https://getsongbpm.com/
Team Status Report 4/12
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 at this stage of our project is ensuring that we have enough time remaining for integration. To mitigate this, we’re integrating components as they’re developed, rather than waiting until all parts are complete. In addition, we’re thoroughly testing each component during development, since the time we have for final project testing may be limited. This helps us catch potential issues early and reduces the risk of running into issues during the integration phase.
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 to our block diagram in the past two weeks.
Now that you have some portions of your project built, and entering into the verification and validation phase of your project, provide a comprehensive update on what tests you have run or are planning to run. In particular, how will you analyze the anticipated measured results to verify your contribution to the project meets the engineering design requirements or the use case requirements?
To test our end-to-end integrated system, we plan on using event logs at each stage of our system to measure the latency and ensure it meets our design requirements. We plan to closely monitor the synchronization between audio and lyrics, ensuring that the delay is small enough as to not impact the user experience. In addition to system integration testing, we plan to each thoroughly test our components as described in our individual status reports.
Kiera’s Status Report 4/12
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.
This week, I worked primarily on writing a python script to use the motion data, sent from the Arduino via Bluetooth, to detect significant changes in motion and match the timing of the change to the beat of the song. To determine timestamps of the beat, I retrieved the BPM of the selected song from the https://getsongbpm.com/api. Once the start function is triggered, timestamps for each beat are generated at intervals based on the song’s BPM. These are compared to the timestamps sent along with our accelerometer data to determine how accurately the user is moving along to the beat.
In addition to beat tracking, I worked on capturing a signal from the microphone to the Arduino, but the mic output wasn’t strong enough for the Arduino to detect. Instead of building an amplifier for the current system, I decided to order an Arduino breakout microphone component with a built-in amplifier.
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 still behind schedule because of the delay from ordering the new microphone component but I’ve been working on other aspects of the project to catch up to schedule.
What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?
By next week I hope to have a fully working microphone prototype and a microphone casing designed in SolidWorks.
Now that you have some portions of your project built, and entering into the verification and validation phase of your project, provide a comprehensive update on what tests you have run or are planning to run. In particular, how will you analyze the anticipated measured results to verify your contribution to the project meets the engineering design requirements or the use case requirements?
To verify the change of direction detection algorithm, I move the Arduino through a series of distinct motions and check that the detection timings align with my movements. For testing the beat tracking algorithm, I run the system twice: first moving the Arduino in time with the beat as accurately as possible, then moving it randomly. I compare the resulting scores to confirm that following the beat results in a higher score. Our use case requirements don’t prioritize scoring precision, since it is intended to be a fun feature rather than an actual metric for improvement.
Team Status Report 3/22
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?
After receiving our components this week, our most significant risk is not being able to catch up to schedule. The slack time we added into our schedule, as well as the work/additional planning we did around the parts we were waiting to receive, should give us enough extra time to catch up. Additionally, we are willing to put in extra time when needed to help get ourselves back on track.
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 to our existing block diagram.
Kiera’s Status Repot 3/22
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.
This week, after receiving my microphone components, I was able to upload the code I wrote last week onto the Arduino and get the motion data collection aspect of the microphone. Additionally, I began connecting our microphone component to the system and working on accurately collecting and sending audio data to the software.
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 still slightly behind schedule however I am on track to catch up within the next couple of weeks. I will continue to work on the vocal data collection portion of the microphone system for the next week.
What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?
By next week I hope to have a fully working microphone prototype.
Kiera’s Status Report 3/15
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.
This week, I focused on completing the ethics assignment, reviewing our feedback on the design report, and budgeting/ordering our parts for the microphone. Additionally, while waiting for our parts to come in, I began writing the Arduino code to be synthesized onto our board when it arrives.
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 slightly behind schedule since we still haven’t received our components. I will continue to work around this while we wait for the parts to arrive this week.
What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?
In the next week I hope to have received my components and begin testing the microphone system.
Team Status Report 3/8
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 at our current stage of the project is not being able to get the parts we need in time to build our project according to schedule. In order to mitigate this risk, we have allocated buffer time in our schedule and will use available components for prototyping while waiting for the specific parts we need.
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 haven’t made any major changes to the design on the system since our last status report.
Additional Questions
Part A (written by Aleks): JustPerform is designed with consideration for global factors as it is meant to be usable by those who are less technologically savvy. Our interface is simple to use and connects directly to the user’s Spotify library to eliminate the task of uploading files which some users may not understand how to do.
Part B (written by Hugo): JustPerform is designed with consideration for cultural factors as we take the possibility of the user having a different accent into account in our vocal scoring algorithm. By scoring based on the similarity of the final audio signal of the user vocals + background music and the original track, we avoid the language/accent bias that may come with scoring based on lyrical accuracy.
Part C (written by Kiera): JustPerform is designed with consideration for environmental factors since we aim to minimize our power consumption as much as possible. One design choice we made in line with this goal is using a hardware filter to separate the lyrics from the backing track of the user’s songs rather than running a software filtering algorithm.
Hugo’s Status Report 3/8
This week I was unable to achieve my primary goal of prototyping the hardware filter for our project. The design report took precedence over everything else, and although we did well on our design presentation, I found there was a significant amount of details missing for my implementation. First, I had written out a base schematic but I needed to make choices about not only the specific components but also how it will be powered. I also selected the specific cables we need to use in order to split the stereo left and right channels. I also was previously unaware of powered vs passive speakers and found that the original speaker was a passive one. This means we additionally had to add in an amplifier to boost the signal to our desired levels. I helped the team flesh out our physical requirements for some of the other systems as well. Overall I have fallen behind slightly and need to do some serious prototyping and catching up when we return.
Kiera’s Status Report 3/8
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.
This week, my main focus was on completing the design report. The main sections that I worked on were our design tradeoffs, testing and verification metrics, and risk mitigation while filling in information relevant to our microphone system throughout the report.
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 behind schedule since I spent the week working on the report and do not have any deliverables. To catch up I will spend more time this coming week working on building the microphone.
What deliverables do you hope to complete in the next week?
By next week I hope to have a somewhat functional microphone prototype that is capable of capturing the user’s audio and motion data.