For our tenth meeting with our mentor, Professor Notash, we went over the format of our proposal report draft that we submitted.  We only went over the overall format, not of the data.  Most of our formatting was good and met the requirements, but we did have a few things to correct, including: subsections on the table of contents, removing words "we" and "our", correct document to left justified, and a few other miscellaneous things.  We also went over a few things to add to the document, including a table for the D.E.R., mentioning where we did our 3D renderings of our project, and adding equations throughout the document.  To finish our meeting, we discussed what to expect when we present our project to Valencia members and industry people.

For our nineth meeting with our mentor, Professor Notash, we talked about our battery.  More specifically, how to find the right battery we would need.  We had originally picked a different battery, but our mentor pointed our that it may be heavier than we wanted.  Suggesting that we go and find a different battery.  Our original battery was chosen because we thought that we needed a higher capacity for our items, but we were incorrect.  Professor Notash showed us some formals that were very helpful in finding the maximum power produced by our panels, which then helped us decide on how large of a battery we really needed.  He also showed us a few websites that had helpful information about solar energy and calculations required.

For our eighth meeting with our mentor, Professor Notash, we presented a design update to S.T.A.R.S..  He had suggested that we use larger panels in past meetings, and finally decided to look more into it.  We ended up using larger panels, but we had to cut down the amount of panels to help cost stay more friendly.  Since we were using less panels, we had to reorient the branches.  Lastly,  Professor Notash went over the report and what was expected for the draft due that week on Friday.

For our seventh meeting with our mentor, Professor Notash, we talked about the charging base for S.T.A.R.S.  We went over the components and layout, along with how to cool the system.   Research had already been done on some fans and heatsink options, so we talked about adding those to the base, in addition to a few vent holes on the base to help airflow and keep the system from overheating.  It was also mentioned that we may not have enough power for our system, so Professor Notash suggested using larger, higher wattage panels.

For our seventh meeting with our mentor, Professor Notash, we had our second individual group meeting. Our group did a presentation on S.T.A.R.S V2.0, which shows the types of modification we plan for the project. In the new design, we removed the motors from each leaf/solar panel. The tree's leaves will be stationary, and we decided to add servo motors to the bottom of the tree. After going in-depth with the design, there were some concerns that came up. The weight of the tree on the servo motor and the safety that it may cause for the user if they were in the trees in proximity. With the guidance of Professor Notash, we reverted back to motorizing the leaves. We also discussed exhausting the heat of the solar station and having it expelled from the bottom. We talked about having the heat exhaust from the legs of the system and how it would be convenient for those in cold areas.

For our sixth meeting with our mentor, Professor Notash, we had our first individual meeting. Our group was able to give more detail of our project and concern. We made changes before the meeting because we were concerned about generating enough power. We had an idea of shortening the number of branches and shorting the amount of motor. Professor Notash addressed his concerns about the solar panels. His concerns about the solar panels are not able to receive enough light if we proceed with these major to the system. He wants us to think about more of the design and figure ways to improve the system.

For our fifth meeting with our mentor, Professor Notash, all groups were present. 
The meeting started with addressing the website update and any concerns about our weekly task to prepare for follow-up meetings. Professor Notash has given us a motivational speech to keep everyone drives going during these times. He wanted us to build our confidence and reminded us that this project is something that we should want to put effort and time into like it's our child. He further the discussion on the requirements of Engineering Specification. Noted that we should focus on time management and make sure we are putting enough time into the project. The project should demonstrate a clear understanding. We then presented our updated sites and received more feedback on our ideas at the end of our meeting. 

For our fourth meeting with our mentor, Professor Notash, all groups were present. The meeting started with addressing the website update and any concerns about our weekly task to prepare for follow-up meetings. Professor Notash discussed that our websites needed to be updated often to show progress on the project. He then discussed the importance of a power budget. The point of a power budget is to manage the power consumption of the whole project. There should be enough power to power the functionalities of the project as a whole. The progress log shows all of our research on the approved idea done thus far. Engineering Specification and Success Criteria were both issues that each group faced and required more in-depth explanation.  For Engineering Specification, the relations between the Specifications, Justification, and Verifications were to address what is needed for the project to be successful and the plan to execute for it to be successful with reasoning. The conversation about the Success Criteria is about each item listed and its importance. Each group had a better understanding of what is needed to be updated and improved. 

For our third meet-up with our mentor, Professor Notash, all groups presented their tentatively approved project ideas. Our presentation should show our in-depth research on the 2 selected tentatively approved project ideas with any modifications/enhancements to the idea. For this meeting, we were prepared and presented our findings, along with assigning roles for each of our group. Our group supplied a justification for each of the ideas and the technical qualification.  We supplied samples of similar project ideas and show how our project is different from other inventions. After each group presented, Professor Notash went over each idea and discuss with us our background to understand if the project is possible for each individual group. There was also a discussion of our responsibility for each portion of the project. We received more feedback on our ideas and ended our meeting. On February 4, 2021, we received a follow-up email about our approved proposal ideas. Now that our approved proposal idea, Solar Tree Station, has been selected idea, started to put more effort into the initial phase of the project.

For the second meet-up with our Mentor, Professor Notash, 3 of the assigned groups presented their top 4 potential Senior Design proposal ideas that they would like to select as their project focus. Our proposal ideas that our group came up with were the solar tree station, along with our other ideas like the solar chicken coop farm, solar automated gardening system, and the self-cleaning litter box. Each group presented their project ideas and received feedback from their peers for possible improvement. Professor Notash also discusses with us his opinion and concerns about each project. Lastly, when the meeting has come to an end, we should be expecting a follow-up email on the on next step. We receive an email on January 28th, 2021, about our tentatively approved proposal ideas. For the next meet-up, we should provide more research for the Solar Tree Station and the Automated Litter box and improvement if necessary.

For the first meeting, all assigned groups met up with Professor Notash and Dr. Ejaz. The importance of this meeting is to discuss the expectations for the Senior proposal. A presentation given by Dr. Ejaz was to explain the expectation from each group. This presentation includes the types of project ideas that were acceptable. We should keep in mind that these projects should be related to our field of concentration. The project should also test our skills and knowledge. The project must be innovative and different from previous projects unless it improves the original concepts. The discussion on time management is the key ensure a successful project. After the presentation came to a closed, all groups were to discuss ideas with their mentor. After our first meeting, Professor Notash notified us about our next meeting and requested us to develop some project ideas and select our top 4 ideas to research and present for the follow-up meeting.