Week 11: The End Of The Road

This is the final week of my senior project. This week was a relatively simple week because I spent my internship time working on my ultrasonic cane project. This week I continued to collect data with the ultrasonic sensor. After last week’s results, I decided to reconduct the experiments with a larger angle (64 degrees) and a height of 53 cm, so the stairs could be detected more easily. For the ground level, the ultrasonic sensor showed that the average was 52.36744971 cm ± 0.6754252926 cm. Therefore, this data seemed to be very accurate due to error bounds being less than 1 cm and the presence of 426,480 data points in five minutes, so the sensor was able to sufficiently detect the ground without getting extraneous data. Later, I tried to re-conduct this experiment with the same angle and height, but I had the sensor toward downward-facing stairs. When the cane was a distance of 0 cm away from the stairs, there was no data. This indicates the sensor was looking too far down the stairs and unable to detect the ground. Therefore, I decided to reconduct my experiment from a distance of 30 cm away from the stairs. This time I got an average of 52.06779986  cm ± 0.5742765302 cm. This sensor distance is very close to the ground-level readings, so I concluded that the sensor must only be able to detect the ground and not the stairs. This indicates that the angle probably needs to be modified to a larger angle, so it can accurately detect the stairs.

 For my independent research, I continued to work on my first draft. I have been trying to decide how much background information on various brain systems is necessary for the audience. However, the rest of the sections relating to drugs and disorders is much simpler because there are fewer sources for each individual section. I have decided to continue with my original thesis of how emotions are modified by the nervous system, but I have decided to expand beyond just focusing on neurotransmitters to include components of the brain that are impacted by emotions. Simultaneously, I have also started to work on creating my Powerpoint presentation, which will reference some of the information from my old Powerpoint and new information that I have gathered through my research. 

Overall, my senior project has enabled me to obtain many skills and knowledge in engineering, teaching, laboratory work, and neuroscience. Through my lab, I have obtained a broader knowledge of how sanitation procedures work, identifying different types of contamination, and using pipettes. My independent cane project made me aware of how to organize my own experiments, reach conclusions, and form hypotheses. Teaching Intro to Engineering taught me about ways to effectively communicate with others and design websites. I did not only learn technical skills but also soft skills, such as communication, teamwork, and scheduling. This final trimester enabled me to obtain knowledge that will prepare me for the undergraduate experience and life. I would like to thank my on-site advisor, Mrs. Peixoto, for giving me the opportunity to observe and learn from her and the class. In addition, I would like to thank my advisor, Mr. Halliday, for meeting with me each week and supporting me through the many hardships that I faced from the beginning of my senior project.  Finally, I would like to thank Ms. Irving for quickly responding to my questions and concerns, during this process. Thank you for reading my blog and see you on the next adventure.