Danny Al-Sammak Design Project 3 Self Reflection

The DP-3 Track and Field project was an amazing experience through which I have
learned a lot. My team designed a wearable earpiece through which patients with little limb
mobility can operate a wheelchair via head movements. Developing this preliminary idea pushed
me to research and understand what issues people may face and develop a method of working
around the issue.
From the technical side of things, I have pushed myself to develop my skills within all
aspects of product design. Being on the coding team, I enjoyed working with the RaspberryPi as
it was as a great introduction to physical computing and gave me a glimpse into the train of
thought required to successfully design a device. However, working with the orientation sensor
was an unpleasant experience as the sensor readings were inconsistent and essentially made the
rest of our code irrelevant. My partner and I spent hours on end in the studio working to
configure the sensor and measure correct readings but nothing seemed to work. During one
session, I stopped trying to solve the issue and decided we needed to work with the issue. I
implemented a method of calibrating the sensor upon startup within the code and measuring a
change in angles as opposed to the value recorded by the sensor. This mindset of working around
an unavoidable problem is a skill that I will transfer to all aspects of my life, especially my
career in engineering. I understand that in many situations, such as in signal processing which I
am interested in, useful data is intertwined with undesired values and therefore extracting the
useful data is an important tool.
To simulate our device, my team built a car that responds to the sensor. Physically
building this car such as designing the layout and soldering really peaked my interests and
showed me that electrical engineering may be a great field for me. Just before the expo, we
realized that the ethernet cable it sodered was not working. After testing the continuity of the
wire, we tried using a shorter wire and it worked. Doing some research after, I learned that the
signal may not have been able to travel through the length of the wire and that intertwining
output in input wires may aid in increasing the range of the signal. These are small details that
are mostly learned through experience which I will use in my future projects.
My team members were very helpful and cooperative throughout most of the project.
Around the halfway mark of the peoject, I felt that our team did not have great communication
with each other nor a set timeline for tasks. For this reason, I felt the need to take lead and
initiate meetings and updates since no one else was doing so. This was a new experience for me
as my previous groups were always keen on providing updates and holding meetings. I began to
send often updates on our group chat and set meeting times. At these meetings, I made sure to
discuss relevant aspects and delegated specific roles. This was a greater issue within the last
week of the project as we had an issue with a team member who was unresponsive and was not
sharing work equally. In this specific scenario I initiated a meeting and lead the meeting by
bringing forth all pending tasks. With regard to this unresponsive member, I explained in front of
the whole team the pending tasks for the CAD and split up the roles equally between this
member and his partner. I felt that this was a good method of approaching the issue as the
delegation of roles took place in front of the whole team and all members left the meeting
knowing exactly what was required of them. This has taught me when I should step in to resolve
an issue, and how to effectively resolve them. Making decisions with the team as a whole and
not with members individually enhanced understanding and solved conflicts. Knowing how to
lead a team yet not taking control over it is a delicate balance that I will apply to my future
projects. Considering other members’ ideas in a role of leadership is a skill that is important in
the quality of teamwork and essentially in the quality of the final product.
Out of all our design projects so far, DP-3 has challenged me to grow the most due to my
comitment to strive for the best. My interest in our device gave me the motivation to go above
and beyond by pushing myself and my team to challenge status quo. Especially when dealing
with challnges such as the inconsistent sensor and unresponsive member, I grew by learning how
to approach conflicts and solve them in the most effective manner possible.