
Looking back on the past year of development we have gone from a basic idea stemming from our collective interests to a fully functioning first of its kind avalanche safety device. This feat of a project did come with its challenges along the way but also great success. The successes are extensive but among the obvious of creating a fully functioning device we were able to create the device in a timely manner while working as a group and applying our collective skills to efficiently accomplish our goals, test and make adjustments. We were able to create a fully interactive interface that allows for personalization for the user and efficient real time data displays for the user to make informed decisions about avalanche danger. In addition our case design which is the backbone for the entire device was meticulously designed to be as user friendly and ergonomic as possible. In order to accomplish this we did multiple test prints with different designs in order to find which one worked best in housing all of the necessary micro electronics while still meeting one of our goals for the device to be compact and portable. Although we did land on a final design that met all of our criteria we did have some difficulties while printing the case stemming from issues that come along with resin printing. For example we had several prints that were missing pieces such as edge fillets, as well as some prints that were missing mounting pegs for hardware, and the main issue we found was the back side of the case which acts as a cap to seal up the entire device would warp during the printing process making it difficult to get a good seal and accomplish our goal of making the entire device waterproof. In addition to the aesthetic difficulties with printing electrical connections were a minor issue that plagued us for a while, with so many connections on each micro electronic one loose connection would result in a complete system malfunction. In order to remedy this I spent numerous hours meticulously soldering every connection in order to ensure reliable connectivity and consistent operation of the device. Furthermore, once we had an operating device and had tested it we moved forward with branding and other marketing initiatives to spread the word about our product and reach our desired customer base. We did this in numerous ways such as: a very detailed website, regular social media posts about our progress, brand marketing, and some moderate advertising. Through all of this we have made connections with industry professionals and gotten feedback from realworld consumers on how to better our product and take next steps to revolutionize the world of avalanche safety. Personally I am beyond excited and optimistic for the future of our product and Avalert as a whole. It is time to take the next step to backcountry freedom.
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