Through the development of the project, we faced different types of surprises that helped challenge us as engineers. One of the challenges was the unexpected difficulty that came with programming the Raspberry Pi Camera, for it did not have a specified coding language, making it hard to find the resources needed to program it. When we did find resources, the code would not work, or it would be for a different version. However, we did not let that discourage us, so we reached out to our Computer Science teachers as well as Engineer mentors for guidance. Another surprise that arose was the quarantine that came with the outbreak of COVID-19. We had to be quick on our feet and give our teammates the proper equipment needed to help continue this project from home. We set up Zoom meetings and kept each other updated if something was needed. If an item was needed, we had to contact our teacher/coordinator to help secure the necessary items. In other words, when we faced obstacles or difficulties, we embraced the process of trial and error and learned to adapt to the situation.
Based on what we have learned, if we had the opportunity to tackle certain steps differently, we would aim to gain a better understanding of different coding languages and application development earlier on. Although we faced many difficulties with the camera, we also struggled with programming the re-router as well as the backend of our application. We were not fully aware of all the information needed to program successfully, and we spent a significant amount of time trying to figure this out. Another obstacle we would have approached differently is the voice recognition component. Unfortunately we had to remove this component from our project, but had we had more time and a better understanding of how to develop it, we could have incorporated a voice recognition feature in our device. In general, our device could have been better executed if we would have had a better understanding of what was required for each component we could have ensured we had the necessary resources to develop a more substantial code.
Based on what we have learned, if we had the opportunity to tackle certain steps differently, we would aim to gain a better understanding of different coding languages and application development earlier on. Although we faced many difficulties with the camera, we also struggled with programming the re-router as well as the backend of our application. We were not fully aware of all the information needed to program successfully, and we spent a significant amount of time trying to figure this out. Another obstacle we would have approached differently is the voice recognition component. Unfortunately we had to remove this component from our project, but had we had more time and a better understanding of how to develop it, we could have incorporated a voice recognition feature in our device. In general, our device could have been better executed if we would have had a better understanding of what was required for each component we could have ensured we had the necessary resources to develop a more substantial code.