electrical and computer engineering

DeparTmenT oF eleCTrICal anD CompuTer enGIneerInG projeCTs

DEpartmEnt Chair dr. biswaJit das

sEnior DEsign instruCtor dr. ming zhu

vision iQ

Project Participants Steven Lee, Ron Joshua Recrio & Tenniel Takenaka-Fuller

Instructor Dr. Ming Zhu

Problem Identified

Our project seeks to help companies become more buyer-centric. Eye-tracking can give companies an idea of what draws their customer’s attention, how customers engage with products, and what influences buyer’s decisions.

Current Solutions

Tobii eye tracking software already exists in the current market.

Team’s Solution

Our team’s solution is to build a low cost and lightweight eye tracking device. Existing products are extremely expensive (upwards of thousands of dollars), and the headgear is bulky, heavy, and a little awkward. Our project is a casual solution with a low price point, making it accessible to anyone, ranging from small business owners to large companies, or even to students who want to participate in eye-tracking for research.

homie

Project Participants Rhyan Daniel Granados, Lyuben Hristov & David Pajar

Instructor Dr. Ming Zhu

Problem Identified

Many smart devices and systems already exist in the market and have become more common in households. However, these implementations have not yet been applied to large-scale commercial use. Reasons for this are that these smart systems and devices are often outside of a feasible price range and there is a lack of full support for devices that don’t connect to wireless networks. The goal of our project is to develop an affordable smart system for implementation in hotels, businesses, or households.

Current Solutions

Our research indicates that there are various solutions in the marketplace and different types of smart devices (Alexa, Google Nest, Amazon Echo Plus, Apple HomePod), but a majority of them have high price tags and their designs are inconveniently large. Additionally, the cost effectiveness of competitors is limited due to expensive products, averaging over hundreds of dollars per smart device.

Team’s Solution

The implementation of this technology is expensive and scarce due to the high costs of manufacturing, installation and maintenance. These products contain limited measures and are specialized in one area, whereas ours caters to the user, business and/or facility at a low price. Individuals who want to renovate their homes into smart homes, along with businesses such as hotels, and public facilities such as hospitals will benefit from our project’s versatility and low price point.

pick AnD plAce robot

Project Participants Jiajian Chen & Elizabeth Heider

Instructor

Dr. Ming Zhu

Faculty Advisor Dr. Venkatesan Muthukumar

Community Advisors Jeff Markle & Terry Kell

Problem Identified

In large warehouses, such as an Amazon warehouse, human labor is still used to sort items before they are shipped to customers. As robots are being developed to perform such duties, they are not used just yet due to the heavy costs and unreliability of the current systems available now.

Current Solutions

Currently, there are many automated robotic systems running in many retail warehouses, but they are limited. A common pattern seen comparing operations in many facilities, is robots moving and organizing units, and humans sorting items within the units. Amazon holds an annual “Amazon Picking Challenge” for high school and higher education students to help find solutions and improvements to their current operations.

Team’s Solution

The Pick and Place Robot is a cost-friendly approach to creating a reliable automated system for sorting items. Within a shipping center, safety, reliability, and continuing production are the main priorities. A corporation’s largest priority is lowering expenses and increasing revenue. The Pick and Place Robot utilizes simple computer vision tools to identify and measure objects, and is constructed of basic electronic components. With a reliable system being automated, the shipping and handling process will become even faster, and anyone who’s an online shopper will benefit. With fewer human employees on warehouse floors, this can also improve safety, as well as prevent the spread of illnesses. Although it is a small scale of what could be produced, our solution is a step closer to faster and more reliable production.

smArt stepper

Project Participants Itzel Becerril, John Patrick Buen & Serak Gebremedhin

Instructor Faculty Advisor

Dr. Ming Zhu Dr. Venkatesan Muthukumar

Problem Identified

Abnormal gait disorder affects nearly one fourth of the world’s population, with children developing this condition at the ages of 3 or 5. This disorder can create future gait complications such as bunions, poor balance, pain in ankle/leg, and/or difficulty walking. It is estimated between 7% to 24% of children suffer from a condition known as toe-walking. The use of our design will help target this walking disorder (i.e. toewalking) before any of the above-mentioned complications become permanent.

Current Solutions

There are a handful of products that have attempted to prevent toe-walking/bunions such as insoles, shoes, or therapeutic equipment. In terms of therapeutic solutions, there are braces, alignment socks, and splints that are used to correct bunions. Certain insoles offer arch support to prevent bunions from worsening while providing cushioning. Podiatrists also recommend shoes that are developed to support the use of the insoles mentioned earlier, while providing proper support for the toes, balls of the feet, and heels.

Team’s Solution

Therapeutic solutions consist of a material that wraps around the foot to slowly correct the bunion after daily use; however, this solution is not a preventative, but rather a corrective solution. Other products like ours offer an insole, but the insole is used as a tool to collect data on the user’s gait because our project wants to correct the user’s gait with haptic feedback (i.e. vibrations) to the user’s foot. Other market insoles are designed with certain support to adjust the foot to a normal walking position, but they offer no guarantee of progress, or the prevention of toe-walking. Our design will slowly rehabilitate one’s gait to prevent future complications. The haptic feedback that our design will give to the user consists of a small coin motor that will vibrate to notify the user of their incorrect walking gait. This will slowly rehabilitate the user’s gait through self-correction. This design will also prevent younger children from developing an abnormal gait disorder due to the feedback it will give them; thus, our solution is preventative, so that users can avoid future health issues. Though our design is targeted at younger children, it could also be used by adults who want to improve their gait to avoid worsening their condition, which will make our solution both preventative and corrective, depending on the age of the user and the severity of their condition.

spirit tAnk

Project Participants Dillon Archibald & Geovanni Portillo

Instructor Community Advisors

Dr. Ming Zhu Jennifer Clark & Brandon Martin

Problem Identified

The main issue our project aims to address is that growing and harvesting fresh spirulina, a nutritionally dense algae, requires a considerable amount of attention and time, along with moderate technical skill. By automating the cultivation process, we want to make it easier to grow spirulina, as well as to increase the output.

Current Solutions

Powdered spirulina supplements currently represent a $400 million industry, but the drying process results in a product with an unpleasant taste, and only 20% the nutrition of fresh spirulina. Many powdered supplements were found to be contaminated with heavy metals that they absorbed from the polluted outdoor environment they were grown in. Raw spirulina is a perishable commodity that is prohibitively expensive to ship and distribute to all but the most affluent consumers, necessitating decentralized production without reduction of quality or safety. Currently, growing fresh spirulina at home as a DIY project is time consuming and requires moderate skill, and is therefore inaccessible to most consumers.

Team’s Solution

The Spirit Tank is an automated system for cultivating spirulina that requires minimal help, so that it is easy to grow your own food at home or for a business. A chemical batch tank mixes and dispenses solutions to grow and feed the culture in the culture tank. Using an array of sensors, multiple aspects such as temperature, water level, and pH are monitored, so that elements such as light and heat can be controlled, with an effort to maximize the spirulina output. Athletes, health conscious supplement users, and anyone who wants to grow their own superfood to be more food-independent can use the Spirit Tank, without any technical skill or time investment required.

the bAristA

Project Participants Jose Cortez, Riddhi Patel & Kaylee Spencer

Instructor Dr. Ming Zhu

Problem Identified

Our main goal is to be able to assist bartenders on their busiest nights. We also want customers to have a more convenient experience with shorter wait times, and be able to easily order custom cocktails.

Current Solutions

There have been similar implementations at Planet Hollywood Hotel and Casino with The Tipsy Robot, which is a large pair of robotic arms that prepare alcoholic drinks.

Team’s Solution

Our team’s solution is an automated cocktail maker that allows bartenders to work on their own tasks as the BARista makes cocktails ordered through an app. This gives bartenders more time to focus on other customer requests, while cocktails are still being made. Those that will benefit from having our project are restaurants and bars that tend to get busy and could use an extra hand. The BARista also takes up less area in comparison to other similar products; our project makes cocktails by passing cups through a conveyor belt, making the overall design more compact.