Senior design will have a total of four our five projects this year. Prof. Bolding will form the groups based on your project request form. Below are several possible projects for you to choose from. Turn in your project requests by Friday Oct. 2 at 11 AM.

You are asked to select projects you would like to work on in order to help the instructor form teams. Once the team is formed, it may choose to work on any project, including projects not on this list.

1. Shock Protector
   Design and build an system to reduce the risk of shock from unused electrical outlets to small children. The system utilizes a bracelet (or other attachable device) attached to a child and modified power outlets of a house. The system is designed to be capable of distinguishing between used and unused power outlets, and switching off unused power outlets when infrared sensors indicate that a child is near. (Submitted by Kevin Binz)

2. Cell Monitor
   Design and build a device that scans for and records cell phone activity within the bounds of a motor vehicle. The information is then uploaded to a website when it detects its home network. The associated website could inform parents of their children's cell phone habits while driving.  (Submitted by Kevin Binz)

3. Bicycle Effectiveness Monitor
   Design a suite of sensors to provide real-time graphical feedback on pedaling forces and "pedaling effectiveness" for competitive cyclists. Pedaling effectiveness is a technical term which describes the degree to which the applied force at the pedal is effectively propelling the bicycle forward. (Submitted by Prof. Lane Seeley)

4. Mobile Robot
   Design and build a mobile robot with a full set of sensors. There are many possibilities for this project - one is "to design and build a tracked humanoid robot (tracks instead of two legs for increased mobility) that fully mimics the upper-body actions of a human. It should include visual and audio sensors as well as hands attached to arms. The visual sensor (eye) should be able to rotate independently of the body (like a head). The inputs should be transmitted back to the operator." (Submitted by David Zelmer)

5. Power Saver
   Design and build a dynamic range, automatic power elimination system that disconnects power from appliances when it is not needed. The system will be programmed to determine an appliance’s power threshold between active and standby modes and will be set to disconnect power when an appliance has been in standby mode for too long. The system will automatically reactivate power when needed, using some sort of motion detector, timer, or wireless communication system to automatically power the appliance so it would be available when the consumer wants to use it. One such application of this design would be for an entertainment center: standby power is not needed at all times of the day for your TV, speakers, and other accessories. Many people are easily paying around $30 a year just to keep their entertainment center plugged in. This system could eliminate costs like that. (Submitted by Mark Cotton)

6. Vehicle Alert
   Design and build a system to alert vision-impaired people to the presence of vehicle traffic. As more and more electric and hybrid vehicles replace traditional vehicles, an unusual problem has been created - the vehicles are too quiet! Since vision-impaired people rely on the sound of an engine to know how to avoid walking in front of traffic, this is a problem (see a Seattle Times article on this). One solution is to add systems to cars to make them noisy again - yuck! Design a system that a vision-impaired person could carry/wear that will provide them with information on nearby moving vehicles. The system may be standalone or require vehicles to transmit some sort of signal to the device. (Submitted by Prof. Kevin Bolding)

7. Multi-Zone Thermostat
   Design and build a multi-zone programmable thermostat system for a boiler/radiator/hot water system. Develop a system to control the flow of heated water through radiators in various zones of a residential building and through the hot water system. The system will have an easy-to-use master control panel with satellite temperature sensors. (Submitted by Emeritus Prof. Robert Hughson)

8. Network Processor
   Design and build an Ethernet FPGA interface to allow rapid stand alone data processing. Data being processed could be either packets or video data and filters. This project will be sponsored by Pico Computing Inc. if the final project falls into line with initial ideas. (Submitted by Jonathan Cross)

9. Loop Resistance Tester
   Design a portable meter that can non-intrusively inspect wire bundle shielding that is in a closed loop electrical configuration.  The loop resistance tester that is available for purchase today is based on very dated technology and it is also very expensive, heavy, and cumbersome to use (www.baesystems-ps.com/AssetManager/ReturnAsset?id=5524). (Submitted by Keith Poindexter)
   Background:  Protection of electrical and electronic systems on airplanes from the adverse effects of lightning is provided by shielding that is an integral part of a system's wire bundle installation.  The shielding is generally bonded to primary structure (ground) at each end of the installation, forming a complete electrical "loop".  Verification of the shielding installation by non-intrusive methods can be accomplished based on the principals of transformer coupling; this by coupling a known voltage onto the wire bundle shield and then sensing (by means of coupling) the resultant current flowing as a result of the coupled voltage.

    

    

Kevin Bolding September 30, 2009