willing enough to keep track of their hydration. This is not an issue of concern, as the gym industry is also a growing market, with around 180 million
gym memberships, and is estimated to grow by 7 percent each year. Since the product will be part of a growing market, and also targets members who are part of a growing industry, this product can easily be distributed with the help of well-placed advertising

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Matthew’s Status Report 2/17/2024

What did you personally accomplish this week on the project? Give files or

  • photos that demonstrate your progress. Prove to the reader that you put sufficienteffort into the project over the week (12+ hours).

I finalized research on the sensors we would be using, as well as organizing schematic drawings on how to set up the microcontrollers and potentially wiring everything through. A primary concern was how we were going to set up the different sensors, and the course of action we took was to divide the electronics into two different sections and use two microcontrollers for each section. Along with that, I started to help order parts, such as a second SEEED that we would use for our product

  • Is your progress on schedule or behind? If you are behind, what actions will be taken to catch up to the project schedule?

My progress is on schedule

  • What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?

By next week we hope to begin assembling the electronic components to create a prototype before trying to fit everything into a water bottle. I will be using the SEEED xiao to implement ultrasonic and gyroscope implementation at the same time. I will also be working with the team to turn in the Design Review draft looking at the feedback we received.

 

 

 

 

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Team Status Reports for 02/10/24

  1. 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?

Right now, the most significant risks to our project are related to sensors. We don’t have many sensors yet, and we must test them to ensure that they will work as expected. Our contingency plans are to use different sensors for each characteristic of the liquid we want to measure, in case we determine that a sensor is not a viable choice.

2. 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?

No changes have been made yet. Over this week, we will work on updating the use-case requirements as requested in our presentation feedback. This will probably not cause major changes but will give us a clearer direction in terms of latency, battery life, and food safety.

3. Provide an updated schedule if changes have occurred.

-Nothing

 

4. This is also the place to put some photos of your progress or to brag about a component you got working.

-Nothing