Week 4: Hardware Hiccups

The main focus this week was getting SafeSense’s hardware component operational. I configured everything for remote access via SSH and VNC, loaded the SD card with the operating system, and set up the Raspberry Pi. The Pi booting up and the camera module coming to life was a cool experience—until it didn’t!

I encountered a hardware issue while I was attaching the Pi Camera’s 15-pin ribbon connection. The metal connectors on the ribbon cable were stripped as a result of my improperly loosening the camera port latch. The new cables that I bought should come this weekend. I’ll be able to complete testing the live camera feed with my program once they arrive.

During this down time, I improved the frame rate performance of the current Python code during the downtime in addition to the accuracy of the head-direction tracking. Additionally, I included a feature that records head direction over time and creates graphs to have a better understanding of user behavior. This feature will allow me to perform statistical analysis on factors like how frequently and for how long users look away from the road.

– James Gu