Category: Forever’s Status Reports

WORK ACCOMPLISHED:

These past two weeks I was primarily focused on integrating all of our systems together. This meant working through different options of how to have all of our programs simultaneously running on the Raspberry Pi, and how information would be shared across each of the scripts. In order to accomplish this I created a main thread script that would start three individual threads for all of our programs to run. Then I added a shared global variable which would be used for continuous updating of the current GPS longitude and latitude. This longitude and latitude would then be used by our navigation script in order to properly give users updated navigation guidance. Through this we were able to see all three of our scripts working properly together, with multiple forms of information being shared.

In addition to working on the integration, I helped reconfigure the wiring for the wristband piece, making it cleaner and connected it with the RPi. Initially we were having issues with the bluetooth connectivity, as we were trying to connect two hc-05 devices together. But I was able to find a way to pair the hc-05 with the raspberry pi via bluetooth, and have data shared between the two devices. This connection can sometimes be broken when the RPi is turned off, so I created a script that automatically runs on the RPi’s startup to ensure they are always connected in range.  I also decided to replace the arduino device for the wristband with the Blues Swan, which also has arduino pairing capabilities. The reason for this change was due to the Swan including a PMIC accessible via a JST PH connector, this allows us to power the board with a LiPo battery but also recharge the battery if need be, through the USB port. I then configured the script to receive triggers for when to vibrate from our detection device.

TESTING:

In order to meet use case requirements such as users receiving audio instructions within 200 feet of a turn, the GPS system needs to accurately measure where the user is. In order to test this, we’ve done a couple of bike trips to Phipps Conservatory and captured the longitude, latitude, and distance from turn for each of these trips to ensure the user is at the right location. Another test that has been done is putting the GPS sensor in a box, and reading GPS data while outside, to ensure that when the actual encasing is finished, we are not blocking GPS signals. Testing has been going well for this as well, but for the future we plan on testing with different locations to ensure that the GPS signal is well received in a variety of areas.

PROGRESS:

I am currently making good progress, as I’m currently testing my own subsystem and also integrating my parts with the other group members.

NEXT WEEK’S DELIVERABLES:

For next week, I’m planning on 3D printing the encasing for the Rid3 device, ensuring that it fits all our parts. I also plan on helping connect our bluetooth headset with the overall system to ensure it’s connected properly.

 

WORK ACCOMPLISHED:

This week I was primarily focused on getting more continuous and accurate GPS data. We were able to receive an external GPS piece, called the Adafruit breakout GPS. Having an external GPS connected with our notecard allows us to simultaneously collect GPS data while keeping a cellular connection going. This can be super useful, for when we’re in areas that don’t have good wifi signal, we can depend on using the notecards cellular data to receive any API requests. It also allows us to get a more continuous stream of GPS data, which allows our location to be a bit more precise. I was also able to get the logic working that allows for our GPS to continuously run and update a file that’s being read from for our navigation system to work functionally. This connection would allow for a semi-working version of our navigation system.

PROGRESS:

I am almost done configuring the GPS portion of the navigation system,  however I haven’t gone through a lot of testing for the system. Which is where I currently should be based on our Gantt chart.

NEXT WEEK’S DELIVERABLES:

Clean up of the GPS system, testing of the system, and looking into 3D printing of our device encasing and wristband encasing.

WORK ACCOMPLISHED:

At this point in the project we’re heavily focused on working through our individual parts. I’ve been working on the navigation piece, and trying to integrate it with the Raspberry Pi. I was able to get the GPS working and i’m receiving GPS data like longitude and latitude, however the results weren’t as accurate as we wanted it to be. So we decided to move forward with triangulation as our primary method for determining where the user is, this has proved to be more accurate, however I needed to find a way to integrate their API for requesting triangulation data with our raspberry pi. That’s what I’m currently working on, as well as integrating my piece with the navigation instructions. I am still considering alternative GPS modules that could make our gps unit more precise, like the Adafruit Ultimate GPS GNSS with USB – 99 channel w/10 Hz updates.

PROGRESS:

This week I was supposed to be done thoroughly testing the GPS unit, however I’m still in this process so I’m falling behind in work.

NEXT WEEK’S DELIVERABLES:

Finish thoroughly testing GPS unit and begin integrating with navigational instructions.

 

WORK ACCOMPLISHED:

This week my primary focus was on ensuring the GPS information was being properly read in a way that we could use it for our navigation system. I did testing in different environments inside and outside. There were a lot of issues testing, since there needs to be a stable connection that allows for the GPS information to be read properly. I noticed that the most accurate location information being shown was when triangulation was used.  I also spent time on the ethics report, and did the team discussion surrounding the assignment.

Longitude and latitude information being displayed on the notehub map.

Testing code to view location, time, and connection information

Sample output when device isn’t moving ( gps isn’t showing ).

 

PROGRESS:

This week I accomplished the tasks I was supposed to, so I am currently on track.

NEXT WEEK’S DELIVERABLES:

Next week I hope to clean up any loose ends with the GPS information and format it in a way to be used by our navigation system. I also plan to help integrate with the rest of our systems.

WORK ACCOMPLISHED:

This week I wanted to successfully run the blues starter kit process, and collect gps longitude and latitude data. I also wanted to help program the raspberry pi to be compatible with the other devices that we are using such as the sensors and bluetooth modules. I was able to accomplish most of the tasks except for a few setbacks. I worked on making the Raspberry Pi compatible with our devices by making SSHing into the system possible, this way we could have wireless connections between the devices. I also installed a virtual view system that allows us to see what is happening on the Raspberry Pi while we’re programming on it. I also was able to install the Blues Starter Kit notecard CLI, which allows for programming with the Raspberry Pi and the notecard. I am currently able to read the GPS data being read, however for some reason the GPS kept turning off. This is something I hope to figure out by the next progress report. I

PROGRESS:

This week I accomplished the tasks I was supposed to, except I was not able to fully successfully read GPS data.

NEXT WEEK’S DELIVERABLES:

Next week I hope to fix the issue with the GPS and start working on storing that GPS information in order for it to be used for the Navigation system.

WORK ACCOMPLISHED:

This week I worked on initial design sketches for our attachable to the Bike device and for the wristband. We wanted to give an idea of what the goal of our project was. So I showed the wristband with a small hole section for the vibrating motor to stick out of. For the main Rid3 device, I added holes for the speaker to be mounted to and same for the microphone. I also included antenna’s for the sensors to be mounted. This is just a tentative sketch and will be updated in the future.

This week I also worked through redesigning the concept for information transfer for our design. In the beginning we had decided to have our design work on an information system where data was sent through to the blues cloud, to our hosted server, back through the blues cloud, and then to the raspberry PI. But I addressed an issue where audio information could not be sent through the blues cloud due to the fact that it only takes information in as a json. So we decided to pivot our system to use the raspberry PI as the main host, that way we do not have to deal with sending through the cloud, but instead could do our main computing on the Raspberry PI device. I’ve also been playing around with the blues starter kit, by assembling it together and attempting to do sample test runs, however this was hindered by the fact that the usb cable I had could not do data transfers.

PROGRESS:

This week I accomplished most of my tasks, except testing with the blues starter kit to see how Information is delivered, due to the usb cable not being able to do data transfers.

 

NEXT WEEK’S DELIVERABLES:

Successfully run the blues starter kit process, and collect gps longitude and latitude data. Help program the raspberry pi to be compatible with the other devices that we are using such as the sensors and bluetooth modules.

 

WORK ACCOMPLISHED:

This week I made final decisions for the parts needed for the GPS tracking for the our Rid3 device. I had to find a way to connect the Blues tracking device to the raspberry pi which was something we hadn’t considered before because we assumed they would be compatible. But I found a PI hat available that would allow the two to be used together for our programming.

A good portion of my time was also spent looking into alternatives for our design. I spoke with 3 potential users about how they felt about the design, and took their feedback back to my team to decide on potential designs we could pivot to. I brought up the option of potentially having the GPS information come directly from a phone device and having our application work on a web app. This would leave most of our focus on the haptic feedback wristband. We ended up sticking with our idea, but it helped in generating potential avenues we considered and further added to why we decided on our design choices. I also mapped out pinout connections with the raspberry pi as the central focus, and remodeled some of the pin out choices for our wristband as well ( see below ).

PROGRESS:

I’m currently on schedule with my tasks, this week was primarily research and finalizing design plans + making orders.

NEXT WEEK’S DELIVERABLES:

For next week, the goal is to begin hardware implementation. We currently don’t have the hardware which is my primary focus, so as things start coming in, I’m confirming their specs and see how they work. Also measuring out the power consumption needed by each of the individual parts.

 

WORK ACCOMPLISHED:

This week I focused on researching components for the software and hardware components of our device. I mainly focused on the GPS aspect of our device, which involved figuring out how the sensor data would be read, parsed, and filtered. Then ultimately sent to a cloud server for data processing. I also did research on the cloud server we plan to use + databases for storage of data.

The decision making for parts was based around price, efficiency, and integration capabilities. We’re using the Blues Starter Kit which comes with an Arduino board, dual cellular and GPS antenna, and a modem for connecting to WiFi. Blues focuses on efficient power usage, which allows for continuous use, but the ability to have energy saving modes for the tracking device. We’re using their cloud service to receive information regarding the sensor data, and transferring that to our own server which will most likely be a ubuntu server with a python web-framework due to the simplicity.

Most my time was spent interconnecting this device with the other moving pieces that we have, which was shown in the solution approach diagram that we had for our presentation. Specifically the Raspberry PI as the main center piece. Making sure there is streamline communication between our Raspberry PI device and the Blues cloud server. Using the cellular data on the Blues device also allows us to communicate directly with the sensors on the vibrating wristband, to allow for wireless connection between the motors and the raspberry PI.

PROGRESS:

I’m currently on schedule with my tasks, this week was primarily research and finalizing material needed which was accomplished. We plan to have a finalized parts list by Monday (02/09).

NEXT WEEK’S DELIVERABLES:

For next week, the goal is to have put in the orders for the materials needed. As well as starting to build the software systems that we need in order to receive and parse the data. I also plan to start working with what we currently have in the lab, to see how pieces of the Arduino connect with software, as a baseline to start with before our pieces arrive.