Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
3 Monitor for Dough and Sourdough Starter
Honorable Mention
 Abhitya Krishnaraj
Alec Thompson
Jake Hayes
 Tianxiang Zheng design_document2.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
photo1.png
photo2.jpg
presentation1.pptx
proposal2.pdf
video
Team Members:
- Jake Hayes (jhayes)
- Abhitya Krishnaraj (abhitya2)
- Alec Thompson (alect3)

# Problem

Making bread at home, especially sourdough, has become very popular because it is an affordable way to get fresh-baked bread that's free of preservatives and other ingredients that many people are not comfortable with. Sourdough also has other health benefits such as a lower glycemic index and greater bioavailability of nutrients.

However, the bulk fermentation process (letting the dough rise) can be tricky and requires a lot of attention, which leads to many people giving up on making sourdough. Ideally, the dough should be kept at around 80 degrees F, which is warmer than most people keep their homes, so many people try to find a warm place in their home such as in an oven with a light on; but it's hard to know if the dough is kept at a good temperature. Other steps need to be taken when the dough has risen enough, but rise time varies greatly, so you can't just set a timer; and if you wait too long the dough can start to shrink again. In the case of activating dehydrated sourdough starter, this rise and fall is normal and must happen several times; and its peak volume is what tells you when it's ready to use.

# Solution

Our solution is to design a device with a distance sensor (probably ultrasonic) and a temperature sensor that can be attached to the underside of most types of lids, probably with magnets. The sensors would be controlled with a microcontroller; and a display (probably LCD) would show the minimum, current, and maximum heights of the dough along with the temperature. This way the user can see at a glance how much the dough has risen, whether it has already peaked and started to shrink, and whether the temperature is acceptable or not. There is no need to remove it from its warm place and uncover it, introducing cold air; and there is no need to puncture it to measure its height or use some other awkward method.

The device would require a PCB, microcontroller, sensors, display, and maybe some type of wireless communication. Other features could be added, such as an audible alarm or a graph of dough height and/or temperature over time.

# Solution Components

## Height and Temperature Sensors

Sensors would be placed on the part of the device that attaches to the underside of a lid. A temperature sensor would measure the ambient temperature near the dough to ensure the dough is kept at an acceptable temperature. A proximity sensor or sensors would first measure the height of the container, then begin measuring the height of the dough periodically. If we can achieve acceptable accuracy with one distance sensor, that would be ideal; otherwise we could use 2-4 sensors.

Possible temperature sensor: [Texas Instruments LM61BIZ/LFT3](https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/texas-instruments/LM61BIZ%252FLFT3/12324753)

Proximity sensors could be ultrasonic, infrared LED, or VCSEL.\
Ultrasonic: [Adafruit ULTRASONIC SENSOR SONAR DISTANCE 3942](https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/adafruit-industries-llc/3942/9658069)\
IR LED: [Vishay VCNL3020-GS18](https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Vishay-Semiconductors/VCNL3020-GS18?qs=5csRq1wdUj612SFHAvx1XQ%3D%3D)\
VCSEL: [Vishay VCNL36826S](https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Vishay-Semiconductors/VCNL36826S?qs=d0WKAl%252BL4KbhexPI0ncp8A%3D%3D)

## MCU

An MCU reads data from the sensors and displays it in an easily understandable format on the LCD display. It also reads input from the user interface and adjusts the operation and/or output accordingly. For example, when the user presses the button to reset the minimum dough height, the MCU sends a signal to the proximity sensor to measure the distance, then the MCU reads the data, calculates the height, and makes the display show it as the minimum height.

Possible MCU: [STM32F303K8T6TR](https://www.mouser.com/ProductDetail/STMicroelectronics/STM32F303K8T6TR?qs=sPbYRqrBIVk%252Bs3Q4t9a02w%3D%3D)

## Digital Display
- A [4x16 Character LCD](https://newhavendisplay.com/4x16-character-lcd-stn-blue-display-with-white-side-backlight/) would attach to the top of the lid and display the lowest height, current height, maximum height, and temperature.

## User Interface

The UI would attach to the top of the lid and consist of a number of simple switches and push buttons to control the device. For example, a switch to turn the device on and off, a button to measure the height of the container, a button to reset the minimum dough height, etc.

Possible switch: [E-Switch RA1113112R](https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/e-switch/RA1113112R/3778055)\
Possible button: [CUI Devices TS02-66-50-BK-160-LCR-D](https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/cui-devices/TS02-66-50-BK-160-LCR-D/15634352)

## Power
- Rechargeable Lithium Ion battery capable of staying on for a few rounds of dough ([2000 mAh](https://www.microcenter.com/product/503621/Lithium_Ion_Battery_-_37v_2000mAh) or more) along with a USB charging port and the necessary circuitry to charge the battery. The two halves of the device (top and underside of lid) would probably be wired together to share power and send and receive data.

## (stretch goal) Wireless Notification System
- Push notifications to a user’s phone whenever the dough has peaked. This would likely be an add-on achieved with a Raspberry Pi Zero, Gotify, and Tailscale.

# Criterion For Success

- Charge the battery and operate on battery power for at least 10 hours, but ideally a few days for wider use cases and convenience.
- Accurately read (within a centimeter) and store distance values, convert distance to dough height, and display the minimum, maximum, and current height values on a display.
- Accurately read and report the temperature to the display.
- (stretch goal) Inform the user when the dough has peaked (visual, audio, or app based).

El Durazno Wind Turbine Project

Alexander Hardiek, Saanil Joshi, Ganpath Karl

El Durazno Wind Turbine Project

Featured Project

Partners: Alexander Hardiek (ahardi6), Saanil Joshi (stjoshi2), and Ganpath Karl (gkarl2)

Project Description: We have decided to innovate a low cost wind turbine to help the villagers of El Durazno in Guatemala access water from mountains, based on the pitch of Prof. Ann Witmer.

Problem: There is currently no water distribution system in place for the villagers to gain access to water. They have to travel my foot over larger distances on mountainous terrain to fetch water. For this reason, it would be better if water could be pumped to a containment tank closer to the village and hopefully distributed with the help of a gravity flow system.

There is an electrical grid system present, however, it is too expensive for the villagers to use. Therefore, we need a cheap renewable energy solution to the problem. Solar energy is not possible as the mountain does not receive enough solar energy to power a motor. Wind energy is a good alternative as the wind speeds and high and since it is a mountain, there is no hindrance to the wind flow.

Solution Overview: We are solving the power generation challenge created by a mismatch between the speed of the wind and the necessary rotational speed required to produce power by the turbine’s generator. We have access to several used car parts, allowing us to salvage or modify different induction motors and gears to make the system work.

We have two approaches we are taking. One method is converting the induction motor to a generator by removing the need of an initial battery input and using the magnetic field created by the magnets. The other method is to rewire the stator so the motor can spin at the necessary rpm.

Subsystems: Our system components are split into two categories: Mechanical and Electrical. All mechanical components came from a used Toyota car such as the wheel hub cap, serpentine belt, car body blade, wheel hub, torsion rod. These components help us covert wind energy into mechanical energy and are already built and ready. Meanwhile, the electrical components are available in the car such as the alternator (induction motor) and are designed by us such as the power electronics (AC/DC converters). We will use capacitors, diodes, relays, resistors and integrated circuits on our printed circuit boards to develop the power electronics. Our electrical components convert the mechanical energy in the turbine into electrical energy available to the residents.

Criterion for success: Our project will be successful when we can successfully convert the available wind energy from our meteorological data into electricity at a low cost from reusable parts available to the residents of El Durazno. In the future, their residents will prototype several versions of our turbine to pump water from the mountains.