- what tasks have been completed, and what tasks remain?
- what has worked? what hasn't?
- what questions need to be resolved?
- what will happen when?
- what have you learned?
I decided that the best way to demonstrate current functionality of the current version of the shower timer is to program the boards to time a certain period of time, showing how the input and output devices will act. I chose 1 minute (a bit short for actual showering, but works well for the demo purposes, inclding making the video). This timing starts when the electret senses sound, the green power light is on, and the LCD starts showing the count of "Shower Time". After 30 seconds elapse, the middle light (planned to be yellow, but the yellow one was broken and the available replacement was teh clear one) switches on, and the Piezo buzzes. When 1 minute goes by, the red light starts blinking and remains on, while the Piezo buzzes again. When electret senses sound again, timing stops and the timer switches off.
Managing time to meet requirements of the weekly assignments so far has been going fine, although some of the weeks turned out to be very busy because of the other tasks I had to do at the university and/or because for some assignments required more time than I had realized. Based on this experience, for the final project, I will plan to finish functionality of electronics of the final prototype completely finished three days before the deadline, leaving the rest of the time for refining integration of the device and preparing for the final presentation.
On my Final Project page, I am describing which (and how) skills learned in the weekly assignments I used in making the timer.
- what tasks have been completed, and what tasks remain?
During the last week of the project development, the main tasks to accomplish are refining networking among the boards and integrating the system. One of the challanges will be neatly arranging the network inside of the timer's box. - what has worked? what hasn't?
Some parts of the system are functioning as intended, so this is good news. Lights, electret, Piezo and the bridge boards function and communicate well. The LCD board is functioning fine on its own, yet is reluctant to participate in the network. So far, when connected to the network, it seems that LCD board does not function properly writing illegible symbols on the screen. When functioning on its own, it provides the result I am looking for. - what questions need to be resolved?
I would say that I do not have any unresolved quesitons regading functionality of the current prototype of the shower timer, I just need to work on finishing implementing what was planned. All possible questions concern enhancement of the current system, so I consider them to be a part fo the next stages of the spiral development. - what will happen when?
During the last week before the presentation (which is scheduled on June 14th), I will be trying to refine the network, and I will also try to get help from the staff of the Fablab. Based on the principles of the demand- vs supply-side time management approach I will reserve 5 days for finishing yo programing and integration, hoping to achive as much as possible. After that, I will focus on making the presentation and the video, sharing what will have been accomplished by then. - what have you learned?
I could answer this question in one word: EVERYTHING :) . Since I had no experience with working with electronics, literally EVERYTHING that had to do with hardware was new to me. What a PCB is and which components it consists of, designing boards' schematics and layouts in Eagle, milling, stuffing and soldering, ways to check and debug functionality of the components. Embedded programming was also a new thing in my world. Computer-controlled cutting and machining were also new to me since I had not operated laser/vinyl cutters or CNC machines before. 3D printing and scanning, molding, casting, and making composites were also completely new skills acquired during the course. In addition to that, I learned doing a lot of documentation in the short period of time :). I also got to know and understand what spiral development is. Moreover, it was good to practise skills that I acquired a while ago, but I have not been recently using (such as 3D and 2D design). It was also interesting to get to know Inkscape, Rhino and Fusion 360, which I have not used before.