Accomplishment: Worked on integrating the OR Module, Speech Module and the Proximity module into the NVIDIA Jetson alongside Josh. We found that the proximity module that I was unable to debug in the past is going to pose a problem to the flow of our project. We spent a whole day trying to figure out if the problem was either in our software implementation, or possibly in our circuitry, but found that the NVIDIA Jetson may simply not be capable of real time processing that the ultrasonic sensor requires. We concluded that we will need to pivot to a different approach for the proximity module and weighed the pros and cons of either solution. The solutions are outlined in detail in our team report but one would be a more robust solution that will require a big design change and implementation time, while the other will be a smaller quicker fix but one that may lower the accuracy of our device. We have yet to make the call on which route we will take but Josh and I worked hard to find ways to address this. We also completed most of the system setup to make the program run upon bootup of the jetson, so no manual command is needed.
Progress: I made significant progress with the integration into the Jetson along with Josh as well as trying and debugging the headless setup for the device. We went through many ways and debugged many errors together and I feel good about the progress we made.
Projected Deliverables: In the coming days the goal is for us to make a call on which way to address the problem that has risen with the ultrasonic sensors, whether the software or hardware solution. I also hope to have flushed out the speech module to address any and all cases for the final demonstration.
As you’ve designed, implemented and debugged your project, what new tools or new knowledge did you find it necessary to learn to be able to accomplish these tasks? What learning strategies did you use to acquire this new knowledge?
During the design, implementation, and debugging of my project, I found it necessary to learn several new tools and gain new knowledge to accomplish these tasks successfully. Some of the new skills I acquired include using sudo for executing commands with superuser privileges, grep for searching text patterns, understanding ALSA (Advanced Linux Sound Architecture) for audio setup on the NVIDIA Jetson Nano, configuring Jetson audio setup, working with threading for concurrent execution, and implementing real-time processing for audio and other data. I also delved into watching youtube videos to visually grasp concepts, reading through github project repos with READMEs to understand implementations and dependencies, and did extensive research on various topics related to my project. Reading documentation was a crucial part of my learning process, as it provided valuable information and guidelines on how to use these tools and technologies effectively. Additionally, being patient and reading through people’s errors and solutions on forums and communities helped me understand common issues and their solutions, allowing me to troubleshoot and debug more efficiently. By combining these learning strategies, such as watching videos, reading documentation and GitHub repos, doing research, and being patient, I was able to enhance my skills and successfully implement and debug my project on the NVIDIA Jetson Nano platform.
We recognize that there are quite a few different methods (i.e. learning strategies) for gaining new knowledge — one doesn’t always need to take a class, or read a textbook to learn something new. Informal methods, such as watching an online video or reading a forum post are quite appropriate learning strategies for the acquisition of new knowledge