Portable Fitness Device
When I came to University, I became enamored with signal processing and the ways in which it can be applied to real-world situations. When I was assigned to make an embedded system for my Practical Electrical Engineering Class (ENGI 301), I immediately thought to design something which used analog signal processing to solve a real-world issue. From there, I came up with the idea for FitTrack.
FitTrack is an embedded systems project that acts as a digital watch, temperature and humidity sensor, and step counter. It runs off of a Pocketbeagle, and uses I2C sensors and devices to interface with the user. It is also designed to be portable and ergonomic, such that a person could use it to track their fitness progress with minimal impedence by the device. The DEvice counts steps by recording when periodic motion is occuring, via the MPU6050 gyroscope, and recording substantial changes in the acceleration of the device.
In the development of this device, I had to spec out the necessary sensors and mechanical devices, and assemble them on a breadboard. I then wrote and debugged necessary software drivers necessary for the components to appropriately interact with each other. Finally, I designed a layout, schematic, and library for a PCB device that implemented the full fucntionality of my idea.
Though all manufacturing documents were sufficiently completed, time and monetary constraints meant that a final prototype couldn't be completed before the end of the semester. However, I was able to present my functional prototype during our showcase night, where I demonstrated this functionality to our class and professor.