Yahan:

I learnt a lot from this project experience. Different from the lab assignment, I need do research on specific embedded system problem and designed the whole system by ourselves in the project. It is also a valuable experience for studying time management, since only a clear and reasonable schedule can help us finish three projects on time. I also studied how to integrate others’ code into our project, and how to include results of hardware measurement in the software implementation to improve overall performance. The biggest problem I faced is configuring the LED matrix with the PIC32 microcontroller. Although Adafruit provides a comprehensive graphics library and many useful , I still find it is difficult to start the configuration. We then found a similar project on LED matrix from Cornell students. I started to from learning their code, and modifying their code to see the change. Then I tried to code myself from simple tasks, and then did extension. Start from simple task actually saved our time, because it is difficult to debugging the whole system together without understanding its subsystems. This helped me understand the LED matrix as well as get rid of big mess for connecting LED matrix and PIC32 together. I did the same thing when I did temperature sensor and heartbeat sensor part. The most significant thing I learnt was when I have a “big” project, I can start from a single task first, and then combine all tasks to make the whole system work. Also, it is important to have enough research on similar projects before implementation. For my design in the future, I would like to have a more comprehensive implementation plan with more research as well as have more detailed tasks breakdown before we start wiring and coding the system.  

Kevin:

I definitely learned a lot from this experience. This final project opportunities allows me to explore what I really interested in and how to design a system to make it come true. During this process, I learned that the initial expectation will definately be different than the end results. We have to adjust the design so that it meets the original goal. Overall, we accomplished what we expected and it is very enjoyable to see the end results. One of the biggest problem I faced is time management, this semester we have multiple projects going on at the same time. What I did is trying to list bullets point of today’s goal and try to accomplish them so I can cross them out. This helps me to move one small step at a time so eventually I know I can accomplish my work. However, sometimes I might be too ambitious so I put multiple big tasks at one day. During this time period, I learn how to break down a task more reasonably. This will definitely help for next semester’s car project. (ECE 492) I will be in charge of the work breakdown structure for my team so get the sense of how to break down tasks properly will absolutely help me.