As the semester comes to an end we are putting on the finishing touches to our project. We are continuing to refine the UI and update the functionality of our application. We have added a loading buffer that shows users when a new page is loading for simplicity and implemented our navigation bar to every page to make it extremely easy to go from one page to the next. We are working on our final report and poster and have implemented a fully dynamic homepage/login screen, team members page, and inspections page. All of these pages successfully pull/add/remove data from our database as needed to add/remove new users, team members, and inspections. The performance and room pages continue to come along and mimic our front-end designs from earlier in the semester. All of our pages have full routing and can be easily accessed from any point.
Updates
We have added a fully functional login/signup form on the app homepage for users to create new accounts. This page allows us to identify who gets admin rights and who gets leader rights and determines what pages they can and cannot see. We are also continuing to refine the UI and create our different pages dynamic. The homepage and login screen is fully dynamic and the inspections and rooms pages are coming along. We are continuing to learn how to implement redux to handle API requests while making our pages dynamic.
In March, we were able to build the basis of our project and make great progress overall. We implemented the majority of our front-end designs into real code and finalized our database implementation. We have all the static pages added and we are working on currently making all of them dynamic to connect the front end to the back end. The addMembers page is now fully dynamic and functional. The navbar and dashboard components are also fully functional and exactly mimic our UI designs from before. Overall, we have built a solid foundation for our website and are on a good track to accomplishing our goals for the semester.
We were able to come together and finalize a technology stack for our project with the guidance of our mentors. We met with our project partner at their location in Dallas to confirm our understanding of the project requirements and implementation. We finished our final project plan and decided on team roles and leadership. We finished developing the ER database diagram and got it approved by our project partner. We began drafting the UI components of our project manually and have multiple sketches and drawings of different pages that we plan to create within the application. We are also continuing to learn the needed technologies in our free time and have assigned various technological roles within our team.
As a team, we came together and met for the first time. We all met with our project partner for the first time and had a 2.5-hour meeting discussing the requirements for the application. We all understood the requirements and project vision and began learning the necessary technologies associated with it. We met as a team on multiple occasions and got to know each other better while also thinking about project roles.
In the month of November, our team has moved to a different design that shows a laterally folding handrail system which boasts simplicity, integration, and ease of use. We have begun developing physical prototypes to showcase our concept, along with finalizing key details of our design. Our team first focused on completing a scaled down PVC model of our prototype. This was important to test the functionality and provide a physical model to present to our client.
After the completion of the PVC model, we begun doing static and stress analysis on our CAD model, where we learned of our design’s weak points and begun working on new solutions to those points.
We also began finalizing our procurement form and looked into ordering the necessary materials to build a full scale model. This model will only include one of the handrails and will show a full sized working model to present to our client, and provide next semester’s group a model to build on.
In early October, we made a 3D CAD model of our design, in order to visualize the solution we are planning. We wanted to build a hand railing that had two parts and we could roll into place before the ramp was lowered.
After creating this model, we critiqued the design and realized that there were some flaws. These included the fact we did not account for how best to keep the railing upright when pushed sideways. We also realized that setting up this type of handrailing would take a lot of effort from Legacy’s bus drivers and it would not be very efficient.
We went back to the drawing board and came up with a new idea that was more conducive to the situation:
This design features a railing that will be attached to points inside the bus. It folds in the horizontal direction and has the same angle as the ramp. This allows Legacy’s residents to easily use the handrail as they walk down the ramp, and it requires very little time for the bus drivers to set up.
In the 3rd week of October, we went to visit the Legacy Senior Communities again, to speak with them about our design and get their thoughts and input. We also spoke with one of their bus drivers who was excited about the new design and was eager to see the residents be ale to regain some of their autonomy.
Simultaneously, our whole team has been working on training and gaining access to the Machine Shop and Fabrication Shop on campus, as well as the Makerspace, as we prepare to enter the prototyping stage of the design process.
During the month of September, Our team has identified and solidified our problem statement, visited the Legacy Senior Communities, and settled on a design by using a decision matrix.
Our visit to the Legacy Senior communities allowed us to ask our clients key questions and take measurements of the bus that our design will be operated on.
We have begun to further develop the design and are beginning to lay out our ideas on CAD.
Throughout the past month, we finished our contributions on our project. We finished a CAD model of our solution and have finished our proof-of-concept scale prototype for stakeholder evaluation and feedback.
Throughout the past month, we continued progressing on our project. We were able to visit the Legacy Senior Community on March 4th, 2022. We were able to view the bus and the ramp that we would be working on adding the handrail to and speak transportation staff. We took measurements for the parts of the bus that we thought would be helpful once we start making prototypes and drawings for the handrail. Since then we have made good progress on a CAD model of our solution and started preparing and sourcing for a scale model proof-of-concept prototype.