[willberman]

This is a very relevant engineering critique, but note that this is a research project. The first step is to ask, "what if it worked this way?" After a prototype has been developed to more accurately identify what is the actual problem that is being solved, then problems like this can be addressed.

I had many interesting conversations in my undergraduate research lab trying to find the right place to draw the line between engineering and research. Problems can be more apt classified as engineering when there is high consensus on what the actual problem is. Research often addresses what question should we be asking to determine the problem that may then be solved. Most often there is a series of research and engineering iterations intertwined with each other.