This week in our meeting, the different teams presented their progress. The hardware team and software teams have started to work fairly independent of each other since we have agreed on our basic design.
From the software team, we have a working code for the keypad matrix that takes in an array of 4 digits as a pin number. There is discussion about whether pin numbers should be 4 digits or the length should be left up to the user. The only problem we ran into getting the keypad matrix up and running was a faulty pin in the header for the keypad. After switching a few pins around, everything is working great! The software team also set up a basic format for the data that will be stored in our MySQL server. Each user ID will have a boolean variable for each of the machines and one variable for the type of user (administrative or otherwise).
This is a photo of Brice and Giandre working on the code for the keypad matrix!
From the hardware team, there wasn’t much work done on the actual CATS alpha. Instead, the hardware team worked on and submitted an abstract for ISAM (International Symposium on Academic Makerspaces) which got accepted. This week, the RaspberryPi was also set up and the circuit was constructed.
This is Maurice trying to help Stefan understand how the MySQL server will function.
For next week’s meeting the software team will work on turning a lamp on and off using the CATS system and the hardware team will design a PCB to streamline the production of the CATS system. The hardware team will also work on getting an initial design for the housing.