Teamwork

4.1 Task Distribution

Given that this project has several different parts that work need to together and we have a decently large group, we decided to split the work amongst the members by assigning teams. There are three teams, the indoor team, the outdoor team, and the GUI team. The indoor and outdoor teams are more hardware focused as they work with antennas, microcontrollers, and motors. The GUI team is more software based as that team designs and codes the GUI team that will parse through and display the information acquired by the hardware teams.   

The two members of the outdoor team are Caleb and Terrence. Caleb has spent time doing research on the specific types of antennas that might be most useful for our project. Part of this research included identifying the frequencies that the antennas can detect, their range as well as an apparatus to physically move the antenna. Terrence has also assisted in the research for antennas. Given his background, Terrence is able to provide insight on various signal analysis techniques and what might be best for this project. While Angle of Arrival analysis initially seemed perfect for our project, spatial filtering might be better aligned with what we intend to do with the signal analysis.

The two members of the indoor team are Ryan and Piotr. Ryan has extensive experience with Wi-Fi fingerprinting and has worked with associated localization programs. Ryan has identified a program/software, Find3, that has a similar functionality to what we hope to do with this project. Currently Ryan is working with multiple Raspberry Pi Model 3B's, an Android phone, and a chip for the purpose of Wi-Fi fingerprinting. 

The two members of the GUI team are Cesar and Jacob. Jacob finalized the initial design of the GUI, including the appearance as well as the content we hope to include. Jacob also helped to finalize the legend that was developed, with the idea of smaller and darker colored circles representing the confidence we have in a given signal's location. Given Cesar's background with several coding languages, Cesar has spearheaded the coding of the GUI. Currently the GUI is being coded in JavaScript and HTML. Cesar has also successfully linked a csv file with our current GUI model code that allows for real time location modeling. The members of the GUI team also assist the other two teams with smaller tasks such as the "antenna rotation device"  

4.2 Coordination and Communication

Our group has primarily communicated by meeting up to three times a week during scheduled times as well as online services to send messaging and share files. These regular discussions have allowed us to progress in tandem so that as one team's project is being completed, our members can work on the associated match on a separate team. This has also allowed us to decide which aspects and features of the Flock Force system that we want to focus on. One example of this is our dedication to the 'real-time analyzation' which would be possible using higher quality hardware, but may not be viable with our current time and financial constraints. This allowed us to pivot to more realistic goals such as the set up for a working demonstration. 

5. Future Work

Outdoor

Moving forward, our work entails addressing the identified challenges and refining our directional signal localization system. The AoA testing results underscore the need for extensive experimentation in a large, open environment to mitigate multipath interference and enhance the accuracy of signal direction determination. This future endeavor emphasizes the importance of effective collaboration and task delegation between Caleb partner and Terrence. Establishing a streamlined workflow, wherein tasks are efficiently distributed based on individual strengths and expertise, will be instrumental in achieving our shared goals. This collaborative approach ensures that each aspect of the project, from hardware modifications to algorithmic enhancements, can be tackled with precision and teamwork. Regular communication, periodic assessments, and a shared commitment to the project's objectives will be integral in navigating the complexities ahead and realizing the full potential of our directional signal localization system.

Indoor

The next step for the indoor localization is to continue troubleshooting errors with the Find3-CLI-Scanner. The expected steps for this include identifying if the issue with the runtime error is related to the program, the dependencies, or the storage server. Another possible issue could be related to the system attempting to reach out to an abandoned domain since the Find3 project has not been updated since 2020. After this, the most important step will be to test the machine learning server. This will likely take longer because of the complexity of the project. This may be complicated by testing the program in an apartment building with many changing signals. Additionally, this may be the most difficult subsystem to modernize due to the number of dependencies associated with it and it being related to the success of all prior set ups including successful data collection and storage. 

GUI 

The next steps for the GUI team are to continue work on the code for the GUI. Some things to continue working on include making sure that all parts from the finalized design make it into the GUI. As a GUI, it needs to be visually appealing and all color and icon choices will need to make sense. Additionally, the GUI needs to be work with data from both the indoor and outdoor teams and reliably represent them in the GUI. Location parsing and signal parsing code will need to be added to successfully complete this step. Given that both members have limited experience with these techniques, we will need to do research on these subjects.