As you’ve designed, implemented and debugged your project, what new tools or new knowledge did you find it necessary to learn to be able to accomplish these tasks? What learning strategies did you use to acquire this new knowledge?
I was not familiar with ESP32s which is one of the most important microcontrollers we are using in this project. I had to learn from youtube videos, online tutorials and websites on how to set it up and get the entire project working. I had to consult friends who are proficient in it to learn and get advice on.
I learnt about using the IDF environment, SPI interfacing, and working with microcontrollers. My biggest learning strategy was trying to find things out from the internet or books, and being ready to ask for help and advice from my peers and mentors in the process.
We recognize that there are quite a few different methods (i.e. learning strategies) for gaining new knowledge — one doesn’t always need to take a class, or read a textbook to learn something new. Informal methods, such as watching an online video or reading a forum post are quite appropriate learning strategies for the acquisition of new knowledge.
Yes, I agree with this statement completely. I had never worked with microcontrollers in the past before, since I had always been more on the pure software side of things. However, when tasked with working on making the ESP32 act as an Access Point and writing code for the SPI interface, I had to research online forums, especially during debugging. I had to ask my teammates for help at times and ask professors and TAs about any doubts I had. These experiences are valuable and make me understand the importance of all different resources available to learn and gain knowledge from.
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).
I worked on developing the SPI interface and ensuring it works correctly. I then worked on adding more features to the data such as adding padding and making it 4 byte aligned to allow for easier decoding on the FPGA end. I then worked on manual testing in Schenley Park with my teammates and did analysis on data we collected.
Is your progress on schedule or behind? If you are behind, what actions will be taken to catch up to the project schedule?
It is on schedule.
What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?
I will be working on testing and making the entire 6 camera nodes system work well within our constraints. We also need to prepare and work for the presentation and the final demo.