A primary issue with the Arduino Uno and the mbed was power. The Arduino required more power for the 2 servos that require a minimum of 3.3V each. The mbed also failed to power the IR sensor and servo for the blinds on its own. The solution was to purchase 8 AAA batteries and 2 battery packs which powered the devices and attachments sufficiently.

After assembly, the LCD ceased working correctly. We believe that this was an issue during wiring/soldering that damaged the LCD screen. Before the presentation/demonstration, the LCD screen was replaced with a new one. The new LCD, however, does not have a LED backlight.

Momentary pushbuttons purchased from the store ended up being very poor quality. Once attached to the main control center, 2 of the 4 buttons did not function correctly, so were removed.