Capstone Week 2 - project planning as an explorer with a funny hat on a 3d surface

    This week came with an important decision to make. The sensor I had selected was not performing at the level that I would like to see for this kind of device. So the sensor was immediately abandoned and a new sensor was connected to take its place. One quarter of the way through a project it is critical to have the basic functionality established so that a full evaluation can take place. If that means using cardboard and hot glue with some development kits then that can work. The important part is to be able to have full project visibility by knowing the components and how data travels between them as a connected graph.
   Another aspect of this weeks development cycle was prototyping material selection. I choose to use hot glue and cardboard with scissors. At first that seemed a little odd to me, selecting from processes like laser cutting and 3d printing. In reality this does exactly what I need: hold a test tube, light source, and light sensor in a repeatable position. It also has the benefit of reducing the impact of the high brightness LED flash on people around the device.
   By pivoting as necessary and not wasting effort and material with unnecessary prototypes this project can hit it's objectives.
   This is the strategy I try to follow for any project: There are hills and valleys in the problem space for any new development. If you can't get up on top of the hills to see into the valleys you're not sure what you will find. Climbing a few of the key mountains early on, even imperfectly, gives you visibility and functionality. Each of the valleys you see could take years to fully explore. It is critical not to get trapped in these valleys though. So get up on the hills, build graphs showing their relations, and map the surface to project completion.