Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
72 Automatic Window/Blind Regulator
Austin Chong
Mahdi Almosa
Marco Oyarzun
Douglas Yu design_document1.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
presentation1.pptx
proposal1.pdf
proposal2.pdf
Automatic Window/Blind Regulator

Team Members:
- aichong2
- oyarzun2
- malmosa2


# Problem

Waking up in the morning could pose a difficult challenge, especially when the temperature is too hot/cold or there isn't enough natural light in the room. In order for most people to fall asleep, the thermostat mostly takes care of the regulating temperature and they keep the blinds shut, however, some people prefer natural air and lighting in their homes instead. This could be an annoyance when the windows and blinds need to be changed manually.


# Solution

Our solution is to make a fully automated window/blind regulating system that opens the window and blinds according to different environment conditions. The solution to wanted air could be an automated device that opens and closes the windows at the correct temperatures and interior air quality levels. There would also be an additional security component that uses an outside-facing camera that tells the system to close the window if a security threat is detected or if the weather is poor (rain/snow). Also, if the air quality is low (smoke/pollution), the window would close in accordance with that. Conversely, if the air quality is poor inside then the window would open to allow fresh air to enter. Air quality and weather conditions would be updated in real time via the internet. According to the reading of the thermostat, the windows could be opened/closed in order to have a good temperature regulation in the room. Additionally, the blinds could open at sunrise and close at sunset or do both as custom times.


# Solution Components

## Subsystem 1

# Power supply system
The system will need varying levels of voltage, so either a wall outlet or battery can provide power that is then converted to DC to power the digital components.

# Opening mechanism
The system will need servos to open the window and blinds. This subsystem will receive signals from the microcontroller unit to determine when and how much to open the window or blinds.

# Control unit
This is where the microcontroller will operate. It will take input data from the temperature, air quality, and weather conditions (as well as current time) and move the servos accordingly.


# Criterion For Success

The first goal for this project would be to be able to open/close certain windows and blinds. There are a variety of windows that have different manual functions, some having a pulling system where others have to pull and lock. This would be the first challenge and most likely the most difficult milestone.

The next goal would be to connect the window regulator to a thermostat, to the internet, and to temperature and air quality sensors, in order to detect when to open/close the windows appropriately.

Another goal would be to have the blinds open or close at specific times, mainly before and after dark.

Automatic Piano Tuner

Joseph Babbo, Colin Wallace, Riley Woodson

Automatic Piano Tuner

Featured Project

# Automatic Piano Tuner

Team Members:

- Colin Wallace (colinpw2)

- Riley Woodson (rileycw2)

- Joseph Babbo (jbabbo2)

# Problem

Piano tuning is a time-consuming and expensive process. An average piano tuning will cost in the $100 - $200 range and a piano will have to be retuned multiple times to maintain the correct pitch. Due to the strength required to alter the piano pegs it is also something that is difficult for the less physically able to accomplish.

# Solution

We hope to bring piano tuning to the masses by creating an easy to use product which will be able to automatically tune a piano by giving the key as input alongside playing the key to get the pitch differential and automatically turning the piano pegs until they reach the correct note.

# Solution Components

## Subsystem 1 - Motor Assembly

A standard tuning pin requires 8-14 nm of torque to successfully tune. We will thus need to create a motor assembly that is able to produce enough torque to rotate standard tuning pins.

## Subsystem 2 - Frequency Detector/Tuner

The device will use a microphone to gather audio measurements. Then a microprocessor processes the audio data to detect the pitch and determine the difference from the desired frequency. This can then generate instructions for the motor; direction to turn pegs and amount to turn it by.

## Subsystem 3 - User Interface/Display Panel

A small but intuitive display and button configuration can be used for this device. It will be required for the user to set the key being played using buttons on the device and reading the output of the display. As the device will tune by itself after hearing the tone, all that is required to display is the current key and octave. A couple of buttons will suffice to be able to cycle up and down keys and octaves.

## Subsystem 4 - Replaceable Battery/Power Supply

Every commercial product should use standard replaceable batteries, or provide a way for easy charging. As we want to develop a handheld device, so that the device doesn’t have to drag power wires into the piano, we will need a rechargeable battery pack.

# Criterion For Success

The aim of the Automatic Piano Tuner is to allow the user to automatically tune piano strings based on a key input alongside playing a note. We have several goals to help us meet this aim:

- Measure pitch accurately, test against known good pitches

- Motor generates enough torque to turn the pegs on a piano

- Tuner turns correctly depending on pitch

- Easy tuning of a piano by a single untrained person

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