PATHS-UP Week #2- Kaitlyn Chen

Rice PATHS-UP Week #2 Experience

What exciting new things have you been learning?

This week we explored the clean room, its various equipment, as well as learn what type of research they did in a lab like theirs. This was my favorite of the various tours we took, getting to see the behind the scenes of numerous research projects going on was eye-opening! I related some of the equipment being described back to my previous biology classes and seeing equipment we learned about in person was fantastic! With the help of Dr. Young, we also learned how to make schematics using easyEDA, it was fun to see how you could make a circuit board so custom fit to be used for your projects! We implemented the GPS into our tiny-watches this week as well, it was interesting to see how our location was being tracked and how we could store it into the SD card for further use.

How is your research project doing?

We worked on applying the use of the GPS system this week and learning about the basic application of how the GPS is often used/ how it works. I tried combining all three attachments (GPS, pulse Ox, and pedometer) to the watch at one time and have it be activated with buttons but I faced some difficulties in getting my pedometer to monitor the steps properly. I hope to have a better understanding of all the equipment given to us next week and be able to make my watch run smoother.

What are you looking forward to during the final week of the program?

I look forward to the implementation of machine learning into our watch! I'm somewhat familiar with how machine learning is used in image recognition/ analysis, so I can not wait to see how we will be able to program the voice recognition into the tiny-screen! By the end of next week, I hope to at least be able to incorporate the GPS, pedometer, and pulse-ox with the buttons. I anticipate the final product I'm able to make and await the various things I'll be able to incorporate/ add to make my watch look even better than it looks now just looping through the devices.