Posted on

Team Status Report for 4/12/25

There are no significant risks that would prevent our project from working as we have much of the main functionality implemented and are just working on finishing up the LED integration from the software to hardware.

No changes were made to the existing design of the system but our request for reimbursement for an apple developer account was approved, allowing us to integrate bluetooth functionality into our project.

This week, our progress focused a lot on designing the circuitry for our final board and how everything will be soldered together. In addition, the final large component of our project, the LED light integration, started and we have the code for the software and hardware set up. We just need to solder all the LED strips on the separate zones and decide which pins on the microcontroller will be used for them.

For validation testing, we focused on testing general user flow by performing end to end use case scenarios. We added an item by scanning an NFC tag and confirmed that it was displayed on the UI within 3 seconds with the correct information. We also simulated an item expiring soon and verified that the notification and color change occurred within 4 seconds. Finally, when we removed an item or moved it to a different zone on the pad, we verified that the item was no longer displayed and the color was adjusted accordingly.

Posted on

Sarah’s Status Report for 4/12/25

This week, I worked a lot on the integration of the physical LED lights into our software. After my teammates soldered the test LED strip to the circuit, I worked on the backend API code that would communicate with the ESP32 to ensure that logically, the correct color would be displayed.

I was able to integrate the correct functionality for ZONE01, and look to extend the functionality logic to all 4 zones.

We are currently on progress as the core software functions of our project have been mostly finished and I am attempting to add on additional features.

In the next week, I hope to extend the logic of LED color display to all 4 zones and test that it works. I will have to adjust the ESP32 code to change the MQTT subscription topics, along with a few logic details. I also hope to begin the integration of the temperature and humidity sensors.

While testing the software subsystem of our project, I verified that the operation works as expected. For example, the core functionality of adding a product works. The user can scan an NFC tag and customize the name and expiration date of it, which will then update the database accurately. In addition, the expiration decay of the item is accurately reflected in the colors on the user interface and LED lights.

In regards to latency, all updates and features fit the time frame in our design reports to make the user flow as seamless as possible.

Posted on

Jess’s Status Report for 3/29/25

This week, I made progress in integrating our hardware components. I breadboarded all components and tested the functionality of multiple NFC scanners using SPI’s select line. I also verified that multiple pressure sensors work as expected by ORing their outputs to a single GPIO pin. Additionally, I reached out to various professors and the ECE department regarding an Apple Developer account to support our iOS development needs. Lastly, I began floorplanning our final PCB design.

Although I would like to move faster, we are still on track.

Looking ahead, I plan to finalize the design and begin soldering all components to move toward a more permanent hardware setup.

Posted on

Team Status Report for 3/29/25

This week, we made significant progress on our electronics by starting to integrate our LED setup and ESP32 with the rest of the circuit, bringing our MVP together. With the core system assembled, our upcoming Sunday meeting will finalize testing ahead of our demos on Monday and Wednesday.

So far, we are on progress. With the possibility of getting an Apple Developer license, we may have to discuss how this would affect our schedule and see how feasible it would be to integrate MVP features on the Apple app.

After next week’s demos, we will shift our focus to further backend-frontend integration with our app and hardware, pairing of the pad, followed by testing silicon fabrication (weight effects on sensors + calibration) for our product casing.

Posted on

Gina’s Status Report for 3/29/25

This week, I soldered the LEDs into square shapes, with one pad containing 16 LEDs and completed the LED code on a separate ESP32, ensuring it produces the desired color outputs reliably and gradients effects. This weekend, I began integrating the ESP32 with the rest of the circuit; early tests indicate that the system is communicating properly and that the LEDs are responding as expected.

On Sunday, we plan to meet to finalize our testing before our demos on Monday and Wednesday, and we will also be discussing the Apple Developer license for our app and seeing how this may change our timeline. Furthermore, I plan on laser-cutting squares of thin acrylic and order test silicon sheets to wrap our project around our electronics before molding step.

Overall, this progress marks a key step toward a fully integrated system as we move closer to our critical demo deadlines.

Posted on

Sarah’s Status Report for 3/29/25

This week I worked a lot more on the user flow of our project and the design of how we wanted to have users add an item and place them on the mat. I integrated having multiple scanners on the hardware into the backend so that any of them can be used to scan an NFC tag. I also adjusted the frontend of our code so that instead of having different ‘pads’, there are different ‘zones’ on a singular pad. I also implemented a notifications page and am working on real-time notifications.

Our progress is currently on schedule and I look to flesh out the front end and have pad sensor processing integration be more clear.

In the next week, I hope to have a successful demo and learn what can be improved about our project. I also want to implement real time notifications for when an item expires.

Posted on

Jess’s Status Report for 3/22/25

This week, I focused on refining our NFC scanner setup by switching from I2C to SPI, which better supports multiple scanners on one pad and eliminates the need to boost the input logic to 5V. I soldered additional NFC scanners and worked on connecting multiple scanners to a single ESP32. Additionally, I helped Sarah set up all the hardware components so she could integrate them with the backend of our app.

While progress was made, ensuring all scanners work seamlessly with one ESP32 remains a challenge. Connecting multiple scanners introduced new debugging considerations, which I will continue to address. Despite this challenge, we are still on track with our goals.

Looking ahead, I plan to finalize the scanner setup so all units function reliably with one ESP32. I will also focus on planning a more streamlined circuit design and soldering it onto our flat breadboard. Additionally, I aim to conduct initial testing to identify and resolve any issues early in the development process. Ensuring stability across all hardware components will be key as we move forward.

Posted on

Sarah’s Status Report for 3/22/25

This week, I worked a lot on the integration between software and hardware. My teammates set up the NFC scanner on the hardware and passed along the circuit to me so I could try to connect it to the software. I was able to get the communication between the esp32 and our backend API to work through wifi, along with the NFC scanner.

This allowed us to scan an NFC tag and add the item on our front end into the firebase database.

I also worked on ethics in lecture and learned a lot more about the intricacies of it.

Our progress is currently on track.

In the next week, I hope to refine the user interface of adding an item to make it as seamless as possible. I also want to get push notification working for alerts when an item is expiring.

Posted on

Team Status Report for 3/22/25

The most significant risk in our project right now is the NFC scanning from our phone with the tags on the products. In order to integrate this feature, we need a certain software tool that has an annual subscription fee. The capstone budget does not cover software so we are currently trying to apply for a student waiver or reach out to professors who may have access for us.

In order to resolve this, we are trying to find different methods of implementation that would allow us to work around it or considering a different feature to replace the functionality of it.

No changes were made to our design.

No changes have been made to the schedule as we are currently on track.

In terms of progress, we started integrating the NFC scanner into our hardware by soldering the pins on and connecting it to our esp32. We also got the basic integration down between the hardware and software as our esp32 is able to communicate with the backend API through WiFi. We are also separately working on LED integration to bring surface functionality of both systems together for our demo.

Posted on

Jess’s Status Report for 3/15/25

This week, I focused on setting up NFC scanning and WiFi, as well as integrating BLE into our system. I soldered the necessary components for our NFC scanner and tested the feature with the built in scanner on iphones. I encountered numerous challenges that slowed my progress, particularly with BLE connectivity and NFC scanning between the ESP32 and our app as these features require a premium to develop with on IOS.

Despite troubleshooting various approaches, I wasn’t able to fully resolve these issues, which left me feeling behind schedule. Right now, I am evaluating different debugging strategies and potential workarounds to address these roadblocks efficiently.

Looking ahead, I plan to resolve or find viable solutions for these issues by next week. In parallel, I will refine the BLE integration process and ensure that NFC and WiFi functionality are stable, so we can move forward with testing and further development. Getting these features working reliably will be key.