This week our team received all of our ordered components. These components include the 8-channel USB mic-array and the three USB cameras. This was a huge week for our team since we were finally able to put our work together and test it on some real components. The main work we focused on this week was setting up and testing out the components to ensure they were working properly. Additionally, our group has been finalizing the details of our design report.

Most Significant Risks & Mitigation Plans

Risk: Processing Overload

This remains our biggest concern in our design. The simultaneous use of the 3 USB cameras with the 8-channel mic-array requires a lot of processing and may overload the CPU and USB bandwidth of the Raspberry Pi 4.

The risks associated with this processing overload can lead to potential frame drop, increased audio latency, and overall system instability.

Risk Management:

Switched from CSI camera plan to UVC USB cameras for easier driver support.
Reduced camera resolution target from 1080p at 30fps to 720p at 30fps
Raspberry Pi Cooling system

Contingencies:

Adding an additional Pi for vision processing and communicate via Ethernet
Lower camera frame rate (20–24 fps).
Using hardware-accelerated vision libraries

Design Changes Made Since Last Report

None.

Schedule Changes