Leia

I interned at LEIA Inc, an augumented reality startup, for the summer of 2017.  I had a wide range of duties, from designing and 3D printing small mechanical devices to scripting in Python and using the OpenCV library.  

My main project was the design and production of a prototype video rig.  The rig needed to have four small cameras mounted very close together, so that each image would be slightly offset from each other.  When processed, the four flat images were combined into one three-dimensional image that could be viewed on the unique LEIA display without the need for any other accessories.  

The rig went through many iterations, each one solving a previous issue.  It was decided early on that it would be powered by several Raspberry Pi boards. since they were cheap and had plenty of existing software.  Additionally, they were compatible with several small cameras.  Initially I had hoped to stream the video wirelessly, but the onboard WiFi of the Pi Zero was too weak and USB WiFi modules interefered with each other.  Once I decided to use an ethernet connection, I explored numerous streaming methods and decided on MJPG-streamer, which was compatible with our existing processing scripts.  

I iterated on the housing design in Autodesk Inventor and 3D printed several of them to gather feedback from future users.  Once everything was finalized, I laser cut reflective front and back plates, installed the Pi's, cameras, and power system inside the housing and wired everything together.  I also installed and programmed two buttons on the housing to locally capture images and video.