Week 1:
What I did:
I chose Google Sites so I could have compatibility with my registered domain without additional purchase.
Design Choices:
I chose this layout because it is simple to navigate.
Challenges: linking to cloudflare was a pain, as well as choosing a platform.
Week 2:
What I Did:
- research existing solutions
- drafted one question
- sent initial email to CP/set up meeting (Tuesday at 12:30)
Team effort:
Everyone helped write questions, divided up by field
Used everyone's backgrounds to help find possible answers/solutions to gaps in knowledge
EFolio Changes:
Redid my own description, cropped photo
Added team member photos/descriptions
Added project page
Added partner page
Will add more photos for the partner after the meeting.
Challenges & Next Steps
The biggest challenge was scheduling.
The next step is to meet with CP, figure out what project we are actually doing.
Week 3:
What I did:
My role in the interview preparation was scheduling and researching existing solutions.
My role in the interview itself was to be the primary speaker for our side.
The most useful information we gathered was how their current irrigation system works with polytubes.
Team Effort:
We each drafted questions based on individual research and varying backgrounds/fields.
We bounced questions off of each other to make sure they made sense to ask.
EFolio Changes made:
Added Changelog
Added individual roles on "About the Team"
Added problem statement and goals on "The Project"
Corrected country on "Community Partner"
Challenges and Next Steps:
Biggest challenge was time management - we had to ensure our scope was reasonable for our group to complete by the end of Winter Quarter.
Our next key step is to begin researching possible solutions, and possible approaches to the problem.
Week 4:
What I did:
I helped introduce new ideas during the brainstorming sessions
I organized the ideas by ranking them, and saved a record of the ranking
I helped organize our goals based off our previous communications with the Community Partner
Team Effort:
We used a decision matrix, giving different parts of a solution different weights, to evaluate alternatives.
We worked together as a group to analytically decide on the best solution.
eFolio Changes Made:
Updated changelog
Updated Anthony's website link in "About the Team"
Challenges & Next Steps:
Our biggest challenge was finding alternatives to what the Community Partner suggested
Our most critical step is to start looking for potential components to be used in the system.
Week 5:
What I did:
Gantt chart
made electronics section
Made final system timeline
KPIs
Helped with interpretation of scope from CP perspective
Team Effort:
Schedule was divided up by project sections:
Individuals from each section wrote their timelines
Collaboration on what needs to get done when
Realistic KPIs were agreed upon
eFolio Changes Made:
added timeline and prototype plan as subpages to project
gantt chart was embedded directly as html
Challenges & Next Steps:
Hardest part was figuring out scheduling, as we have multiple tasks in parallel
Next critical step for me is to work on power sources
Week 6:
What I did:
I did a lot of organizational work on the slides, as well as the project
Coached group on best presenting practices
Coached group on what to talk about
Team Effort
Presentation narrative was mainly decided upon by:
What progress we had already made
How we thought the rest of the project was going to go
This enabled us to get the most useful feedback from the presentation
Partner feedback was collected from our text chain as well as the zoom meeting, and compiled into a document.
Scope changes were determined directly through partner feedback, and requirements were adjusted with group discussion
eFolio Changes made
Update to gantt chart
Update to changelog
Added presentation under project page
Made changes to project plan to reflect CP feedback
Challenges & Next Steps
Biggest challenge was preparing the presentation and getting the group ready to present
Our biggest issue so far was misunderstanding scope
Next step is to start working with the new tool :)
Week 7:
What I did:
Communicated with CP on new tool, gave the rest of the team the link to the tool website
Made sure the team knew how our project scope was changing
Team Effort:
Worked together on report draft
Divided tasks up with the rest of the team
eFolio changes made:
Changelog updated
No other changes made since last week
Challenges and Next Steps
Seniors had time management issues with Senior Design
Some communication issues/procrastination this week
Next steps:
Finish Documentation
Use pipe planning tool
Week 8:
What I Did:
Wrote "Discussion" section of the final report
Wrote all the electrical parts of the report
Proofread the report
Team Effort:
We all proofread the entire paper to make sure it made sense across the whole report
Most of the report was a collaborative process, and more individual sections (like the electrical section) was looked at later for comments\
Grammar was checked in a final read-through
eFolio Changes Made
Updated Changelog
Added final report page
Challenges & Next Steps:
The big challenge was finding a time where we could all meet; we solved this by not all meeting at the same time, and communicating over text
The next critical step is sending final information to the CP, which has already begun.
Use pipe planning tool
Week 9:
What I Did:
The prototype (at least the electrical side) is fully complete
I sent a report to the CP regarding the electrical system, and talked about next steps. The CP seemed to agree with what I had to say.
Team Effort:
The team drafted a presentation, and practiced it on Thursday.
We divided up responsibilities for the presentation according to what we did as a group
eFolio Changes Made
Updated changelog
Displayed the electrical report under its own page
Challenges & Next Steps:
Biggest challenge was figuring out what to say in the presentation
Next big step is to present and finalize the report!
Week 10:
Final Prototype & Customer Feedback:
Our community partner was satisfied with our final product. The final product was submitted prior to the Week 9 presentation, and no updates have been made since then.
Final Project Documentation:
All reports have been included under "The Project" subpages. This will allow for viewers to be able to see all the work done on this project in order. The one slide summary was also inserted into the main project page to allow readers to see a quick summary of the project.
Challenges and Reflections:
The most significant challenge we faced was a lack of a physical prototype. This made it difficult for us to test hypotheses and construct models of our prototype system. The most important lesson we will take away is that sometimes the easiest solution is the best one.