Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
59 QR code tracking drone
Alexander Amiel
Angelos Guan
Umer Belagam
Chaitanya Sindagi design_document1.pdf
design_document2.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
final_paper2.pdf
presentation1.pptx
proposal1.pdf
Team Members:
Umer Belagam - belagam2
Alexander Amiel - aamiel2
Angelos Tingrui Guan - tguan2


Problem Statement: Many drones use a controller, like a game controller, to fly it. This is usually enabled with one’s phone to keep track of location and to be used as a camera to see where the drone is looking. What happens if the phone dies? if someone gets a call/notification, this can exit the camera mode from the phone/controller. What if the drone is locked onto a person, but it doesn’t know which one to focus on?

Solution Overview:
Use a unique pattern (Ex. a QR code or a simple unique shape) for the user to hold in order to control the drone. This would solve the problem where there are multiple people in sight and the drone may follow the wrong user.
The drone would detect the pattern and follow it from a fixed distance and at a direct angle.
When the pattern is not detected, the drone would halt in its current position and display warning with LED and alarm on board. The user can then hold the pattern in front of the camera for the drone to detect and follow.
Potentially use rotatable camera for better tracking and more degree of freedom
Use different patterns to indicate different commands like flying to the ground and shut down or potentially changing the distance the drone would keep from the pattern. Give priority orders to the commands to avoid confusion if multiple patterns are detected.

Solution Components:
- Sensor Subsystem
- Flight/navigation control: GPS, accelerometer, gyroscope and magnetic sensors to keep
the drone flying upright and stay in position when it needs to.
- Obstacle avoidance: ultrasonic sensors on each side
- Object detection: camera
- Power Subsystem: Lithium ion batteries and a USB charging and discharging control circuit.
- Electronic Speed Control and motors: 4 BLDC motors and 4 ESCs to control each of them
- Camera Mount: 3d printed camera mount for the raspberry pi camera with servo controlled tilt

Criterion for Success:
The drone can detect the pose & distance of the QR code
The drone can successfully track QR code’s trajectory within some error boundary

Similar Projects and Competitors:
The DJI Gesture tracking drones already presents a solution for this that tracks a drone using different hand gestures. They don’t always work reliably and the drone can get confused on which person's hands to track if there are multiple people.

Questions for the TA:
Are there any consumer drones/flight controllers you recommend for us to look at
- Should we buy a ready made flight controller with all the sensors and a microcontroller to use those inputs for controlling the motors or should we make our own flight controller?
- Any other method for tracking aside from a QR code like pattern.

Active Cell Balancing for Solar Vehicle Battery Pack

Tara D'Souza, John Han, Rohan Kamatar

Featured Project

# Problem

Illini Solar Car (ISC) utilizes lithium ion battery packs with 28 series modules of 15 parallel cells each. In order to ensure safe operation, each battery cell must remain in its safe voltage operating range (2.5 - 4.2 V). Currently, all modules charge and discharge simultaneously. If any single module reaches 4.2V while charging, or 2.5V while discharging, the car must stop charging or discharging, respectively. During normal use, it is natural for the modules to become unbalanced. As the pack grows more unbalanced, the capacity of the entire battery pack decreases as it can only charge and discharge to the range of the lowest capacity module. An actively balanced battery box would ensure that we utilize all possible charge during the race, up to 5% more charge based on previous calculations.

# Solution Overview

We will implement active balancing which will redistribute charge in order to fully utilize the capacity of every module. This system will be verified within a test battery box so that it can be incorporated into future solar vehicles.

Solution Components:

- Test Battery Box (Hardware): The test battery box provides an interface to test new battery management circuitry and active balancing.

- Battery Sensors (Hardware): The current battery sensors for ISC do not include hardware necessary for active balancing. The revised PCB will include the active balancing components proposed below while also including voltage and temperature sensing for each cell.

- Active Balancing Circuit (Hardware): The active balancing circuit includes a switching regulator IC, transformers, and the cell voltage monitors.

- BMS Test firmware (Software): The Battery Management System requires new firmware to control and test active balancing.

# Criterion for Success

- Charge can be redistributed from one module to another during discharge and charge, to be demonstrated by collected data of cell voltages over time.

- BMS can control balancing.

- The battery pack should always be kept within safe operating conditions.

- Test battery box provides a safe and usable platform for future tests.