Week 1 - Project Management, Project Proposal

The first week of the Fab Academy covered a few interesting topics; project management, version control and website construction. As an introduction we got to learn a bit about the history of digital technology and how computers were developed to control machinery. Also, we were given a deeper understanding of the principles of Fab Labs. This included the importance of sharing information in order to help each other; and how in the future the Fab Labs aim to be making product making machines rather than just products. All very fascinating!!

Our assignments for this week

Become familiar with a chosen website builder
Practice using Mercurial
Propose a final project


 

Website Design

I have had some previous experience designing websites previously but not in the detail that the academy requires. I have previously used Moonfruit to set up a free website; but that doesn't allow one to edit the raw code. To do that, other applications are required. A number were suggested to us such as Seakmonkey and Libre office. I experimented with both and managed to create a rather rudimentary site which you can see below.



At first I was reasonably happy with this until I discovered parallax, "one-page" websites. These are great as every "page" is attached one after the other and some very beautiful effects can be achieved. So after finding a decent HTML template for a "one-page" website (check it out here). I then tore it up, stripped it down and made it my own. Finally, I arrived at the website you are looking at now, baring a few finishing touches.

One of the finishing touches I wanted to add was a drop down menu. That way the site would remain much cleaner. I was inspired by the video lectures emailed to us to watch on other applications we can use. Brackets was suggested and it is far better than SeaMonkey or Libre Office. It has a much better interface for looking at code, take a look below.



I doesn't have the facility to edit a loaded page, but that encouraged me to learn to type the code. The application colour codes the different functions accordingly to help you read the code better (and in my case, remember it better). It also has a live preview feature which lets you see the page change as you type the code. Again, this is excellent at helping you learn the code. It also suggests code for you and gives definitions.

But yes, back to my original trail of thought! This application coupled with some tutorials on drop down menus helped me do that. It would have been much more of a headache on SeaMonkey. However, I will admit that Seakmonkey is useful for proof reading large amounts of writing like here, but for that only and nothing more. Once one is familiar with HTML code, an application like brackets is essential!


Project Management

The First topic of the Fab Academy course was a very fitting one, project management. A rather essential subject as it will help us cope with the work load to come and help ensure we succeed.

An important aspect of project management to consider is time management. The most important thing to remember for me is that it is better to have started a number of tasks required to complete a project. Rather than have one task

It is also good to have an application which can record all the projects your are involved in. Then you can set up useful things like gnat charts which help the user to manage their time appropriately.

Version Control

Version control is a difficult concept to grasp but relatively simple one once understood. It enables lots of versions of a project to be recorded without the need to make entire copies of it. Instead, version control enables the little changes that are made to be recorded thus saving a lot of storage.

The recorded changes made can be recalled, observed and reverted without affecting the other recorded changes. Groups of people can work on the project individually and then merge all the changes made into the original project.

Important command prompts:

1. To change directory, type “cd” then drag the file path into the window.
2. Type command “hg init”
3. Add/change files to chosen directory
4. Type command “hg add”
5. Type “hg commit”
6. Type chosen not/message, press escape, then type command “:w” followed by “:q”
*alternative to steps 5 and 6 is to use command “hg commit -m “[enter chosen note/message]”
7. Type command “hg log” to check change has been completed

These commands enable users to update the "project" with the changes made. There are other commands to do with "pulling" older changes from mercurial and many more which I have yet to learn.


Project Proposal

When using bikes, one of the few forms of protecting and deterring it from thieves is using big, heavy locks. Unfortunately these don't always work as a skilled villain with the right tools can have it off in seconds The chances of you seeing your beloved bike again are slim as the villain may then go onto repaint it and sell it cheap to get rid of it quickly.

You may think “well the wise thing would then be to get insurance, right?”. Wrong! Who was to be paying monthly installments just to protect their average Joe, middle of the road bike? (unless your bike is a racer worth thousands). Why not have a product which tells you when your bike has been stolen and where it has gone! Then you can get a mob together to go and catch the culprit! (with the help of the local authorities of course)

The art of tracking bikes isn't completely uncharted territory but there is still a clear gap for such a product and potentially a very wide market for it.

There are a few products related to this area, I have tabulated their features below:




The products are as follows:

Sobi:- This is a social biking platform similar to that of London's "Boris Bike" Scheme. It can be provided for cities or campuses. The user registers online then can reserve and ride the bikes provided. Computers on the bikes enable the user to track their activity on the bikes through a phone app. This includes things like distance traveled, and CO2 emissions saved as a result. It is a great example of how phones can be linked to social biking.

Reelight:- Reelight is the leading battery free bike light. Inside the lights are metal coils. When magnets are attached to the wheels of the bike appropriately, the magnets are able to induce a current in the metal coils thus making the product work (using Faraday's Law). This product is worth noting because it shows the potential to have other low power products incorporating the same system as a power source.
Bitlock:- Is a smart bike lock. It unlocks automatically once the user comes close to the bike. It can also be locked or unlocked using a phone app. The other main feature is the ability to give others with the app permission to unlock the product. This enables the user to lend their bike to friends even if they are away. Like Sobi, this shows the great potential associated with linking our phones to bike technology.

Bike Spike:- This product is able to track a bike when being ridden and, more importantly, when it is stolen. You can leave your bike in a geo-fenced area set to your liking and if it is taken outside of that, the tracker is activated. It also sends you a notification which can then be shared over various social networks. Other things it can detect include the bike being tampered with and the bike having a crash. Both of which follow a similar procedure to when the bike is taken outside of it's geo-fenced area. This is a product that cannot be ignored because it greatly increases the chances of one recovering their stolen bike.

Helios:- A manufacturer of smart handle bars, they produce different types of handle bar with the same smart technology. Their handlebars come with a lighting system that can be controlled by one's iPhone via Bluetooth. It provides illumination, indicators and a speedometer which changes the colour of some of the lights according to the speed of the user. This is great as it shows how crucial bike parts can be made "smart".

You will notice that the last column isn't a product but an ideal specification for a potential bike product. It has all the best bits of these products stitched together thus making it superior. Below, I have made a diagram of a potential system which could potentially meet up to this ideal criteria.




The result of this could produce a system involving 3 elements, A Tracking Device, An App and A Lock: