Weekly Progress

Weekly Progress:

Week 1: Brainstorming Ideas

• walking stick with sensing devices for the blind
• machine to help dispense shampoo and conditioner from tube for people with arthiritis
• scissors with laser to help guide the cutter
• bounceback umbrella
• transparent toaster
• program to help color blind navigate through ipad/other computer devices

Week 2: Choose idea

We chose the walking stick idea and got approval from the section mentor

Ideas:

• for materials- expect to need a stick, ultrasonic senosor
• looked at ultrasonic sensor that can detect both moving and stationary objects- Parallax Ping Ultrasonic Sensor
• lightweight sticks- looking at hollow wooden sticks, or plastics 
• looking to sound devices to notify walker of obstacles.

Week 3: Preparation for Design

We starting preparing materials for our design and completed homework assignments for class

• started ordering materials for design: walking stick and ultrasonic sensor
• started drawing and creating computerized version of walking stick on Creo Parametric
• finished blog assignment for first check
• finished Design Proposal for walking stick idea

Week 4: Getting and Assembling Materials
We have obtained and assembled the walking stick

• ordered and received the ultrasonic sensor
• built 2 prototype walking sticks out of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) pipes
• one with a rounded handle, (3/4 inch diameter)
• one with a horizontal handle, (1/2 inch diameter)
• received the Arduino and began to practice coding
• created a  3D design of the sunglasses (Creo Parametric)
• decided to not make a working prototype of the sunglasses but a three dimensional design to show the idea we had in mind

Week 5: Coding and Assembling Electronic Aspects of Design
We started connecting the electronic aspects and coding for the design

• received both the Arduino and Parallax Ping Ultrasonic Sensor
• soldered three wires: ground wire (black), power wire (red), and signal wire (green) to ultrasonic sensor
• connected the same wires to Arduino
• both electronic components are now connected together by wires
• started coding Arduino to recognize the ultrasonic sensor with C++

Week 6: Completed Code for Ultrasonic Sensor
We coded the sensor to distinguish between distances and ordered more pieces for prototype.

• Arduino and ultrasonic sensor are coded to distinguish distances
• ordered and received 8 ohm speakers in order to make sounds when ultrasonic sensor senses distances
• a code to emit sound from speakers is still needed
• picked 1/2 inch diameter stick to work with and a handle that is most comfortable and is strong enough to hold the weight of the stick
• choices: handle at 90 degree angle, hook handle, handle at 45 degrees, and a straight handle (180 degrees)
• picked the straight handle that goes up and down
• spray-painted the connected pipes to make it look more like a walking stick
• started testing Arduino and Ultrasonic Sensor to find ideal places for location on walking stick

Week 7: Perfected Coding and Connected Electrical Components
We perfected the coding for the ultrasonic sensor and completed rough draft for final design brief.

• perfected code for speaker to make sounds
• as object comes closer, the beeps will become more rapid
• connected all three electrical components together
• soldered green wire (signal) to resister and then soldered same wire to 8 ohm speaker
• soldered black wire (ground) directly from Arduino to speake 
• found problem with speaker: the volume of the beeps is too low
• changed resistor from 100 ohm to 10 ohm to increase current to speaker
• drew second hand-drawn picture of walking stick
• chose optimal locations for Arduino, ultrasonic sensor, and speaker on the walking stick

Week 8: Mounted Electrical Components on Speaker

This week we completed a major part of the project by mounting all the electrical components onto the walking stick. 

• ultrasonic sensor
• drilled a hole 7 inches from the bottom 
• attached the sensor to the walking stick with a wire
• Arduino
• bought and spray-painted an electric box (dimensions: 2x3x1 inches) to match the stick color
• drilled two holes and attached the box to the back of the stick with two screws (4 inches from handle)
• placed Arduino inside and screwed the top on the box 
• 8 ohm speaker
• soldered both black wires to the appropriate locations on speaker
• attached the speaker to the silver part of the handle with a copper wire
• drilled a hole one inch below at the top of the walking stick for the wires to run through
• the wires were connected to all three electrical components and were run through the hollow part of the walking stick
• tested the connection with all of the components mounted and everything worked

Week 9: Prepared Walking Stick for Final Delivery

We placed other electrical components on the electrical box and began testing design

• drilled two holes in the back of the electrical box with Arduino inside
• one for the switch to turn the speaker off and on
• one for the adapter to slightly stick out
• components of switch:
• one red wire attaches to the adapter on the battery
• the other red wire attaches to the plug
• components of adaptor on 9 volt battery:
• the red wire attaches to the switch
• the black wire attaches to the plug 
• components of the plug that goes into the Arduino:
• the black wire goes towards the adaptor
• the red wire attaches to the switch
• began testing the walking stick design