Author: siyingl3

Team Status Report for 2/14

This week, we mainly focused on the design of our whole system and finalized all the components we need to purchase.

System design

We divided our system into three main parts: the motor platform, the navigation and vision sensing, and the voice recognition module. And for each part, we selected the components based on our quantitative user requirements. 

motor platform:

We selected some motor platforms that would fit our user requirements, as well as considered the compatibility problem of the platform with our Raspberry Pi system. We finally decided to use Hiwonder Large Metal 4WD Vehicle Chassis, which can be used on both Rpi and stm32. 

Voice recognition:

The voice recognition module requires relatively high-speed voice detection response, as well as high detection accuracy. Based on these requirements, we chose the WonderEcho AI Voice Recognition Module, which has an integrated neural network processor for offline voice recognition and has an accuracy that reaches up to 98%. 

Navigation & camera:

Based on the provided inventory list, we finally decided to use the provided Oak-D Pro Robotics Camera, since the camera’s stereoscopic depth perception capabilities would help us in detecting the hand gesture of the user with reasonable speed, as well as navigate to the user.  

Risk & mitigation:

Our risk right now is the potential difficulty of running the motor platform on our Raspberry Pi system. Therefore, to address this issue, we decided to order another stm32 chip for our backup plan. 

Next week’s plan:

After we receive these components, we will first test these components individually to ensure all parts are functioning properly. And we will also test if the motor control will work as we expected, and test if the speed and load of the motor platform meet our requirements. 

 

Siying’s Status Report for 2/14

This week I mainly worked on the design for our voice recognition module. I compared a few different options that I found last week, and selected the most feasible one that we could use based on our current design. For example, when selecting the microphone, I realized that the 4 microphone array would have a more precise voice recognition function than the 2 microphone array, and it can also know the direction of the sound source. For the voice recognition engine, I focused on offline modules, and compared the recognition accuracy as well as the feasibility of using it such as whether it’s open source or not. What’s more, the delivery time for the products is also considered. Therefore, with all these factors taken into account, my teammates and I finally decided to use the WonderEcho AI Voice Recognition Module, where it has a builtin neural network processor for offline voice recognition, a noise reducing microphone, and runs on the CI1302 voice chip model. I also worked on the design presentation, where I mainly focused on the solution approach, implementation plan, and quantitative design requirements. 

For this week, the progress aligns with our current schedule, and the required components are all settled and ordered from the inventory. Then, after the components arrive, we will work on testing the components by parts, and make sure the motor for the trash bin works fine. 

Siying’s Status Report for 2/7

This week I worked together with my teammates on preparing the presentation slides, including working on the use case and technical challenges. I also discussed with my teammates about the hardware items that we need to buy and order from the inventory list as well as other vendors, such as items required for the motor platform, visual detection model, and voice recognition model. What’s more, I also researched how we could implement the voice recognition part. Including two types of microphone arrays that we could potentially use (ReSpeaker 2-Mic HAT, ReSpeaker 4-Mic Array), as well as several offline keyword spotting engines that are suitable for running Raspberry Pi (vosk, Picovoice Rhino, Porcupine). 

This week my progress aligns with our current schedule, which is to finish proposal presentation, prepare for hardware items, and research on voice recognition modules implementation. 

For next week, I’m planning to further decide on how we will carry out the voice module. And I’m also going to work on the design presentation, and prepare for the upcoming deadline for our design plan.