Joshua Ramos’ Status Report for 11/2/24

Personal Accomplishments
  1. Lab meetings (4h): During our schedule lab meeting hours, besides working on our respective implementation duties, my team and I evaluated the state of the project and planned out immediate next steps in regard to initial testing of our design requirements.
  2. Programming ESP32 (8hr): This week I spent time reading documentation for and implementing BLE communication from our ESP32 to my computer.
Progress
  1. The hardware prototype is almost complete, as I am still working on the BLE imeplementation.
Next Week tasks & goals
  1. To finish the BLE imeplemenation and test it.
  2. Threshold testing will be conducted later this week with multiple sensors at once to determine the efficiency of the hardware and design.

Joshua Ramos’ Status Report for 10/26/24

Personal Accomplishments
  1. Mandatory Lab Meetings (4h): During our lab meetings, we received and provided great feedback from our advisor and TA, allowing us to identify vague aspects of our project design and clarify/finalize them.
  2. Programming ESP32 (4hr): This week I spent time installing the esp toolchain and getting several example files running to verify functionality. I also setup ADC reading and force threshold identification for multiple sensors on the esp.
  3. Testing Haptic Motors (4hr): This week I spent time testing the placement and generated vibration of the haptic motors. I found that placing the motors behind the base of the finger and each at a constant current whenever that finger encroaches the threshold works very well since it is very noticable to the climber.
Progress
  1. Progress is a little behind since our sensors came in this week. So the prototype is still in development since we need to sow the sensors into the glove and maneuver the wiring. However we are on track to begin qualitative tests next week.
Next Week tasks & goals
  1. To perform qualitative tests of a design prototype.

Joshua Ramos’ Status Report for 10/20/24

Personal Accomplishments
  1. Mandatory Lab Meetings (4h): During our lab meetings, we received and provided great feedback from our peers, allowing us to identify questionable aspects of our project and see the kinds of methods and technologies other groups are using.
  2. Design Report (20hr): Spent time finalizing our design and writing the report. I worked on the abstract, use-case requirements, hardware architecture, design requirements, hardware design trade study, system hardware implementation, system verification and validation, risk mitigation plan, and related works sections.
Progress
  1. According to the schedule, I am working on testing the haptic drivers, however, our order just came in this weekend over the fall break, so I will be picking them up first thing Monday morning to get on top of it! Besides that, everything is on track!
Next Week tasks & goals
  1. To test the haptic drivers using a pre-set threshhold value to determine the strength of the vibration.

Joshua Ramos’ Status Report for 10/5/24

Personal Accomplishments
  1. Design Review Presentation (5hr): Spent time creating the use-case, technical requirements, system specification (HW), and unit testing slides.
  2. Mandatory Lab Meetings (4h): During our lab meetings, we received and provided great feedback from our peers, allowing us to identify questionable aspects of our project and see the kinds of methods and technologies other groups are using.
  3. Cross-team meetings (0.5hr): Me and Alex met with Vansh from team A3 to discuss our product design apporach in regard to which technologies we’re using  since our products are very similar. During our meetings, we discussed which controllers we’re using, sensors, communicatons protocols, and web development environments and tools. The exchange was very fruitful, and provided both teams with valuable exposure to technologies they hadn’t considered prior to this interaction.
  4. Further sensor testing (4hr): Spent time testing the sensors using precise weight measurements using a gram-scale. Through this I was able to determine the precision and sensitivity of the sensor, and can conclude its viability for the project. I will use the recorder value to set thresholds on the device such that an alarm can be fired when the threshold is broken.
Progress
  1. My progress is on schedule,  my next step is to callibrate the other incoming sensors and test multiple sensors on a hand at once.
Next Week tasks & goals
  1. Test multiple A301-100 sensors on a hand and measure via ADC.
  2. Look into other options for the controller board we are using. Looking for something more simple to use.

Joshua Ramos’ Status Report for 9/28/24

Personal Accomplishments

1. Ordered and acquired components (1hr): I ordered an MCP6004-I/P op-amp to construct the recommended circuit as described in the FlexiForce A301-100 datasheet. I also scoured the ECE lab rooms to acquire other components (with TA permission of course) such as 100k potentiometers, resistors, wires, capacitors, oscilloscopes, digital multi-meters, and power supplies.2. Sensor setup & ADC setup & sensor calibration (further testing required) (7hr): After constructing the recomended circuit in the A301-100 datasheet, to obtain  -Vref and Vsupply,  where Vref == Vsupply, I used two power supplies, one supplying 0.5V and -0.5V. Then, I hooked on a multi-meter to the Vout of the op-amp and pressed on the sensor with varying force to observe the output change. I did observe a change, however, Vout reached 0.5V with insignificant force. Realizing that I needed to modify the circuit to allow for a larger voltage range and tune the gain accordingly, I requested Alex’s help, for which he computed and provided me with the proper component values necessary to achieve this. After testing, the sensor functioned as predicted, and we we’re able to obtain readings  ranging from 0 – 2V, where grams of force correlated with mV of change and extreme force encroached on 2V.

Then, I booted up an STM32 Nucleo board, configured its ADC to use a 12-bit resolution, and measured the Vout pin of the MCP6004 to verify the sensor reading using a multi-meter. Lastly, I performed bend tests on the sensor while reading, for which there were no obvious differences via inspection in measurement. Further testing is required where we will place the sensor on scale and measure weights on it to calibrate. We will perform the same test on a bent sensor to identify changes in sensitivity. Side-note: during this testing, I identified that we will require a Negative LDO (Negative Linear Regulator) to produce -Vref in our final design (as we won’t use power supplies). I will investigate eligible components.

3. Mandatory Lab Meetings (4h): During our lab meetings, we recieved great feedback. We were able to discuss design corners in our project and identify areas of ambiguity. One very useful point made by our advisor was the tuning of our gain for our sensor readings. We applied this feedback in our sensor testing this week, it was very helpful! We also had time to meet with our team to perform schedule reviews and work on the design presentation.

Progress
  1. My progress is on schedule,  my next step is to continue calibrating the sensor and testing it using a scale and weights, along with more bend testing.
Next Week tasks & goals
  1. Test the A301-100 sensor with weights and tune the ADC and/or voltage range/gain if necessary. Also test the haptic driver, which will be used to alarm users.

Joshua Ramos’ Status Report for 9/21/24

Personal Accomplishments
  1. Sensor research and ordering (5hr): I looked into viable solutions to our sensors problem: how can we efficiently and effectively measure force being exerted at multiple pulley joints on a finger? I found the FlexiForce A301-100 Sensor that can measure up to 100 lbs of force. I researched videos to identify if this sensor would be sustainable for our use-case, since it will be bent in many different angles. I also called the FlexiForce help-line to speak with a representative, for which I asked if the sensors would be a reliable solution for our product. I also scoured the campus ECE labs for operational amplifiers and other electrical components that we will need for our system. Lastly, I ordered the sensor and the recommended electrical components necessary to test and calibrate it.
  2. Proposal Presentation (4hr): I spent time researching existing solutions to our problem, modelling the requirements, formulating the challenges, and diagraming the implementation/testing plans. I also spent time practicing the presentation to prepare for delivering it this past Monday.
  3. Mandatory Lab Meetings (4h): During our lab meetings, we recieved great feedback. We were able to discuss our product’s intended purpose, describe its functionality and mechanics, and review our implementation approach. It was very rewarding.
Progress
  1. My progress is on schedule, except for initial testings which is a little behind due to ordering delays.
Next Week tasks & goals
  1. Build testing environment (stm32 + breadboard) for the A301-100 sensor, and verify its reliability and functionality for our product.