The majority of our time this week was spent finalizing and rehearsing the proposal presentation (which Abie killed it presenting!)

Otherwise, we’ve spent some time individually considering the subcomponents that we’re focusing on first. Because we had yet to finalize our microprocessor and camera module(s), we came together near the end of the week to discuss the needs and limitations that we’d each determined for our subcomponents. 

Based on our discussions about data transmission and power supply needs, we determined that the most likely microcontroller would be the Raspberry Pi 5th generation – this part is out of stock in ECE, however, we can reserve the 4th generation, so we’ve put in a request of this part in order to begin working. We plan to discuss in the next two weeks whether we feel the 5th generation is necessary to purchase, or if the 4th meets our needs.

Additionally, we spent time discussing which camera to purchase. We also talked about potentially getting the Sony AI camera but had concerns that autonomous adjustments would negatively affect our map recreation and algorithms. So, we decided to go lower-tech (while still prioritizing resolution and FPS) and plan to purchase the Standard Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3.

Our next priority will be finalizing the design of the boat component, specifically choosing the base so that we have more information about geometry and size.