| Design |
Power |
Cost |
Useability
/ Flexibility |
Time
/ Complexity |
Overall |
| Clapper
-Type |
From
the schematics we've found online, power doesn't seem to be much of a
problem. |
The
cost of this design would be relatively low. We already have the PIC,
and we just need some basic (cheap) components. |
From
the user point of view it's very simple to operate, just clap your
hands. But it doesn't really fullfill the requirement of a VOICE
eBlock. Also, by being so simple, it's not a very flexible design
(varied # of claps, or different outputs would require some major
modifications). |
Very
simple design. Most of the design work has already been done. Should be
relatively simple to adapt to eBlock protocol. |
Very
simple, and doable design. But does not fullfil the requirement of the
assignment. This will be our fall-back design, also it will be used to
help learn the eBlock protocol, programming the PIC, and the creation
process. |
| "Poor
Man's" |
Depending
on which components are chosen this project could fulfill the power
requirements. If we choose to use common components to merely detect
the loud voice then the power constraints could be fullfilled. But if
we chose to do some signal processing with the PIC, plus add more
hardware, this could easily tax the battery in the eBlock. |
Should
be relatively inexpensive compared with the Full VR implementations.
Depending on what parts the team decides to use then this design could
exceed our budget. |
From
the user's point of view this might be the hardest to use. By simply
having the user shout something, they feel uncomfortable shouting, or
not know how loud to shout. Also not as flexible as the Full VR designs. How would you extend a shouting eBlock? More shouts? |
This
design is certainly more complicated than the clapper type. How much
more complicated depends on how we wish to implement it. It's clear
that we would have to research this idea quite a bit more. But not as
much as we would have to research the Full VR w/ PIC implementation. We
may not have time to do all that research this quarter. |
This
is the newest idea. It seems more likely to suceed than the Full VR w/
PIC simply because it's goals aren't as high. It certainly seems
possible, given enough time. For this design, I think time would be the
limiting constraint. Nonetheless, three of our group members will work
on this and see if they can create something out of it, after we've all
finished our clappers. |
| Full
VR w/ PIC |
Assuming
it's possible, the PIC would be handling a much greater load than in
any of the other designs. This means that it would have to be on and
working for considerably longer periods of time. This, plus the extra
hardware that the PIC would need would make power requirements much
higher than the both the clapper and the poor man's. |
The
cost of the PIC itself should be small. The biggest concern with cost
would be the other components that will most likely be needed to aid
the PIC in the computations, as well as the sound hardware required. |
Good
usability from the user's point of view. They could say a command at,
or near normal speaking level. If fully implemented, adding more functionality later on should be possible. Assuming the hardware could handle it. |
Assuming
it's possible, the time needed to learn and implement the necessary
Voice Recognition software on a PIC would be too great. It's highly
unlikely that this complicated a desgin could be finished by the team
in the few weeks left. |
From
the user's point of view, this design works. It does what we would like
it to do. From an engineering point of view it's very different. The design and implimentation time would be too long. The power constraints are also in question. Plus there's the fact that most of us don't think it can be done at all. |
| Full
VR w/ VE |
For
prototyping purposes this design would work. If a method of sleeping
the VE chip as much as possble could be found, then this design could
fit within the power contraint. But because of the difference in
complexity this would surely never be as low-power as the clapper or
even the Poor Man's. |
The
cost for the chip itself is a little on the high side. The
development kit is also expensive. But if bought in bulk the parts
could satisfy the cost requirements. Since we are all pooling our money
together, we should be able to purchase the development kit as well as
maybe an extra VE chip. |
Good
usability from the user's point of view. It would work exactly how we
wanted it. Much like the PIC design. Adding more functionality should be as simple as tapping into more of the chip's capabilities. |
Though
very complicated, the prototyping time should be within our constraint.
This is helped by having tutorials for the VE chip, and having the bulk
of our design resources focused on learning how to use the VE system. |
This
is what we chose as our "big project". It seems much more likely to
suceed than the PIC implementation. Because the VE chip takes care of
the more complex functions of Voice Recognition, we would be able to
get this product working within the time limit. |