As the semester comes to a close, this status report aims to provide a final technical update along with a quick reflection on some of the lessons we have learned thus far as a group.
First, in the interest of a technical update on our progress: we are still debugging the mySQLConnector in the process of integrating the separate algorithms that comprise our project. Namely, we need to implement the logic to encode the binary data sent from the generated image and decode this binary data on the server side before it is written into the database.
I was able to get the SSOCR (Seven-Segment Optical Character Recognition) working for still images; this would be used to communicate the scale readings to our database. Here is an example of how it works on a homemade test case:
Resulting output:
On the Pi-capturing end, the logic is to continuously capture and parse frames until a significant positive value is registered (something is placed on the scale). From there, a counter is implemented to let the weight standardize, and the image is sampled. This image is then forwarded to the database which parses the image (SSOCR) and writes the value into the database. Fine-tuning the SSOCR so it works across broad testing inputs remains a personal goal of mine in the coming week.
Another bucket list item we would like to work on is improving the front end of our website. Grace plans to take the lead on that as demo day approaches, with supplementary assistance from me and Steven based on our progress with mySQLConnect.
Some of the lessons we learned from the semester include handling the tradeoff between building your components for stages of the project versus buying premade parts. The tradeoff arises between speed and customizability, and in general, we tended to favor the latter given that we saw the project as an opportunity to apply what we have learned to build new things as opposed to learning how to use a premade system that may be rather restricted in functionality towards our use cases. Another lesson was the importance of documentation on a routine level: we found that status reports, weekly meetings, and report writing and assignments throughout the semester help maintain consistent progress in our project throughout the semester so that no point of the design process devolves into an unbearable time crunch. This is a very extendable skill for our careers beyond graduation.
We would once again like to thank the 18-500 course staff, and all the educators at CMU whose advice and guidance over the past few years of undergraduate study were applied in the development of our project. While there remain some outstanding intricacies to resolve ahead of the final demonstration, we are excited for the opportunity to show off our hard work throughout the semester in the final demo showcase this coming Friday.