As we ramp up to finish our project, we have been making some final finishing touches, which have not led to the best results. Despite difficulties, we are still on track to deliver a finished proof of concept prototype! 

FDR Peer Review 

At the FDR Peer Review event, our team presented our PowerPoint and received great feedback. We were able to communicate our results better this time around than in past presentations, which is a huge accomplishment for us since explaining medical terminology has always been a pitfall of our presentations. We did receive constructive feedback that will help us greatly improve that understanding, which we plan to implement next Tuesday and Thursday when we have our FDR presentations. Finally, our presentation skills have greatly improved from the beginning of the year, and we are excited to present the fruits of our labor next week. 

Two ESP 32’s Led to Major Issues 

Last week we installed a second ESP32, which would help us achieve better communication with our pump. When we tested our system this week, though, the flow rate sensor completely stopped communicating with our system, and the pump also would not work consistently. These problems can be mitigated, but the question is now, “Can we get our system back up running the way we want it to by Tuesday?” Our backup plan is to revert to our singular ESP32 setup, which would give us less flow rate accuracy, but would at least give us a more reliable electrical setup. Regardless, we will have a working prototype to present to Arthrex, but the possibility of not having a working flow rate sensor is a disappointing one.  

On Thursday, we opened our flow rate sensor to see if any mechanical issues were occurring, and we were able to fix a small jam between two gears in the sensor. Electrically, the flow rate sensor is still MIA. On the bright side, we were able to get our pump working consistently!