Electrical and Computer Engineering design symposium
Every year at this time, senior engineering students present their final design projects in the Davis Centre and compete for awards. In the past, some outstanding projects have become today’s technologies, such as BufferBox, a self-service parcel delivery kiosk that is already in use today.
This year, from March 16 to March 23, approximately 750 students have presented more than 150 design projects. On March 21 from 9:30 a.m. to 8:00 p.m., students from electrical and computer engineering were presenting their hard works through these months. Here, we will present you with some of the best projects at the electrical and computer engineering design symposium.
Muscle activation detection gear
As much as people realize the importance of workout, they also understand the importing of exercise scientifically and effectively. The problem is, the instructions on workout machines are generally too brief and too general to give real facts of your workout status. It might tell you how many calories you lost, but it rarely tells you which muscle you are actually working on and what is your limit. Performing exercises improperly or to an excess amount is harmful to your body.
This year, a muscle activation detection gear is invented, to help you with this concern. Also awarded as Cup Runner-up Awards for best overall design project, the team of Dhananja Jayalath, Christopher Wiebe, Ryan Mann, and Neil Olij came up with a special kind of clothing that tells you all the information you need in the gym.
They integrate Electromyography (EMG) sensors into clothing, located on key muscle groups and measure voltage changes in these muscles as you start exercising. After collecting the data, all measurements are organized and displayed to the person. The finished product is easy to use and affordable, and it can instantly provide users with accurate exercise feedback.
Guitar “autotabber”
If you have ever tried composing music in guitar, you must have conquered some frustrations of jumping back and forth between writing tablature and rehearsing on guitar. Now with guitar “autotabber,” gaining an Infusion Cup Award for best overall design project this year, you will be able to stay away from this long and tedious process. This project was created by Nicholas Lordello, Michael Hughes, Tarek Fahmy, Erika Janitz, and Jordan Morris. They have developed an automatic tabulation device for electric guitars, which consists of two parts: a specialized pickup to be inserted beneath the strings and a pedal to be used to toggle the system.
The specialized pickup is able to convert vibrations of strings into signals that will later be analyzed by Fourier Transforms, and computer software will format the incoming frequencies and translate them into tablature. This Autotabber package can be added to existing guitar systems, and is able to detect various playing techniques on a per-string basis; this unique feature is not currently provided in the market.
Portable multimedia RF transmitter
Connecting a computer to a standard TV is a frustrating process; figuring out which plug goes into which is not all there is to it. You also have to stand the multiple electric circuits across the room. What is worse, depending on the location of your TV, you might not even be able to connect it to a computer through cables. To solve this problem, Jiazheng Li, Michael Bieniek Mikhail Zakharov, Mustafa Al Izzi, and Majd Sarsam have together invented a USB NTSC audio/video transmitter, which basically turns a computer into an over-the-air broadcast station.
As the winner of the ECE award for best seminar, this project provides you the option to not physically connect a computer to the TV while still using it as a computer screen. The hardware aspect includes a wireless transmitter, NTSC encoder, audio encoder and micro controller interfaced through USB 2.0. Additional software will decode a video file into a format that is compatible to the hardware.
Hybrid communication system
Internet lag is a problem, especially for university students. A group of engineering students, Darrin D’Mello, Ester Bogod, and Andrew Shea, came up with a hybrid communication system by using two or more network mediums simultaneously.
Winning the AMD award for most innovative design project, the hybrid system is able to provide enhanced connectivity. To demonstrate this idea, they showcased a master/slave system consisting of two personal computers. A virtue network consisting of a wireless and power-line channel is also used. When the virtual network specifically supports transfer of binary files, an additional communication medium can be used to supplement it, and is able to transfer more data and mitigate damage of noise or interference on either medium. This idea can be used in routers and network cards to enhance connectivity.
Centre Strike: Advanced bowling control system
This year’s award for best poster goes to Centre Strike, created by Timothy Worboys, Fawzy Manaa, Gurjaushan Singh, Ho-Wook Lee, and Joon Won. Centre Strike will be able to help bowling alley owners modernize their service by redesigning and further developing the control and user interfaces.
The system consists of a point of sale, control and scoring system, and social networking platform. Then entire system is easy to use and innovative in using technologies that were not used in the bowling industry. It will help them in attracting more customers and thus making more money.
Circuit sense: iOS circuit simulator and image processing engine
Helping scientists with their labs is as important as improving lives of people directly. This project is aimed at saving scientists from their time consuming process of analyzing electrical circuits, using computer-based tools. Receiving Infusion Cup Runner-up Awards for best overall design project, Matthew Pillar, Suganthan Nandakumar, Bryan Paratian, Carl Bangloy, and Nierojan Pushparajan have invented an image processing algorithm that will parse handwritten electrical drawings into an output netlist that is readable by computer. This project also integrates its algorithm into an iPhone application for portability.
By utilising this algorithm, people can choose to view their handwritten drawings as a netlist or a simulation of the circuit. It distinguishes itself from any other computer-based tool by the option of inputting a handwritten circuit diagram. In iPhone, the software makes the output available through a web server. This application can also be extended to desktop computers by a camera or scanner.
LifePulse: wearable m-health device
Numerous people have experience of the huge line-up in hospitals and the inability to see a doctor on time in Canada. With the LifePulse, invented by Nevin McCallum, Sheran Wiratunga, Emmanuel Devries, and Timothy Boyadjian, this problem will no longer cause concern. As the AMD award for most socially responsible design project, LifePulse is a prototype mobile platform that can diagnose users on a basic level. With a compact wireless earpiece, it can measure the wearer’s vitals, including heart rate and blood oxygenation using photoplethysmography (PPG). As iPhone 4S or a portable computer receives data via Bluetooth, it can display data in real time and processes it to show patients’ stress level.
Compared to some similar products, LifePulse is convenient and able to provide 24/7 health monitoring. The whole piece is estimated $30, and is applicable to stress management, sleep disorders, sports training, cardiac arrhythmia diagnosis and cardiac arrest alarm.