Invent Team Engineering Applications

School Year and Project Context

This will be my third year taking this Engineering class. Since last spring our team has been brainstorming and exchanging ideas. We individually thought of our own invention proposals and brainstormed. Finally we came to a decision by voting between all the invention proposals.

This summer we found out that our team as been selected as finalists for the Invent Team. We have until the 8th of September to finish the application. The application process is very thorough and we will put in a lot of time and thinking to complete it. Here in my learning journal I will document the application process. We have previously made a proposal but had to go back to drawing board because we were told our idea had potential but there were too many products that were similar to our idea.

Back to Brainstorming

Below you see where we began to brainstorm again using a website called "Coggle". First we came up with a few current day issues and made different branches of issues that stem from the topic.

Here is a list of the topics we used

Covid-19
Local Problems
Climate Change
Bike Theft
Random Ideas
Systematic Racism

Local Problems Brainstorm

Covid-19 Brainstorm

My Contribution

In class we shared our individual ideas that were approved by Ms. White then had to fill out a google slide going into detail about our idea. We had to answer the "Who,What,How" about our invention idea. Below is a picture of my slide.

Team Video

Here is a video that the InvenTeam made to familiarize our faces with MIT. We all took a part in the video describing the problem we are tackling and how we plan to do this.

Final Application

Here is a page from the InvenTeam's final application . The table shown on the page is the team roles and below it is explained how we will collab with others to get our invention done and then we are describing how we are overall organizing our project.

Press Release/Announcement

On October 27th MIT put this on their website,instagram,and twitter listing all the teams selected for the grant. Here is a graphic MIT released when announcing the teams who qualified for the InvenTeam grant. Thirteen student teams were given up to 10k to make inventions to solve problems in local communities..

Announcement Day Class

Here is a picture of the cup I received the day I founnd out the Drew InvenTeam had been selected for the InvenTeam grant.

LMIT Introductory Meeting

Our class had an introductory meeting on zoom with MIT after finding out we had been selected for the grant. The MIT representative advised us to consult someone in the legal profession, a law enforcement professional, and a community member for their point of view. He also advised we do research on devices that have already been made that are similar to our invention. Another thing advised was asking people in our community what they think about our device.

Block Diagramming Documentation

This is the list of parts/functions and block diagram me and my peers made in class. We made the list of parts/functions after going over the invention statement as a class. After looking at the invention statement, that thoroughly explains the issue we are tackling and how our device will be made to give a possible solution or aid to the issue, we discussed the different functions of our device and its parts.

After we finished creating the list we made a block diagram to show the input and outputs that make up our device. In our diagram we said that the Arduino powered by batteries or charging ports will be controlling the device.

Our Final Block Diagram

After each group created their own block diagram this diagram was the final block diagram chosen by our InvenTeam. It gives a detailed overview of the inputs, outputs, and control device components we will use to create our inventions.

The Four Technical Teams Slide

This is the technical teams slide that breaks down the 4 different teams within the the technical team. Describing the end goal of each team and which function of the device they are trying to complete.

My Team's research slides

These are the slides me and my group members in the User Interface Technical Team created. We all split up our group's research and did extensive research on each question. In the third picture you can see the detailed research I did to figure out how we will get the data to a mobile device.

The Leadership Team Selection Process

Everyone on the InvenTeam recorded a Flipgrid and chose which leadership role they are interested in occupying. We each had to fill out a chart after watching each memebers Flipgrid. During Our class time we voted on who should be the leader for each team.

Assignment of Team Roles

This week the data team use the list from when we met with a professional who works in data and software. And we used notes from the meeting to know about what tasks we should take next to further our research. We then split up the different tasks and create a separate google slides with our own individual research.

Next Steps

We decided as a group we would do training courses on AWS to further our knowledge about storing and moving data. We also decided the best next steps would be to collaborate with SMEs and the UI team in taking our next steps.

My Research

In my own individual research I went further into different ways our team could store and transfer data. I did research on different platforms we could use and how these platform do a good job at storing and transferring data.

Team Conclusions

As a team we decided that we would need to start collaborating with the UI team so we can begin storing and transferring data on the web app. Our team is also working towards constructing formal written requirements .

Development Training

I learned how to Create and Connect to a PostgreSQL Database using amazon relational database services. This allows you to tart creating tables, insert data, and run queries from SQL Workbench client. I did this by creating a PostgreSQL DB Instance and then downloading a SQL Client
I learned how to configure and connect to a Serverless MySQL Database with Amazon Aurora. This will be useful to our team because Aurora Serverless grows your database storage and computes available storage when your application needs it, and shrinks the amount of storage when your app needs less.
I also learned how to create and query a NoSQL Table with Amazon Dynamo DB by learning how to create a simple table, add data, scan and query the data, delete data, and delete the table. I did this by create a NoSQL table and adding random data about music to the table .
I also read about DataSync features and tutorials on AWS and did deeper information about endpoints. I looked deeper into creating a VPC endpoint for our team so that we could keep the data private while transferring it to AWS.
I also watched a plethora of informational videos on YouTube and AWS to lean about how to use the platform and how to do things like storing and retrieving files, creating and mount an Amazon EFS file system, and replacing tape backup with Cloud Storage.

Team Upcoming Deadlines

This week our team presented what we each individually learned over the break and discussed our next steps. We found different videos to help us understand how to use Python and we decided to create or configure our AWS Database for our video, speed, and GPS components of the device.

New Short Term Electronics Project

Getting Acquainted with New Materials

We started a new project with the possibility that we don't receive the InvenTeam grant. Today in class we received new materials and learned about the different parts of our new project we are starting.

Wiring Up a Circuit

If you want to turn on all the LEDs at the first rTo light up the first LED on the upper left corner, you need to set pin 9 as high level and pin 13 as low level in the common anode dot matrix; for a common cathode one, set pin 13 as high and pin 9 as low. ow, in a common cathode dot matrix, set pin 13 as low level and ROW 9, 14, 8, 12, 1, 7, 2, and 5 as high level. In a common anode one, set pin 13 as high level and those rows as low level. See the figure below for better understanding.

Powering LED with Pins

LEDs are connected on a grid. LED's will light up when you've created a complete path of a current to flow ,LED's respond to by row and column. Initially your looking for the top of the LED matrix which has the name of the part and the eight pins on top and bottom. You have to power up the first row and relevant columns to low and then the LED's will light up. Basically we're creating a whole bunch of LEDs in parallel and we have a single resistor that just limiting the current to all of these LEDs. However because this is a set of parallel circuits now, the voltage across this stays constant, but the current is actually distributed across each branch.

How to Use Arduino Board

The 14 digital input/output pins can be used as input or output pins by using pinMode(), digitalRead() and digitalWrite() functions in arduino programming. Each pin operate at 5V and can provide light. Once arduino IDE is installed on the computer, connect the board with computer using USB cable. Now open the arduino IDE and choose the correct board by selecting Tools>Boards>Arduino/Genuino Uno, and choose the correct Port by selecting Tools>Port. Arduino Uno is programmed using Arduino programming language based on Wiring. To get it started with Arduino Uno board and blink the built-in LED,

Circuit Picture

Circut pictures do have breadboards and are representations of the circuit with pictures.

My Circuit Diagram

This circuit diagram represents how an engineer sees a circuit. Here we see how there is GND,5v,and a Signal Pin. These are the basic 3 pins an engineer should know to wire up a circut.

My LED Matrix

Here is a video of my functioning LED Matrix blinking 3 shapes. I used a code provided by Ms.White then changed the commands to make the rows and columns blink different shapes.. But Sadly I broke my Arduino so all of the lights do not blink. I made an "O", "A", and "T" spelling the word "OAT" with the LED's.

Ultrasonic Sensor Working

Here is a video of my Ultrasonic Sensor working. I had to wire up my sensor using an instructional video and use a corresponding code that matched with my pins. After I uploaded the code I took a pencil to test out the sensor. In the video the serial monitor is showing the distance of how far the pencil is away from the sensor.

Semester Two Documentation

IMG_5728.MOV

End of Semester 1 Documentation

The Data Team committed to learning how to connect AWS and Python. I completed the Python Course over my break.

Weeks 2 and 3

During weeks two and three I transitioned from a member of the data team into the visual indicator team. I began to start thinking of how I could create an effective design and form of visual indication for police officers. I began sketching ideas and decided to create a tin bumper sticker along with an exterior magnetic, copper accessory for our users. I mainly brainstormed for weeks two and three and got feedback from my peers.

The Revised Products

Documentation 2/11

At this point in my progress I have done research about Georgia Car stickers and learned things like the sticker cannot be red but no laws regarding text on sticker. And the sticker has to be on the back or front window shields. I made the first design of the bumper sticker in Canva and created the first digital prototype of the visual indicator on TinkerCad. Then I received feedback from my peers and they told me to make the bumper sticker a bright orange because it's more noticeable to cops.

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