Project Planning/Budget

Timeline

Weeks: 1 and 2

• Design proposal preparation: team wrote up design proposal, outlining project goals and timelines.  Initial proposal did not have diagrams of final design, these were drafted separately during week 4.

Weeks: 2 - 4

• Components gathering: research was done to find components which fit the size and properties constraints outlined in the design proposal.  A processor and most components were ordered from Amazon.com, while the battery for the system was bought separately.

Weeks: 3 - 6

• Ball casing design: Ball casings ordered were prepared to hold the Arduino components.  This meant removing extra pieces from the casing, finding a rubber band to hold casing together during use, and finding protective material to keep the processor and components safe during use.

Weeks: 3 - 7

• Circuit design: The accelerometer and LEDs were soldered to the Arduino board, and the design of the circuit was drafted in the circuit diagram, submitted for week five lab.

Weeks: 3 - 9

• Programming: Programming was done throughout the design process, as plenty of time was needed to learn and understand the Arduino programming language.  A code was slowly developed to make the LEDs work in response to the accelerometer output.

Weeks: 4 - 9

• Testing: Tests were run during each phase of the process, especially with the code.  When creating small pieces of the code, tests had to be done to make sure it was running properly.  Once the project was assembled, it had to slowly be tested for durability and proper function.

Weeks: 8 - 10

• Final report preparation: the final report was written in the final weeks, as the project was coming together.  It outlines the entire design process, including the changes made to the design from beginning to end.  Diagrams and test results support the final design of the LED balls.

Budget

Juggling Ball

• Cost: $20
• Quantity: 1

Arduino board

• Cost: $20
• Quantity: 1

LED lights

• Cost: $3.42
• Quantity: 50

Accelerometer

• Cost: $5.89
• Quantity: 1

Battery

• Cost: $9.95
• Quantity: 1

Bluetooth Receiver

• Cost: $10.00
• Quantity 1

Unexpected costs

• Estimated Cost: $30

Total

• Cost: $89.27
• Quantity: 54