Download PROJECT PROPOSAL

PROJECT PROPOSAL
1. Team Members:
Maisee Brown
Hoang Nguyen
Chris Andrews
Omar Alattar
2. Four ideas for the term project:
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Inertial Guidance System (IGS): An IGS system is used to determine location relative to a
reference point independent of outside stimulus like magnetic fields, radio waves, GPS signals,
etc. In this project, we want to use accelerometer sensors and gyroscope to determine the
movement of human body; and a microcontroller will analyze these signals and recognize
certain movement patterns as particular ASCII characters. Therefore, we could make a
human/machine interface device for typing based on IGS.
RFID: the target is to build an RFID-based system where the user activates RFIDs on their
clothing to send signals to change the temperature in the room or select a song on their iPods.
The RFIDs for the project could be manufactured ourselves using some attainable printer
technology.
Linear Variable Differential Transformer (LVDT). The LVDT is a sensor that converts linear
mechanical displacement to a DC voltage signal. This device can be highly accurate (several
millionths of a meter resolution) and robust (there is no electrical or mechanical connection
between the moving and non-moving parts) making this device employable in corrosive
environments. The idea is to develop a LVDT which is employable in a machine shop or
manufacturing environment with a portable power supply. The LVDT would be designed to
have a resolution 10 times better than conventional mechanical travel indicators and could also
network with a computer and download real-time position information that could be analyzed
by software to determine out of round condition in shafts, machinery vibration, etc... The
hardware would be robust and the software flexible enough to be utilized in a real
manufacturing setting to calibrate machines and detect manufacturing defects by machinists or
technicians.
Digital Pong: The idea is to build a board with 3 rows of LEDs that represent the motion of a ball
across the table. There are two players that send signals to the board via infrared sensors to
control the ‘ball’. The blinking speed of each LED row will be increased over time in order to
increase the difficulty level.
3. The method used to choose the final project is based on these criteria:
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Feasibility: this criterion is used to evaluate the project complexity. A project with more points
will have a higher possibility of being accomplished in 9 weeks.
Uniqueness level: this criterion is used to evaluate the originality of the projects. A project with
a higher score means few or nobody has done it before.
ECE 411
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PROJECT PROPOSAL
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Applicability: this standard is used to see if the project is applicable to some real world problem.
For example, Digital Pong table is made for entertainment. Therefore, we will consider its
applicability in terms of playability and entertaining value. A project with higher point will have
higher applicability level.
Skill set: this is used to consider the variety of technical skills needed to accomplish the project.
A higher score means that the workload distributes well across the skill sets of the team
members.
Grading potential: this criterion is used to evaluate which project will have a higher potential to
get an ‘A’ after being finished.
All criteria are on a 0-5 scale.
Project
Feasibility
Uniqueness
level
3
Applicability
Skill Set
Inertial
1
4
5
Guidance
System (IGS)
RFID
2
4
4
4
Linear Variable
1
4
4
4
Differential
Transformer
(LVDT)
Digital Pong
4
4
4
5
Based on the table above, we decided to choose Digital Pong as our final decision.
ECE 411
Grading
Potential
5
Total
point
18
5
5
19
18
5
22
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PROJECT PROPOSAL
Digital Pong Table
Project Team:
Maisee Brown
Hoang Nguyen
Chris Andrews
Omar Alattar
Project Wiki:
https://projects.cecs.pdx.edu/projects/fa2011ece411-pong
Components involved:
Atmel ATMegaxxx processor
2 shift registers
2 to 4 Decoder
2 8x8 LED Matrices
2 seven segment displays
Miscellaneous wires and other small components
Description of project:
The project will be a game board contrived from the concept of the digital pong game. It will be a two
player game. Our board will contain a matrix of LEDs where each row will be a track the lights will “run”
on. The lights will bounce from one side to other with each player signaling infrared sensors, with some
sort of paddle, to “catch” the light on the row coming at them and signal another infrared sensor to
return the lights on the row of their choosing. The speed of the lights will incrementally speed up after
each player has had the same number of tries at each speed. Points will be awarded to the other player
when a player fails to catch and return the lights. The score of the current game will be kept on two
seven segment displays and when a player reaches nine the winning score will flash to signify the end of
the game. We will also have a level indicator that will increment as the speed level increases. A possible
addiction, if time permits, is to add an option of playing a one player game against the computer for
practice purposes or to see how high of a speed level the player can reach on their own.
ECE 411
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