Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
40 Internal Luggage Scale
Jonathan Li
Ryan Owan
Shivaranjani Mouleeswaran
Channing Philbrick design_document0.pdf
final_paper0.pdf
presentation0.pptx
proposal0.pdf
Problem:

We have an idea for an internal scale incorporated into luggages. This would solve the hassle of always having to reopen your luggage and taking things out to check if your luggage can fit the weight limit for flights. Having paid an overweight fee in the past, I know this would have been very useful. Having a portable scale, it can be difficult to lift and hold a luggage over 50 pounds for a couple of seconds to stabilize the weight scale. This will be beneficial for people that have a hard time weighing their luggage because it is too heavy or if they have no scale to use which is common for students living in apartments or dorms.

Solution Overview:

The idea is that there is an external shell for the casing of the luggage and inside there is an internal shell equipped with a weighing system that is triggered by horizontal orientation when the luggage is lying flat down. The weighing system would be constructed similar to a regular digital scale: each side of the suitcase will have a distribution of pegs to balance the weight across a set of load cells that will take the weight reading. As you put in objects, the information is sent to an LCD screen inside or outside of the luggage that displays the weight of the contents so the user is aware of how much more stuff they can add.

Sensor Subsystem:

Strain gauge load cells for detecting weight placed into the luggage

IMU sensor for detecting correct orientation (flat on ground) when packing things into luggage

Processing Subsystem:

Load sensor combinator to combine multiple readings of load cells into one reading

Amplifier to increase the signal of the combinator

Analog to digital converter to convert voltage reading from combinator/amplifier into digital signal for microcontroller

Internal microcontroller for doing computations of weight to LCD screen

LCD screen with +/- controls to add in initial weight of suitcase before packing

Power Subsystem:

Rechargeable NiMH batteries. These are allowed for both carry on and checked in luggage and would satisfy our power requirements since we don't anticipate going over 12V for the power supply. Weighing doesn't take that much time and there will be an on/off switch when only used for packing.

Criterion for Success:

Our solution can accurately display the total weight of the objects placed in the suitcase as compared to an external measurement of the same objects. Our solution differs from both portable luggage scales on the market and "self-weighing" suitcases because ours does not require the user to lift the load to find out how much it weighs.

Team: Ryan Owan (owan2) Shivani Mouleeswaran (molswrn2) Jonathan Li (jli119)

RFI Detector

Jamie Brunskill, Tyler Shaw, Kyle Stevens

RFI Detector

Featured Project

Problem Statement:

Radio frequency interference from cell phones disrupts measurements at the radio observatory in Arecibo, Puerto Rico. Many visitors do not comply when asked to turn their phones off or put them in airplane mode.

Description:

We are planning to design a handheld device that will be able to detect radio frequency interference from cell phones from approximately one meter away. This will allow someone to determine if a phone has been turned off or is in airplane mode.

The device will feature an RF front end consisting of antennas, filters, and matching networks. Multiple receiver chains may be used for different bands if necessary. They will feed into a detection circuit that will determine if the power within a given band is above a certain threshold. This information will be sent to a microcontroller that will provide visual/audible user feedback.

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