Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
19 Wireless programmable keypad with LED display
 Nguyen Phan
Wei-Tang Wang
Yihan Liu
 Xinrui Zhu appendix0.rar
design_document0.pdf
final_paper0.pdf
other0.pdf
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presentation0.pptx
proposal0.pdf
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Team members:
Yihan Liu
Nguyen Phan

Description:
The goal of the project is to build a wireless fully programmable keypad with LED screens displaying each key’s current functionality. If the client reassigns a certain key a new value (or a macro), the pattern on the corresponding screen will change to a new one – a digit, a letter, or some abstract graph. In case the client forgets the meaning of a certain key, the pattern could remind him.

Minor features:
Multiple modes.
Mode 1: number key pad. Most 13’ laptops don’t have it.
Mode 2: multimedia controller. Play or pause the current music or video on the host computer, change the brightness of the screen etc.
First two are predefined and the client could use them directly.
Mode 3: user-defined functionality. It should support macros.
Client can one-click to switch between these modes.
Saving energy.
If the keypad has no activity for a long period of time, the LED screens should be dimmed or even turned off in order to reduce the power consumption. It will be back to active status if the user click a key.

Components:
Power supply. A 9-volt battery should be sufficient to power the device.
Voltage regulator. A DC-to-DC converter is capable for accepting a wide range of voltage as input and provide the rest of the circuit with a stable voltage source.
Transceiver. We will purchase a Bluetooth module on market and use the corresponding existing firmware. Basically, we will consider it as a black box – bits from microcontroller will be encoded and transmitted to the host, and vice versa the microcontroller receives decoded bits stream from this component.
Keys. Either 3x6 or 4x4 push button switches will be used to stimulate the real keys. In order to save GPIO of the microcontroller, they will be connected by grid of wires to form a matrix. One switch (or key if you call it) is reserved so that the client can switch between modes by one-clicking it. The rest keys are fully programmable.
LED screen. A single large LED screen or a multitude small surface mount LEDs will be used.
Microcontroller. As the data path and control unit of the whole circuit, every other component will be connected to it. A second minor microcontroller might be used as a GPU to solely handle the display of LED screen if the major one’s duty is too heavy.
Miscellaneous. Power button – slide switch. Power level indicator – one red and one green LED. Signal strength indicator – a series of monochrome LEDs.

Other features we might add:
The client could manually change the brightness of the LED screens by a rotating a disc-like switch.
An IF sensor that detect the existence of the client. If the hand of client is close to the keypad, the device should be reactivated from idle status.

Cloud-controlled quadcopter

Anuraag Vankayala, Amrutha Vasili

Cloud-controlled quadcopter

Featured Project

Idea:

To build a GPS-assisted, cloud-controlled quadcopter, for consumer-friendly aerial photography.

Design/Build:

We will be building a quad from the frame up. The four motors will each have electronic speed controllers,to balance and handle control inputs received from an 8-bit microcontroller(AP),required for its flight. The firmware will be tweaked slightly to allow flight modes that our project specifically requires. A companion computer such as the Erle Brain will be connected to the AP and to the cloud(EC2). We will build a codebase for the flight controller to navigate the quad. This would involve sending messages as per the MAVLink spec for sUAS between the companion computer and the AP to poll sensor data , voltage information , etc. The companion computer will also talk to the cloud via a UDP port to receive requests and process them via our code. Users make requests for media capture via a phone app that talks to the cloud via an internet connection.

Why is it worth doing:

There is currently no consumer-friendly solution that provides or lets anyone capture aerial photographs of them/their family/a nearby event via a simple tap on a phone. In fact, present day off-the-shelf alternatives offer relatively expensive solutions that require owning and carrying bulky equipment such as the quads/remotes. Our idea allows for safe and responsible use of drones as our proposed solution is autonomous, has several safety features, is context aware(terrain information , no fly zones , NOTAMs , etc.) and integrates with the federal airspace seamlessly.

End Product:

Quads that are ready for the connected world and are capable to fly autonomously, from the user standpoint, and can perform maneuvers safely with a very simplistic UI for the common user. Specifically, quads which are deployed on user's demand, without the hassle of ownership.

Similar products and comparison:

Current solutions include RTF (ready to fly) quads such as the DJI Phantom and the Kickstarter project, Lily,that are heavily user-dependent or user-centric.The Phantom requires you to carry a bulky remote with multiple antennas. Moreover,the flight radius could be reduced by interference from nearby conditions.Lily requires the user to carry a tracking device on them. You can not have Lily shoot a subject that is not you. Lily can have a maximum altitude of 15 m above you and that is below the tree line,prone to crashes.

Our solution differs in several ways.Our solution intends to be location and/or event-centric. We propose that the users need not own quads and user can capture a moment with a phone.As long as any of the users are in the service area and the weather conditions are permissible, safety and knowledge of controlling the quad are all abstracted. The only question left to the user is what should be in the picture at a given time.

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