proposed Budget
WEEK 1
The first senior design proposal meeting was this week. Groups were determined and advisors were assigned to all groups. We ended up with Dr Ejaz. Expectations for the semester were reviewed and a meeting time of Wednesdays at 1:00 pm was agreed upon. Michael started on creating the website and had the idea of trying a nontraditional time and effort table using monday.com. The table would be imbedded into our site and any time changes are made, it is updated in real time. By the end of the week, the site was up with a rough layout. Scott started brainstorming project ideas by looking up previous projects from multiple universities. The first project idea that was thought up was wireless charging system using a mounted IR laser. The mounted laser would track the charger wherever it is in the room and once a charger is detected, sends an IR beam to charge the photovoltaic cell on the charger.
WEEK 2
Before the second meeting with Dr Ejaz, two more projects were thought up. The first was an automated drug storage system for pharmacies. It would involve an inventory system that uses multiple forms of id authentication to unlock specific drugs only when they are needed for a prescription. The second idea was a smart dog collar. The idea was almost like a FitBit for dogs. It would be able to track information like activity and heartbeat. It would also be trackable in case the dog was to get lost.
Research was done for background information on the first project idea, the wireless charging system. This project has been done at the University of Washington and there is also a product already on the market. The available product uses a lower power class I laser for charging and tracks the charger throughout the room. If something comes between the laser and the charger, the laser shuts off. Being a lower power laser, this immediate interaction with an object will not cause damage. This also means that charging is slow, due to the lower power being transferred. The project from the University of Washington used a more powerful laser for charging. For safety, other low power lasers were arranged to form a column around the charging laser and if something crossed their path, the main laser was cut off before it comes in contact with object. The drawback from that project was that it was stationary, making any surface a wireless charging station, but only that designated surface.
Research was also done on the second project, the automated drug storage sytem. In most pharmacies, the majority of drugs are kept in the open on shelving. If controlled substances are secured, they are kept locked all together. The inventory is kept in inventory management systems and any discrepancy between paper and actual inventory is done through cycle counts.
In the meeting with Dr Ejaz, all three project ideas were discussed. The second idea seemed to be the most feasible out of the three. We were instructed to do more research on the project and to come up with a block diagram for the system that we want to create. The website was also looked over. Links need to be added for progress log, weekly minutes, and block diagram.
WEEK 3
A block diagram was drawn for the automated drug storage system, which has been named Safe Rx. Details were also written out for each block. More research was done on the project, specifically on the feasibility of making the bottom of the lockbox into a scale powered by an Arduino. This can be done using an ADC module and a load cell connected to an Arduino. The lockboxes in the system were also decided to be modular. This enables the use of however many lockboxes that are desired instead of a prefabricated cabinet. Multiple lockboxes means that data from multiple Arduino scales is going to be needed. Research was done into just how to achieve that. Daisy chaining Arduinos would be a way to do this, although more research is needed into how to distinguish which Arduino the data is coming from. A security camera that only turned on when a lockbox was opened was also added to the design.
People in industries that would use this product were also contacted and talked to about the project. The project generated interest from a small veterinary hospital that would use it to secure their controlled substances.
In this week’s meeting, the website was checked and even though links had been added for the weekly minutes and progress logs, the information in them still needed to be updated. It was also decided that a traditional time and effort table was to be used. That table needed to be put into the site. We discussed the project in more detail and went over the block diagram that was made. More details need to be added to the diagram, specifically how all the parts communicate with each other. The project was conditionally approved pending discussion with industry professional by Dr Ejaz about need for the design.
WEEK 4
New time and effort table added to the site:
Block diagram of the system and flow diagram for each transaction added:
More research was done into how multiple arduinos are going to communicate with the main pc. The first method that was come across was daisy chaining the arduinos by connecting transmitting pin of the one being added to the receiving pin of the first, then having the first send all of the data to the pc. More info can be found on https://makezine.com/2012/12/03/how-to-daisy-chain-arduinos-via-serial/ :
The biggest issue with this configuration is going to be how to differentiate which arduino the data is coming from. More research needs to be done in how to deal with this issue.
WEEK 5
Engineering specifications table has been completely redone. It now matches up with the sample from the syllabus.
While looking into methods of data communication, another configuration was found. By using an I2C configuration, the issue of differentiating which arduino is communicating is solved by using a shared clock for the arduinos. This way, the arduinos communicate in a specific order, so the data can be separated and the PC can designate which board the data is coming from:
A detailed tutorial on how the I2C configuration works can be found at:
https://tronixstuff.com/2010/10/20/tutorial-arduino-and-the-i2c-bus/
WEEK 6
The work done this week was all in editing existing documents. Budget was adjusted to include the cost of components already owned and an overall total. Chapter 1 and 2 of the report were also started.
WEEK 7
More work was done on the first draft of the report this week. Introduction of Chapter 1 is completed. All that is left in Chapter 2 is a section on how we are going to be testing the operation of the system.
WEEK 8
More work was done on the first draft of the report this week. Chapter 1 has been completed. Testing criteria and more details on components have been added to Chapter 2. Spacing and sizing issues pointed out in last week's meeting have been edited in the report.
WEEK 9
More work was done on the first draft of the report this week. Chapter 2 has been completed. Parts for the scale, LCD screen, door lock, and temperature/humidity sensor have been ordered.
WEEK 10
Spring break! Parts have been received and more work is being done on the report.
WEEK 11
College was closed due to Coronavirus outbreak. Chapter 4 has been completed and Chapter 3 is nearly completed. After receiving parts, the scale has been constructed and coding will begin soon.
WEEK 11
Final draft of the report is completed and is posted online. Made editorial changes across all chapters and proofread the report. An Amazon Web Services (AWS) account has been made along with initial provisioning of services. A VPC has been created along with a default security group, an internet gateway, and a NAT Gateway. Remote servers are ready to be provisioned using t2.micro sizes which will host the inventory management service.
The architecture of AWS Resources will roughly follow the diagram below. Inventory system is underway and PowerPoint presentation is being created.
.png)