Final Project Tracker

This is were I document my progress on my final project.

Week 1

I did some brainstorming and made concepts around the two ideas I have for my final project. You can read more about the ideas and look at early visuals on the page documenting my work for Week 1.

I’m still deciding between the two options, but I am giving myself some time to decide. I know that I’ll need to figure out a few things that these ideas have in common. So, I can work on those things before committing to an idea. Namely:

These are portable devices and need to be powered by battery. I need to get more familiar with LiPO batteries and need a charging solution (USB-C).
Both ideas involve e-ink screens. I need to understand the form factor I can go for. Specifically, I need to understand if I need to use breakout boards or can manage to drive the display itself directly. I also need to learn how to actually show images and text on the displays.

Week 2

This week was all about laser cutting cardboard. I wasn’t able to make much progress on the final project, but I’ve ordered and received e-ink screens from Waveshare. I ordered both a display on a driver board and a raw display. I’m hoping that next week will give me some headspace to start playing with the displays.

Week 3

I know my own limitations in terms of my electronics knowledge, but I also understand what I will have to learn to make my project(s) happen. So, I spent some time today (Sept 18th) figuring out resources I can use to learn. I had a great meeting with Ceci who’s in my cohort and knows MUCH more about electronics than I do. She answered a lot of my questions and gave me a sense of what’s feasible. Thank you so much, Ceci!

I also managed to get QR codes to show up on my Waveshare E-Ink display as outlined in my Week 3 write-up.

Week 4

I focused on 3D printing and scanning this week. I had a chance to chat with Dan and Quentin about my final project, though. They had some good advice for me and I’m very excited for the next two weeks which are all about electronics design and production.

I have decided to build the smart wallet (not the fridge magnets) as my final project. My goal is to hook it up to XR glasses and use it to board a flight.