IDEAS: 2007 Projects
Capstone Senior Design ProjectsLa RemJenai Beddow, Natasha Dhingra, Trisha Leconte, Jessica Leduc Using home automation technology from the Echelon Corporation, the team designed a device to connect to community or Laundromat washing machines which sends a text message to the user's cell phone when the wash cycle is complete. The name of their device, La Rem, represents "the reminder." The students incorporated an automatic gas shutoff value to be triggered closed if the system detects significant shaking such as in an earthquake when there is danger of damage to gas lines. Responsive Treadmill ProjectWilliam Rauckhorst, Warren D. Tuscano Sensors were used to detect user and non-user position to ensure safe operation of the treadmill. Five ultrasonic sensors and a microcontroller were implemented as a closed-loop system. One sensor detects the position of the user and using a closed-loop differential gap control, the motor responds accordingly by increasing or decreasing the motor speed. The other four sensors were mounted to the rear of the treadmill and alert the user, both visually and audibly, that someone is approaching the treadmill from the rear. Non-Capstone ProjectsInteractive Exhibit Restoration at Happy Hollow Park & Zoo (San Jose, CA): How Much Does an Elephant Weigh?Todd Berk, Ammone Chapackdee, Brett Proctor, Ben Recktenwald, Lauren Ashly-Tojo Students rebuilt sections of a non-functioning interactive exhibit originally designed and built by the Lawrence Hall of Science in the 1970’s. Students performed an analysis of the system to determine how the exhibit was originally designed to function. Then, the students worked to specify and purchase modern components, then rewired and installed new components. The project also involved removing the exhibit module from the display case at the zoo, moving it to SCU for repairs, and then moving it back to the zoo to be re-installed and re-connected to power. Return to IDEAS homepage |
