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Progress Report 4/5

Posted by on Friday, April 5, 2019 in Uncategorized.

In the last week, the team has made progress on all aspects of the project.  We have been working on the front end design code and having issues with running the code on an app and Android emulator.  Since this is our first time coding an application we are reaching out to many different sources in order to find help and assistance. We have asked computer science and computer engineering majors, professors, and even technology consultants in town.  The students themselves were able to provide a lot of help but few of them can code in the field of applications and with finals week approaching it is hard to find continued assistance. The problems we are running into consist of not knowing which programs needed to be downloaded before beginning coding, and never having coded with Java, ReactNative, or Expo.  We have decided that Builder X may be too complicated for the front end design we are looking for and may code the application from scratch. We have started from scratch and have spent 100’s of hours trying to create a working first page that takes a user text input and running it on the android emulator. You can see our progress below. We are unsure if we will stick to coding in React Native to develop the rest of our application due to the difficult nature and time remaining. Unfortunately we did not anticipate issues we would face when switching ios developed builderx code to a pc and builderx crashing on us and not creating implementable code. However, we are proud of the progress we have made, but right now we are still exploring other viable options. 

android studio

The progress made concerning the back end code stems from the problems with the front end code.  It would be unreasonable to wait until the front end code was completed in order to begin the back end code. We have decided to code the protocol separately in the same programming language as the front end code.  This way when the front end code is finished we can focus on integrating the two complete sections. 

With the mechanistic driver to turn the oxygen tank knob, we were having problems with the knob turning too slowly. It was almost an unnoticeable turn that would not have been quick enough to increase the oxygen tank flow at an effective speed.  After research and consultation, we realized that the stepper motor is turning slowly because it is connected to the computer. Once connected to an external power source, the motor should turn faster.

The progress made concerning the container for the oxygen device is focused on the design structure.  A large piece of acrylic was not found that could fulfill the design measurements needed. Because of this, we will use two pieces of acrylic to create what resembles a shield.  One piece of acrylic that is 12 by 24 inches will constitute the center of the structure and two 12 by 12 pieces will be placed one on each side of the centerpiece. We will connect them using washers, screws, and t-cuts. This will be similar to the design of the box holding the motor and Arduino.   

With Design Day approaching, we are looking to close the project well.  Within the next week, we will be creating our poster, finalizing our grant proposal, and integrating all of our components in order to reach our goals for the year.  

Our have also met with our advisor Dr.Lancaster and she is interested in the continuation of our project for actual use for IPF patients. She will be talking to the Three Lakes Group to inquire about potential funding for our project in this upcoming week.

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