Category: Team Weekly Status Reports

The most significant risks to the project are delays in physical assembly and potential hardware reliability issues, particularly with motor functionality and wiring. These risks are being managed through continued subsystem testing, early integration validation, and debugging as issues arise. A contingency plan is to isolate and test each subsystem independently if full system integration fails, and to fall back on simplified operation modes (e.g., manual control) to demonstrate core functionality if needed.

No changes were made to the existing system design (requirements, block diagram, or system specifications).

Unit tests carried out include:

• Sensor validation (IMU and sun sensor readings accuracy and consistency)
• Motor control tests (stepper motor direction, step accuracy, and response to GPIO signals)
• Communication tests between Raspberry Pi and individual components

System-level tests carried out include:

• End-to-end motor–sensor integration (sensor input → control logic → motor actuation)
• Alignment testing (verifying system response to changes in orientation or light direction)
• Subsystem interaction testing to ensure all components function together without conflicts (outside actually panning/tilting the umbrella)

Testing helped confirm that the integration pipeline is functioning correctly, and no major design flaws were identified, so no design changes were necessary.

The main risks at this stage remain mechanical integration and timing. While most subsystems—including user detection, Bluetooth control, and sensor integration—are functioning well, the primary challenge is completing the physical mounting of all components onto the umbrella. Delays in mounting have pushed back some integration testing. To manage this, the team is prioritizing final assembly tasks and distributing the workload to accelerate completion. If delays continue, we will rely on our existing testbench to continue validating motor control and subsystem interactions and perform incremental integration as each component is mounted.

There have been no major changes to the overall system architecture or design requirements. Any additional cost or time impacts are being mitigated by leveraging existing materials and optimizing assembly processes.

The project schedule is largely still on track, with some delays in physical assembly. However, progress in sensor integration and motor control testing has continued in parallel, allowing us to maintain momentum. As assembly is finalized, we expect to quickly transition into full system testing and validation without significant impact to final deadlines.

The main risks at this stage are mechanical stability and system integration. As more components are added, the arm must support increased weight and handle external forces like wind. We are managing this by testing the structure under load and evaluating reinforcement options. If needed, we will strengthen the arm or adjust the design, even if it slightly increases weight. Integration is another risk, so we are beginning full system testing early to catch issues.

The project is on schedule with a revised version; the physical design and assembly were the main things keeping a lot of things behind, but with almost all of the major subsystems now functional, we’re more effective in parallelizing testing and validation. We are moving into integration.

We have several working components, including BLE-based motor control, a functioning user detection system on the Raspberry Pi, and a semi-completed physical assembly.

For validation, we are running end-to-end tests from user detection to motor movement and will measure tracking accuracy, response time, and system reliability against our design requirements.

One of the most significant risks to the project at this stage is the mechanical integrity of the system, particularly the weight constraints and the strength of the arm supporting the umbrella. As we continue assembling the physical structure, we are evaluating whether the current materials and design can reliably support the motors and canopy under expected loads, including environmental factors. To manage this risk, we are testing the structure incrementally and assessing whether reinforcement or material changes are needed. If the current design proves insufficient, our contingency plan is to adjust the arm design by using stronger materials or modifying the geometry to better distribute load, even if this slightly increases weight.

Another potential risk is ensuring smooth integration between the hardware and software subsystems. While major components such as user detection and BLE-based motor control are now functional independently, integrating them into a cohesive system introduces complexity. To mitigate this, we are prioritizing early integration testing as soon as physical assembly allows, so that issues can be identified and resolved well before final demonstrations.

There have not been major changes to the overall system architecture or high-level design requirements, but minor adjustments are being made to the mechanical design as we better understand real-world constraints. These changes are necessary to ensure the stability and durability of the system in a beach environment.

The project schedule remains largely on track. While some time was spent resolving hardware setup and debugging issues, progress in parallel across mechanical assembly, vision, and communication subsystems has kept the team aligned with key milestones. As integration begins, we will continue to monitor progress closely and adjust task distribution as needed.

The primary risks to the success of the projects remains mechanical hardware and assembly delays often regarding the 3D printing or just general assembly time. Delays in CAD refinement and hardware selection have pushed back the physical testing phase a bit which is more than we would have liked. As mentioned last week we continue to adopt an all-hands approach to the hardware integration.To mitigate any backlog in assembly and 3D printing, team members primarily focused on software will shift their attention to assist with the physical build as needed so that it can be up and running for our testing processes. This will ensure that the mechanical components don’t become a permanent bottleneck for our progress. As of right now there are no significant design changes.

One of the most significant risks to the success of the project is delays in the physical assembly of the system, particularly the integration of the motors, gears, and structural components. Although much of the initial software development has been completed, meaningful system testing depends on the mechanical components being installed and functioning properly. Without the motors and gearing mechanisms in place, we cannot fully validate the motion control, actuation, and overall system responsiveness of the shade system. Mechanical integration also presents challenges such as alignment issues, mounting stability, and ensuring that the motors provide sufficient torque to move the canopy reliably.

To manage this risk, we’re prioritizing the completion of the remaining mechanical tasks so that the hardware and software subsystems can be integrated as soon as possible. The focus for the current phase of the project is completing the mounting brackets, canopy fabrication, and the full physical assembly of the arm, joints, canopy, and motors. These tasks are distributed across the team to ensure steady progress and reduce the likelihood of delays caused by a single point of failure. By accelerating the physical assembly process by having more people helping, we will be able to begin integrated system testing earlier and identify potential issues before the final stages of the project timeline.

At the moment, the most significant risks that could jeopardize the success of the project are falling behind on our individual work, which may cause other team members to not be able to progress within their areas of work in the project. We’re planning to be more strict with following our schedule and staying on top of things to have a working demo in time, and shifting priorities within the project as needed, keeping our TA and designated professor in the loop. We’re currently working on the perception, app development, and the physical assembly of our project

 

A was written by Bonnie, B was written by Ore, and C was written by Nicholas.

Part A: Global Factors

Our smart beach umbrella considers several global factors beyond a local setting. Rising global temperatures and increased UV exposure make sun protection more important worldwide. An automatically adjusting umbrella can help reduce health risks such as heat stroke and sunburn in many regions.

Accessibility is also a global factor. Not all users are physically able or technologically experienced enough to adjust a traditional umbrella frequently. Automating the process makes the product more inclusive.

Cost and scalability were considered by using affordable components such as a Raspberry Pi and standard motors, making the system more practical across different economic environments. Privacy is also important, since the umbrella uses a camera and mobile app, so data processing should remain local to protect users.

 

Part B: Cultural Factors

 

Part C: Environmental Factors

Shade.ai prioritizes the protection of living organisms and the responsible use of natural resources through its core functionality and material selection. By utilizing autonomous solar modeling and CV-based tracking, the system provides a reliable barrier against harmful UV radiation, addressing a health risk for beach-goers that is often underestimated due to unreliable cooling sensations.

The biggest risk right now is making sure the motors can provide enough torque to move and hold the umbrella. Since umbrella size and weight greatly affect the required torque, we are estimating these values early and researching appropriate stepper motors and gear ratios. If the torque requirements end up being too high, we can reduce the canopy size or use additional gearing or mechanical support to reduce the load on the motors.

 

We’ve started working on the arms and joints design, and perception & estimation components.

This week, we had several meetings about our intended product and its feasibility within the scope of the semester.  The major risk now is that we decided to pivot away from working with drones, so we then spent the next few days doing some research on our other ideas for the upcoming design review presentation, ultimately helping to pinpoint and flesh out a new idea we can go with for our capstone project. To mitigate the risk of the success of our project, we are actively keeping our designated professor and TA in the loop throughout the whole process. The main change we made to our existing design is removing drone usage for the shade provider and moving to a more stationary design. This change was necessary beacuse not only is drone autonomous flight challenging to get done within one semester, but there were also outside factors that weren’t initially considered: getting permission from CMU to fly a drone,  and/or having to locate an area to fly a drone, and to continue to use drones, we would need to review the CMU code for rules and requirements. No more cost was incurred from this change; costs were redistributed across new components of our design.

A was written by Bonnie,  B was written by Ore, and C was written by Nicholas.

 

B: From a social perspective, beaches are shared public spaces that bring together diverse groups across age, ability, and economic backgrounds. Not everyone has the same physical strength or mobility to repeatedly adjust a heavy umbrella in sand, particularly older adults, individuals with disabilities, or caregivers managing children. By reducing the physical effort required to maintain shade, our solution promotes greater accessibility and inclusivity in recreational spaces. Additionally, in hot coastal regions where extreme sun exposure can pose health risks, improving access to reliable shade supports public health and encourages longer, safer social interaction in outdoor environments.

Currently, the most significant risks we see are the ordering of parts successfully, dealing with delivery time and ensuring that they all work for are desired use case requirements. We would like to finish our research to determine our Bill of Materials so that we can maximize our time we have available with building, testing, and integrating our project. We tried to build slack time into our current schedule to deal with issues as they come up but also creating a list of backup parts/design solutions should ensure that we are able to meet our MVP goals.

From our research, we also definitely noticed a pattern that for the testing of drone related projects, damage occurring to the physical structure or even damage to the hardware of the project is a concern. As we move further into the project we will need to think carefully about our testing processes to minimize the risk of these damages occurring such that we aren’t being constantly set back.

There are no proposed changes as of this point in our research although that could change as we finish up the research process in the coming week. If we find that certain parts of our design are unrealistic due to part availability, price, or other concerns we will definitely update our design.