Personal Weekly Update | Rita| 2/8
Accomplishments
– Proposal Presentation (5h): Together as a team, we worked together to create the Proposal presentation for the Cyclify. We broke it down into several parts: Zoe was responsible for the Technical Challenges, Component Choices, and Solution Approach slides, Carolyn was responsible for the Use Case, Testing, and Solution slides, and I was responsible for the Title, Use Case, and Division of Labor slides. It was my turn to present the information this week, so I also made sure to practice the slides several times in order to give a cohesive presentation.
– Mandatory Lab Meetings (4h): Throughout the week we met with Professor Kim and our TA Ankit to discuss and receive feedback for our project. Afterwards, we proceeded to research more into the 25 different modes that we need to be accounting for when calibrating the device. The bulk of the time spent during our meetings this week was dedicated to the creation of the Proposal Presentation and the design of this website.
– Research into materials for pressure sensor attachment (3h): One of the first challenges we will have to face in order to make sure we meet the requirement of having the user be able to attach the device in under 10 minutes is determining how said attachment will be designed in the first place. One of the first ideas I had in regards of finding a quick, but sturdy, way to attach the pressure sensors to the handlebars would be to create a sort of cloth or mesh to slip onto the bars. However, this comes with the question of what will that material be made of? Some current contenders were cotton for its lightweight and stretchy nature, neoprene for it being more rigid and waterproof, or silicon to have something less prone to ripping. Nevertheless, part of the process has been determining where the sensors will reside. For example, the bicycle we will be using for our prototype is a gravel bike with drop bars (i.e. the handle bars that allow riders to go almost flat), bull horns (i.e. protrusions on the handlebars that contain the brakes and where riders spend the majority of their time), and flat bars (i.e. the stereotypical handlebars seen in most bicycles). With all of these different structures, the material we end up picking to house the sensors will need to be stretchy enough in order to pass over them, but not too much to slide out of place. Any issues with the material further compressing the sensors would be accounted for in the calibration mode where we’ll have users perform various positions to match it to their weight.
Progress Status
– I am on schedule for the tasks assigned to me. I have been researching proper biomechanical positions to ensure proper technique on the bicycle in order for Carolyn to adequately code the correction algorithm and different ways to attach the sensors onto the bike.
Next Week’s Goals
– I would like to have a more concrete idea as to how to attach all the sensors onto the bike and what material we will be using so that we can order it before we reach the bike integration phase of the project.
Photos & Files
