ECE Senior Design Ideas

Distance Education Server Development

2009-10-07T10:43:00.004-06:00

Dr. Budge has a project that has been going for several years. It involves a distance education server that allows students to participate in a class at USU from their computer at home or at work.

The technology has been issued two patents. It allows several students at a time to be connected to a live classroom, ask questions in real-time, and see the teacher, the whiteboard presentation, and any classroom applications (powerpoint, etc.) used in the class. All of this occurs with a minimum amount of delay (latency) over the Internet.

I need a student or two that would like to help implement new algorithms into the software and bring the C++ code up to date. You would be able to do this work as a Senior Project, and learn about methods to connect multiple people to a common server and transmit data over the Internet efficiently.

If you are interested, I would be happy to talk to you about the details. Come see me in my office at EL 113. My office hours are: Wed. 9:00 - 11:00 am and Thurs. 1:00 - 3:00 pm. You can also e-mail for an appointment at:

scott.budge@ece.usu.edu

Measuring water flow using Maxwell's equations

2009-09-18T15:37:00.005-06:00

Despite millennia of measuring water flow, this continues to be a difficult challenge, but one which is always important.

The idea is based upon some fundamental principles from electromagnetic.
Recall that a flow of electrical current through a coil of wire induces a current in the wire. Thus, a fluid carrying charged particles passing through a coil of wire would induce a current in the wire, and the faster the fluid flows, the more current is induced.

Water is generically neutral, so that water flowing through a coil would not generate a current. But the water _is_ disassociated to some extent into its H^+ and O^2- constitutents. (This is why the pH of water is 7 - a part in 10^7 is disassociated. ) But since the positive and negative charges are intermingled, there is no net charge.

Recall also that a charged particle moving through a magnetic field is bent by the magnetic field as qv x B. So, water flowing through a magnetic field should have its positive and negative charges separated.

So, the idea is to build a fixture equipped with magnets to pull the charged particles apart, with a downstream arrangement of coils of water for the charged streams to flow through.

Now take this to the next level. If the water contains ions from dissolved materials (such as salts), these ions will also be separated, but possible differentially, due to the difference in mass. So, is it possible to built a sort of water mass spectrometer by careful construction and calibration?

Materials: A pipe to hold the magnets has already been prepared. A set of nice strong magnets has already been purchased. A couple of wire loops are on hand, and it is easy to get more.
Equpment: We have permission from the Civil Engineering dept. to use their flume (water trough) for experimental purposes.
Expenses: Negligible.
Risk: Moderate/high. It may not be possible to get sufficient separation of the particles to measure.

Faculty champion: Dr. Todd Moon

Measuring a room using acoustic information

2009-09-18T15:37:00.001-06:00

Problem: Using an array of microphones and a speaker, develop a means of accurately mapping out a room (make a floor plan).

Background: This project was started over the summer with some undergraduate students, and some of the theory has been worked out. This would be a great project for a student to pick up that is interested in signal processing. We have a microphone array and some pointers on how to get started.

Skills: Math, programming, signal processing.

Cost: negligible.
Risk: moderate/high (this is a hard problem)

Faculty champion: Dr. Todd Moon

Antenna systems for cube satellites

2009-08-26T15:19:00.005-06:00

For this project, you are asked to decide various antenna types for a small satellite. The antennas are for GPS, and it is for the USU’s satellite talking to GPS satellite. Dr. Baktur will provide mentorship and some support. Please contact her for more details if you are interested.

Inkjet printed antennas

2009-08-26T15:19:00.003-06:00

This project explores the cheapest and fasted method to fabricate an antenna. Unlike traditional antennas made from metal, here we are printing antennas with an inkjet printer using conductive ink. The antennas are printed on papers, on transparencies, stickers, or even T-shirt! You may further go on to integrate the printed antennas with window glasses, solar cells, telescope for many important reasons and applications. Please contact Dr. Baktur for more details.

audio-controlled noise-microphone-tracker

2009-08-25T16:40:00.000-06:00

An excellent senior project last spring was an audio-controlled noise-microphone-tracker which would be a great one for follow-on. The project was by Blaine Wood.

Embedding video in e-sheets

2009-08-20T11:28:00.002-06:00

You may have looked through a magazine like National Geographic and seen still images of turtles or whales, and wondered when we will get magazines like the ones in harry potter films, with embedded video.
You may also be familiar with the e-sheet or e-ink technology used in the amazon kindle.
It will be exciting to write software on an e-sheet kit, to embed video clips with text.
I will support purchase of the e-sheet development kit.

Automatic digital scrolling music composition electronic sheet

2009-08-20T11:28:00.001-06:00

You may have noticed that a pianist uses printed pages of composed music that he/she needs to keep turning by hand, or have someone turn the pages for them. You may also be aware of the technology used in the Amazon Kindle.
There is a kit available to program written material onto the kindle type of e-display/edit sheets.
In this project I would like to see an interface developed in software to make music composition move along on the e-sheet in synchronization with the pace at which music is being played on an instrument like a digital piano.
This should allow for musicians like pianists to comfortably read the notes without taking hands off the piano.
I will support purchase of the e-sheet kit.

Cheese Factory

2009-04-17T16:13:00.003-06:00

Dave Irish, a Dairy Processing Specialist at the Western Dairy Center here at USU, has informed us of a possible project for seniors to undertake in connection with this company. For details, please see this PDF.

servoing a three view camera

2008-09-02T21:47:00.002-06:00

CSOIS has a $8000 three view camera. It has been mounted on a gimbal driven stand by a DC motor with an encoder. It is perfect for a senior design student or two in a team to make an "Active multi-view" camera which knows where to look at. The goal is to make the gimbal work and do some visual servoing controls. Contact Dr. YangQuan Chen for details.

2008-08-22T15:34:00.001-06:00

A person named Kris suggested this (on July 7, 2008):

A physically-challened husband needs a call button attached to a vibrating pad in the next room. His wife is on sedative prescriptions and can't hear him call her at night.

The charger to his electric wheel chair and his scooter are not working.

UAV Antenna Tracker

2008-08-11T15:20:00.006-06:00

At the Center for Self-Organizing and Intelligent Systems (CSOIS) we have a UAV project where we use UAVs for remote sensing (more info). To be able to travel long distances from the ground station, we need to use directional antennas to transmit the video and the data from the UAV. The problem with using directional antennas is that we have to always have them pointed at the UAV. Right now, we do this using an antenna rotator from radio shack. By using the antenna rotator, the user can control the orientation of the antenna by a control box which can be placed by the ground station computer. It would save a lot of time and improve our image quality, if this could be done automatically.

This could be done by writing a program on the GCS (ground control station) computer which takes the position of the UAV relative to the ground station, computes the heading of the UAV relative to the ground station and outputs that via USB. This message is transmitted to a piece of hardware which is interfaced to the antenna rotator and tells the antenna rotator where to point.

Difficulty: Medium
Commercial Potential: Low

UAV Antenna tracker

2008-08-11T15:17:00.001-06:00

We have a UAV project here at USU where we fly flying wing aircraft with cameras on them for aerial imaging. To allow the UAV to travel a long distance away from the base station, we have a couple directional antennas

Oscillloscope to Flashdrive Interface

2008-05-21T13:13:00.003-06:00

Students in the electronics labs have taken to using their cell phone cameras to take pictures of the oscilloscope screen for their lab reports. I think this is clever and, for what I want in a lab report, completely acceptable. However, some of scopes will also send the screen image to the printer via a IEEE488 (GPIB) bus and those scopes also have a a parallel printer port and an RS232 connector. It would be interesting project to add a flash drive interface to these scopes so that students could store a screen image to a file for later use.

(Note: The newer scopes in this series already have the flash drive interface.)

Over Stride Monitor for Sprinters

2008-01-11T13:05:00.000-07:00

Sprinters tend to over stride when they run. Over striding slows the runner because when the leading foot contacts the ground it is forward of the body and the force it initially applies to the runner is opposite of the direction of travel. A runner should stride just enough to plant the leg when it directly under their body. A device that both monitors over stride and paces a sprinter could be a useful training device.

Difficulty: Medium Hard
Commercial Potential: Low (there is just not a lot of money in sprinting)

Wireless Elevator Control Interface for the Wheel Chair Bound

2008-01-08T13:47:00.000-07:00

A short range wireless elevator control interface would benefit the wheelchair bound in that they would not have to manipulate their chairs to the control panels to choose a floor and then have to hurry to get out of the elevator before the doors close. With the wireless controller they could select floors and hold the door open. Security is an issue. You wouldn't want someone commandeering the elevator from a distance.

Difficulty: Medium High
Commercial Potential: Medium

More Effective Smoke and CO Detectors

2008-01-08T13:30:00.000-07:00

Smoke alarms and CO detectors generally do not wake sleeping children according to a news article that I read. As a case in point, my son (5yrs old) set a loud kitchen timer next to his bed the other night and, true to what he had set it for, it went off an hour and twenty minutes later. When I shut it off he hadn't moved an inch. There must be a better way to wake children: a recorded familiar voice, shaking the bed, lights in the room, etc. Also, having the alarm identify itself verbally would make it less disorienting in the middle of the night.

Difficulty: Medium (High if it involves any human experimentation)
Commercial Potential: High

Electronic Sun Compass

2008-01-08T11:32:00.000-07:00

Sun compasses are sun dial like devices that can be used with time to determine direction from the sun. The British used them in Northern Africa during World War Two. Commercial mechanical sun compasses are available and used in yachting as a backup if other systems fail.

I think it would be interesting to design an electronic version of the sun compass. Also, it would be interesting to know if you could get it to work through cloud cover by looking for some radiation that isn't effectively blocked or dispersed by the clouds.

Difficulty: Medium (without the cloud part) High (with the cloud part)
Commercial Potential: ??

Wireless, Real Time, Self-Powered Sensors

2008-01-08T11:00:00.001-07:00

A project that I worked on required that we instrument a large robotic arm (a backhoe). The sensors required wiring that ran the length of the arm. The wiring required protection due to harsh environments where backhoes work.

I think that a wireless sensor that could provide real time measurements for the arm controller would be and excellent project. I added the real time requirement because I am a control systems engineer and don't like old data. Adding a self-powering feature would steal some of the power required to move the arm to keep the sensors working.

Difficulty: High (for the whole project, it could possibly be divided)
Commercial Potential: High

An Ablative Gap Sensor (or an Even Better Idea!)

2008-01-08T10:31:00.000-07:00

Our company was once faced with the problem of measuring and adjusting the gap between the reel and bedknife of a golf course mower. Both parts wear due to contact with the grass that is clipped off between them and no absolute gap measurement is possible. We solved the problem in a less than ideal way by briefly contacting the reel and bedknife, but an absolute non-contact measurement would be better. One possibility would be to design a sensor that is implanted into the surface and wears (or ablates) with that surface. Other things that were discussed included electrical arcing, pressure variations when the bedknife moves relative to the reel, and acoustic resonance methods.

A reliable solution to this problem would have immediate commercial application and is likely patentable. Our less than ideal solution was patented and is in commercial development.

Difficultly: Medium High
Commercial Potential: High

Equine distress monitor

2007-12-27T14:59:00.000-07:00

Horses are subject to several life-threatening conditions that can occur during the night, often leading to death or serious illness by morning. One such condition is colic, which is the most common cause of death for horses. Horses can also become pinned in awkward positions, preventing them from standing back up after they lie down. Death and injury are easily prevented if these conditions are detected during the night, allowing barn staff to intervene in time to save the animal. Electronic monitoring devices exist, but are outdated and clunky.

Horses in high-end equine facilities can be valued at more than one million dollars, and most owners would be willing to invest in a suitable monitoring system if one were available. Equine science faculty estimate an initial US market on the order of 20,000 horses in 250 breeding facilities.

Objective: To develop a wireless equine monitoring system consisting of a low-power transmitting unit and a receiving computer. The transmitting sensor will be triggered by a mechanical tilt switch. Once triggered, the sensor will activate a sensitive accelerometer to monitor the horse's posture for several minutes. If the horse shows signs of colic, the computer will send a text message to the on-call barn staff to alert them of the condition. After several minutes of monitoring, the transmitter will power itself down to save battery life. The final system will ideally require battery replacements no more than twice per year.

The successful prototype design will be tested in USU's equine facility with the cooperation of USU's Equine Science faculty. The Equine Science staff will also assist in developing an appropriate packaging design that can be comfortably and safely attached to the horse for long periods.

Difficulty: Medium
Cost: Low
Commercial Potential: Low to Medium
Warm-Fuzzy Save-the-Animals Factor: High

all weather threat warning system

2007-12-21T15:18:00.000-07:00

After a recent visit with the a law enforcement agency this need surfaced. Here are some basic requirements that I came up with.

Objective: Develop a low cost, reliable, all weather threat warning system. This threat warning system would warn the law enforcement officer who is manning an isolated station alone, that an intruder (human) is approaching his position. The system could be mounted on a mast approximately 30 feet above the ground. The mast is retractable for easy of maintenance. This platform 30 feet above ground is approximately 12 inches by 24 inches and will be occupied with other electronic hardware. The threat warning system can be mounted either above the existing hardware or on the platform underneath. The System must have 360 degree coverage and work in all weather conditions and environments. The system must be light weight (a few pounds) and have a simple indicator to tell the law enforcement agent the direction (within 20 or 30 degrees) and distance (no less than 100 yards) to the threat. The warning system must have a low false alarm rate and be able to reject non threats such as animals.

(This is from Michael E. Snow at L3 Communications)

Difficulty: very high
Commercial potential: very high
Cost: high

Home intercom system

2007-12-21T15:16:00.000-07:00

Every home has a network of phone wires strung from room to room. Why not use these for a home intercom system. While you are at it, why not add some extra features:
- Call forwarding over intercom system
- Room paging
- House paging
- Caller id
- Call timing
- Answering machine

All this while still maintaining the basic phone functionality. And just for good measure, if there is DSL into the house, don't mess it up either.

Cool factor: medium
Difficutly: high
Commercial potential: high
Cost: low to moderate

Array processing

2007-12-21T15:10:00.000-07:00

With array processing, you can steer the direction of an array of antennas, sending energy in a particular direction, or listening in a particular direction.

Here in the department we have an array of microphones with data acquisition equipment (sampling boards). A very cool senior project would be to write some DSP-board software (using department equipment), then provide an interface to a GUI (say, using Matlab) which would do source localization and tracking on the screen. As a speaker moves around the room, the antenna array would mathematically track the position. This could be displayed using a room map.

Cool factor: High
Difficulty: high
Cost: low
Commerical potential --- could be!

Cell phone relay/extender

2007-12-21T15:08:00.000-07:00

There are places where cell phones just don't reach --- you can't here me now! One such place is the basement of the good old EL building.

A great senior project would be to design and build a cellphone extender. This would be an antenna system which would collect, amplify, and relay cellphone signals to and from cellphones and cell towers.

Difficulty level: high
Cool factor: high
Commercial potential: high