The most significant risks that can jeopardize the success of this project largely involve the precision and accuracy of our sensors. In particular, we anticipate having to map out the distance of an object when navigating the user, in particular when the object is out of the camera’s field of vision. This requires us to estimate the location of the object relative to the user’s position, which can lead to many significant complications. We are concerned what happens if we arrive at the wrong destination, or if the sensors are able to locate the user even with erratic/unpredictable movement.
To address this risk, we plan to have an update mechanism, where the location of the object is dynamically updated as the user approaches the destination. If the device loses sight of the object, we plan on mapping the last seen location of the target destination. Moreover, more research on hardware components is necessary. We would like accelerometers/potentiometers that emphasize precision, since the speed/distance traveled by our user will be fairly small.
There were no major changes to the existing design of the system, but we plan to add the new navigation functionality. We anticipate this being fairly costly, and more complex than the original concept. In particular, it requires the use of multiple cameras capable of depth perception, as well as an accelerometer/linear potentiometer to track the movement/displacement of the user. Furthermore, this would require more performance from our processing unit, as well as more power consumption. Adding more hardware seems inevitable, but one thing we are trying to keep in mind is that this device is a wearable; selecting compact/low profile components will be important for maintaining the wearability for the user. Furthermore, power consumption can be reduced by keeping unused components idle, as well as using devices for multiple functionalities. For example, the same camera can be used for both obstacle detection as well as navigation.