Week5

Week 5 Progress: Hardware Debugging and Final Soldering Completion

Objective:
To complete the remaining soldering tasks and verify the full functionality of the ankle monitoring hardware, including power delivery, sensor connectivity, and microcontroller integrity.

Implementation:

  • Continued soldering work from Week 4, focusing on finalizing wire connections and mechanical stability of the circuit.

  • After completing initial soldering last week, I attempted to test the nRF52840 microcontroller; however, it failed to power up and showed no response during USB and BLE testing.

  • Upon closer inspection and multimeter probing, I concluded that the board was likely damaged during prolonged soldering in the previous week.

  • Corrective Actions Taken:

    • Replaced the damaged microcontroller board with a new one of the same model.

    • Redid all soldering connections carefully, using reduced soldering time per pin to avoid overheating.

    • Verified all power, GND, and signal connections before powering on the new board.

    • Conducted continuity and voltage checks to ensure stable operation.

Results:

  • The replacement microcontroller board functioned correctly, with USB connection and BLE advertising verified after power-on.

  • All flex sensor inputs and op-amp buffer circuits were successfully connected and tested.

  • Soldering of the entire system was completed, and the hardware is now ready for system assembly and firmware development in Week 6.


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