So unfortunately, I ran out of time to complete this project for my original deadline, began to panic and made some stupid mistakes. One of the biggest mistakes I made was to make use of a voltage regulator where I should have been using a level converter...
Anyway, although I ran out of time for my original deadline, I still plan on completing this project (along with all of my others). However, without a deadline looming above my head, I have more time to think about everything and calculate it all out correctly.