This week, I focused primarily on defining, validating, and assembling the hardware architecture for our tabletop audio-visual speaker isolation system. My work this week was aimed at ensuring that our components are realistic, compatible, and achievable within our budget and skill constraints.
Main highlights of this week:
- Finalized the core processing platform by evaluating multiple Raspberry Pi options and confirming that the Raspberry Pi 5 provides sufficient CPU performance, I/O bandwidth, and camera support for running multi-camera vision processing alongside real-time audio DSP.
- Researched and selected camera hardware capable of supporting our 360° field-of-view goal. I evaluated CSI vs USB camera tradeoffs and confirmed that using three wide-angle CSI cameras is feasible from a hardware and bandwidth standpoint.
- Confirmed microphone array approach, comparing USB microphone arrays versus raw I²S/TDM mic arrays. Based on complexity and development risk, I helped justify the decision to use a USB microphone array to reduce low-level driver and embedded system overhead.
- Created and refined system-level hardware block diagrams, showing how the cameras, microphone array, processor, power, and USB interface connect. These diagrams help ensure the team has a shared understanding of how data flows through the system.
- Generated a preliminary bill of materials (BOM) listing exact parts (processor, cameras, mic array, power supply, cables, and accessories), ensuring the design stays within budget and can realistically be sourced through university resources or online vendors.
- Verified physical and electrical feasibility, including USB bandwidth, CSI lane usage, power requirements, and enclosure considerations for a tabletop form factor.
Across the week, I spent significant time iterating between hardware choices and system requirements, documenting tradeoffs, and communicating constraints to the rest of the team so that software development aligns with what the hardware can reliably support.
Overall, the progress I have made up until this point is on track with our schedule. The hardware architecture is now sufficiently defined to support parallel software development. Any remaining uncertainty (such as exact camera mounting geometry or enclosure layout) does not block near-term progress and can be refined during integration and testing.
In order to continue staying on track:
- I will continue validating assumptions as components arrive.
- I will work closely with my partners that are working on the software to ensure that the camera and microphone components align with their library and performance expectations.
- Any hardware risks identified during early testing will be documented early so adjustments can be made without impacting the overall timeline.
ml In the next week, I plan to complete the following deliverables:
- Physical setup of core hardware, including the Raspberry Pi, microphone array, and at least one camera for initial bring-up testing.
- Power and connectivity validation, confirming stable operation under load with all peripherals attached.
- Initial hardware bring-up tests, such as:
- Verifying that cameras are detected and stream correctly
- Confirming the microphone array is recognized as an audio device
- Updated hardware documentation, including finalized wiring diagrams and an updated bill of materials based on any changes discovered during setup.
- Support software integration, assisting the team in confirming camera orientation, field-of-view coverage, and basic sensor synchronization assumptions.
These steps will move the project from a design-focused phase into early system integration and testing, reducing risk later in the semester.