Week 6: Generalized Anxiety Disorder

Hello Everyone, During this week of my Senior Project, I learned a few more engineering skills. On Monday, the last few groups presented their products. Many of the groups had interesting ideas, such as an automatic whiteboard cleaner and a pot with a drip irrigation system (a self-watering pot). Some groups brought their MVPs (Minimum Viable Products) to class. Most MVPs were made of cardboard and household goods, but they were still detailed and could perform some functions. I observed a few groups while they tested the durability and functionality of these products after class. On Wednesday, I collected the groups’ websites, so these websites could be stored in one location to track their progress. Afterward, a professor from the electrical engineering department gave a lecture about the growing importance of maintaining an electrical grid that is more sustainable and capable of handling our needs. In particular, her insight into the local impact of increased data centers in Northern Virginia and the global impacts of electrical vehicles was very interesting because they have caused more energy usage to maintain the grid.  

During the robotics class meeting, I continued to work on my robot, but there were various hardware issues that I faced, such as when only some motors moved and the battery turned off.  I am continuing to work on the robot. Later, one of the TAs taught me about soldering. The process involved holding a very hot metal to a solder (a coil of lead), so the solder would melt onto two joints, combine them, and allow for conductivity. Initially, I made a mistake and added too much solder, so there was a bridge that formed between the sensor and wires.  After multiple attempts, I was able to successfully place the solder onto the metal rings of the new sensor.  

For my cane project, I obtained the desired results for the ultrasonic sensor last week, which was at an angle of 67 degrees and height of 65.25 cm. This week, my experiment mostly focused on keeping the angle the same and using different heights, so individuals that need to readjust the cane could do so without changing the accuracy of the results. I tried various different heights, but one of the most significant heights that I used was at 37.25 cm from the ground. On the ground floor, the cane was able to determine that the ground was 158.62917 cm 土 0.9183765416 cm. When I was trying to detect the upward facing stairs, the sensors were able to detect the stairs from 90 cm away, and the sensor being 108.1998431 cm 土  0.9882943619 cm. I was very surprised by this result, because I did not expect the sensor to detect the stairs from such a low elevation (of approximately 1.2 feet). When I was trying to set the ultrasonic sensor from the top of the stairs to detect downward facing stairs, I was unable to collect any data. This was probably due to ultrasonic sensors having too small of a range. I think these results demonstrated to me that this angle may not work well for elevations of less than 1.2 feet; however, 1.2 feet is probably not a practical or necessary elevation that humans need to be able to detect the ground.  

For my research, I took a step back from last week’s work on generalized anxiety disorder and decided to learn basic information about this disease first. From my background research, I learned that generalized anxiety disorder occurs when an individual has continuous anxiety for most days for at least 6 months that inhibits daily life (“Generalized Anxiety Disorder”, n.d.). In addition, I learned that some basic symptoms were overthinking, uncertainty, inability to relax, indecisiveness, muscle aches, irritability, sweating, and nervousness (“Generalized Anxiety Disorder”, 2017). I was, in particular, interested to learn that one form of treatment is to use antidepressants, such as serotonin and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors, which could directly impact some neurotransmitter pathways (“Generalized Anxiety Disorder”, 2017).  Next week, I plan to switch to bipolar disorder.   Thanks, Sudeep Goluguri 

Johns Hopkins Medicine. (2023, January 31). Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) | Johns Hopkins Medicine. Retrieved April 14, 2023, From Https://Www.Hopkinsmedicine.Org/Health/Conditions-And-Diseases/Generalized-Anxiety-Disorder 

Mayo Foundation For Medical Education And Research. (2017, October 13). Generalized Anxiety Disorder. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved April 14, 2023, From Https://Www.Mayoclinic.Org/Diseases-Conditions/Generalized-Anxiety-Disorder/Symptoms-Causes/Syc-20360803