Lessons Learned

Lessons Learned

As a team, we learned that the project is less likely to go as we planned because there are always some things that we have not thought about. Based on the reflection, one of the difficulties we faced was that we assumed that the electrical circuit will work perfectly as long as we installed it according to the schematic circuit. Therefore, we struggled with troubleshooting and were careless about each component’s limits; as a result, we ended up blowing up a few components while the project was going on. Additionally, we have learned about the significant role of the project timeline because regardless of how small or big steps we should be done by a certain date, if we do not follow the timeline, it impacts the project for the long term view, therefore, we acknowledged every step needs to be treated in the same weight.

Another lesson that we learned was about budgeting, in the beginning, the cheaper option (Figure 8) of the components would lead to less expense for our project; however, over time we noticed that there is a reason why it was cheaper than the other, and it ended up causing more expense on the parts rather than buying an expensive one. Besides, we thought buying online would charge less, however, there were some components that were cheaper than the online we realized that the local shop can be a better option than the other, at the same time, online shops sometimes did not have the proper datasheet or additional information, but the in-person shopping covered this drawback of it, even if sometimes it costs more than the other it was covered by the quality of the information since we can ask them in person.

Individual

We will now describe the lessons each of us learned from doing this project.

Jamie Ruppert

The first lesson I learned was never to hope that a circuit will just work. Through the process of testing, I learned that you must start at the first component in the circuit and ensure that it is working as intended then move to the next component until you have moved through all components. The second lesson I learned is always to buy more than one of the components you are using as there is no guarantee that the component will work when you get it. We bought a five-pack of infrared sensors and not one worked fully as it was supposed to.

Sangyeop Kim

This course has allowed me to gain hands-on experience building circuits based on the theories we've learned. Before, I used to overlook important information in datasheets, such as the limits and risks of overuse, which led to losing components and affecting the circuit's functionality.

I've also learned the importance of project scope, as having a clear plan and milestones helped us address issues that arose during the project. I discovered that one issue can be intertwined with others, and as a result, losing components not only increased expenses but also exceeded budget. Additionally, the more time spending on problem-solving with other people, the faster solution I would find out, communicating with others is likely to lead you to see other’s perspectives and gives you another idea, this concept was the fact that I have learned to obtain another way of the breakthrough throughout this project.

Liam Lucas

The technical lessons I learned during the project are how to set a time delay in the circuit so that we could set the time from the motion to only have a 1-second opening by adjusting the resisters and capacitors to turn on the pump and dispense the sanitizer. The second lesson I learned is how to use a 74HC123 which once triggered can extend the output pulse width but is controlled by other components to determine the length of the pulse.