Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
9 Package Anti-Theft System
 John Graft
John Simonaitis
Joseph Bianco
 Zipeng Wang design_document0.pdf
final_paper0.pdf
other0.pdf
other0.pdf
proposal0.pdf
The basic idea of our project would be an anti-theft system for protecting packages from Amazon and other online retailers from being stolen. Instead of being based on locking up the package in a box, which is expensive and hard to use, we would use a weight and alarm based deterrence system, that detects if a package has been taken by the removal of weight and sets off a very loud alarm scaring away thieves, similar to a car alarm. In order to take the package, it would have to be "unlocked" by either a phone or pin code. Included in this project would be developing a durable chassis to protect the package, weight and lift sensors with corresponding code, a solar cell/battery system to make it very easy to use (similar to a calculator that doesn't need a charger, wifi capabilities, and an app that tells if your package has arrived or been stolen, and to shut off the alarm.

The partners would me (John Simonaitis, simonts2), Joe Bianco (jbianco2), and John Graft (graft2).

The Marching Band Assistant

Wynter Chen, Alyssa Louise Licudine, Prashant Shankar

The Marching Band Assistant

Featured Project

NetID/Names

wynterc2 (Wynter Chen), alyssal3 (Alyssa Licudine), shankar7 (Prashant Shankar)

Problem

Drum majors lead and conduct marching bands. One of their main jobs is to maintain tempo for the musicians by moving their hands in specific patterns. However, many drum majors, especially high school students, need to learn how to conduct specific tempos off the top of their head and maintain a consistent tempo without assistance for performances. Even those with musical experience have difficulty knowing for certain what tempo they're conducting without a metronome.

Solution Overview

Our project consists of an arm attachment that aids drum major conducting. The attachment contains an accelerometer that helps determine the tempo in beats per minute via hand movement. A display shows the beats per minute, which allows the drum major to adjust their speed as necessary in real time. The microcontroller data is wirelessly transmitted, and a program can be downloaded that not only visualizes the data in real-time, but provides an option to save recorded data for later. There is also a convenient charging port for the device.

This project is a unique invention that aims to help marching bands. There have been previous projects and inventions that have also digitized the conducting experience, such as the Digital Conducting Baton from Spring 2015. However, these have been in the form of a baton rather than a glove, and are used to alter music files as opposed to providing feedback. Additionally, orchestra conductors use very delicate motions with a baton, while drum majors create large, sharper motions with their arms; thus, we believed that an arm attachment was better suited for marching band usage. Unlike other applications that only integrate digital instruments, this project seeks to assist live performers.

Link to RFA: https://courses.grainger.illinois.edu/ece445/pace/view-topic.asp?id=37939

Project Videos