We are continuing to work on developing our prototype. Emma is developing our final version of the headband, using Thom’s head as a size model and working to make a design that would be fairly easily adapted to any size head. However, for the purposes of this project, we are only planning to make the headband in one size. It will contain a pocket for the IMU, which Emma plans to make relatively snug to keep the IMU from shifting as much as it may in our current version of the headband, which is much less precise of a prototype (the pocket is bigger and looser, and the headband is not adjustable.
Katelyn is continuing to work with the Raspberry Pi, and hopes to have the audio/haptics working based on input from the Arduino Serial monitor by early next week. This may or may not be achievable, but that mostly depends on how smoothly getting input from the Serial monitor goes. Once she has achieved these tasks, she plans to switch to helping Thom get the IMU measurement/calibration improved, so that the IMU can be hooked up with the Raspberry Pi to both measure head position and give feedback. Her other upcoming task will involve modifying the Python program on the Pi to save data over time in a format that would be helpful for the clinician. Thom is continuing to try to get the Arduino to have a calibration component to its program, activated by a button press, in order to normalize the IMU values. This week, we began to work in earnest again on our prototype. Thom is working on building a calibration system into the Arduino program. He is working on adding a button to the Arduino that will trigger a calibration process when pressed. Initially, this button seemed to interfere with the output of the IMU. We will investigate the circuits built to try to resolve this issue, so that we will be able to use this button without triggering IMU problems. Thom will also be working to write the code that will allow the IMU to be calibrated for its position on a user’s head.
Emma drew up a plan for the rest of the semester, outlining what tasks have to be completed in what order. She also began working on the headband itself. She obtained fabrics from Joann’s, including felt, swimsuit liner, and elastic, and is working to construct a safe, comfortable headband that will securely hold the IMU in place. She will continue construction of the headband into next week. Katelyn is working with the Raspberry Pi and the haptic motor. She wrote a short Python program that causes the haptic motor to vibrate (with the haptic motor connected to a GPIO pin and to ground). This required Emma to solder the haptic motor to two longer wires that connect well to a breadboard. For next week, she is researching the syntax to use in Python in order to get data from the Arduino that could determine the output from the haptic motor. She will also learn how to write code in Python that will start and stop audio output. This week, our focus was the Verification and Validation presentation. Over the weekend, Emma prepared her presentation, and we went over it with Harry, our TA. He primarily requested for more clarity and detail about which parts of our verification and validation we will actually be able to do within the scope of this course. He also wanted us to be more detailed with how we plan to verify that we are meeting our goals, such as “safe” and “accurate.”
Emma gave a great presentation on Monday. Also, Katelyn ordered a small haptic motor to be operated via the Raspberry Pi for haptic feedback. We will resume active work on our prototype after spring break. This week, our focus was on the Verification and Validation report, which is due on Friday. Emma wrote the Verification and Validation sections, with input and feedback from Katelyn and Thom. Katelyn wrote the Project Status and Proof-of-Concept Testing section, with editing from Thom on the parts of the project that he knows best. Emma also updated the specs for the device and wrote surveys that we will eventually use for verification and validation.
Thom continues to work on the IMU. We met with Dr. Klaesner on Monday to get some help with understanding the data being provided by the IMU. Specifically, we discussed calibration and potentially including a calibration loop controlled by a button that would zero out the values for pitch, yaw, and roll. We also discussed how to put the whole program together using the Raspberry Pi to get data from the IMU/Arduino unit, process it, and return feedback to the user. The obstacle that we are currently facing is getting the IMU data to the Raspberry Pi in real time. We may download a Raspberry Pi emulator to do some testing, as per Dr. Klaesner’s suggestion. Emma will be working on the V&V presentation this weekend, but we hope to shift back to working full-time on the prototype as soon as we can. |
Authors
Thom Ellison, Emma Huff, Katelyn Miyasaki Archives
April 2019
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