Committee Updates - December Progress
Hello again! Although we have had fewer meetings this month, due to finals, and of course winter break, we have still made fantastic progress on our device, Hydra!
Here are some updates from our committees:
The App Design committee has made lots of headway this past month! They are ecstatic to have completed their spec (blueprint for the app) and to have begun working on their wireframe (the skeleton of the app). Also, with the help of the Communications group and feedback from our entire team, the App Design committee has finalized our logo! We are so excited to finally have a logo for our device! To start the new year off strong, App Design is hoping to complete a visual prototype through invision, as well as beginning research on Swift to prepare for a rough prototype on Xcode.
With the help of Fusion 360 and lots of hard work, our Design and CAD committee has finished their sketch of Hydra, including the specific size parameters, and turned their sketch into a 3D figure. Although it’s been tricky to navigate Fusion 360 as a team remotely, Design and CAD has continued to learn about the tools and features they can access to best design and improve Hydra. Before the Mid-Grant review next semester, Design and CAD hopes to create a physical 3D print exterior of Hydra, incorporating space for parts inside, specific construction, assembly features on Fusion 360, set dimensions, and change parameters.
Our Budget and Purchasing committee has been on top of researching, organizing, and ordering shipments of supplies for our different groups. They continue to work closely with committees, like the Programming Motion group, to order supplies such as a micro SD card and a card reader. In January, the committee hopes to continue to be up to date with the research and purchase of products such as IR cameras, potential motors, and any other parts of our device that are needed by committees.
In these last few weeks, the Programming Motion committee wrote color detection code which they hope to improve in the next few months. They also have done a ton of research on the raspberry pi’s GPIO input board, so they can eventually write code using the GPIO input board to make the servo and stepper motors turn (motors turning makes the nozzle turn). Also, our Programming Motion team continues to tackle the challenges of trying to fix the errors in their code. Once their motor code works, they are excited to start working closely with the Engineering team, to build a working prototype of Hydra! As mentioned previously, January will be very busy for our Programming Motion team, as they hope to write the motor code, and fix errors in the color detection code, in order for the code to be ready to be uploaded to the raspberry pi.
Our Engineering committee has been hard at working making headway with completing our first working prototype. They have met with the Programming Motion group several times to finalize the amount of valves, monitors (water pressure and temperature), number of nozzles (and what type), and the most efficient way for the programming to be accomplished. The Engineering committee then got to work researching the best of each of these aspects that we wish to purchase to incorporate into our device. Along with this, members of the committee have been working with Fusion 360 to design a special gear that will allow for the main nozzle to adjust the flow of water and an accompanying gear that will connect perfectly to the servo motor that will control it. In the new year, this committee will be focusing on acquiring the different parts of the device needed and working on putting it all together, with our strobe light model, in order to achieve a working prototype by the end of January.
Along with keeping our social media up to date, Communications has started compiling contacts for fire departments all across California. They hope to reach out to fire departments soon, in hopes of meeting with them to gain more advice on how we can adjust Hydra to best aid our community! Also, Communications worked with App Design to create the finalized logo after many rounds of editing and refining, based on team feedback. In January, Communications hopes to continue to update and improve our social media, and to reach out to local fire departments, for their input on our device.
We’ve made lots of progress this past month, but there is always more to be done! We are looking forward to our next steps as we approach Mid-Grant review, and hope to start 2021 off strong!
