Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
3 Standalone Steering Wheel for Solar Racing Vehicle
Honorable Mention
 Anthony Rodriguez
Jonathan Mullen
 Christopher Horn photo1.jpg
proposal1.docx
video
 Illini Solar Car
Background:
Illini Solar Car (ISC) annually competes in week-long endurance races, where we race on national highways for about 1800 miles in a caravan with a lead vehicle and a chase vehicle. These competitions require a rapid design and testing cycle, which necessitates a more barebones design with a mix of features that cannot realistically be tested completely before a race. Safely and effectively racing a solar vehicle requires the driver to have immediate access to not only detailed vehicle system information, but also the right information at the right time. In the past, when this information has been lacking, we have incurred large delays during competition as the driver could not safely continue without access to vehicle performance-related information. The goal of this project is to eliminate those unnecessary stops by providing the driver with all potentially needed information so they can continue to a scheduled stop.

Project Description:
Our electrical system is an 8-part distributed system, and the current steering wheel is a hardware-controlled slave that only displays basic information to the driver (speed, battery temp., total current draw). Our project is a complete redesign of both steering wheel hardware and software as a completely independent vehicle system capable of displaying detailed, customized information to the driver, as well as functioning as a diagnostic tool for the driver to have more immediate situational awareness of potential malfunctions in the vehicle systems. This should result in a more-useful steering wheel and will also decouple the development from the main vehicle computer to allow it to be updated more easily and safely.

The hardware portion of this project will have a redesigned steering wheel PCB that can interface with the vehicle CANBUS system via our custom CAN API. We will implement an LED display with dynamic display of real-time system data for the driver. This screen will be on a separate PCB to allow it to be replaced separately as race environments tend to significantly reduce screen lifespan. We will also implement paddle controls for the first time, which will require picking and characterizing an appropriate sensor, and implementing it into our control scheme. This will require extensive planning and coordination with the ISC Mechanical Team to ensure all hardware can work within the physical constraints of the steering wheel.

The software portion of this project will require an overhaul of the vehicle firmware set-up.On the steering wheel, we will need to implement drivers for the new sensors, create a display driver including a navigable menu and pop-up capability; and design and implement a standard for the driver to trigger actions via the steering wheel. In addition, the main computer’s firmware will need to be configured to receive steering input via CAN. As the steering wheel is removable it is important that the main computer knows what to do when the steering wheel is removed.

Interactive Proximity Donor Wall Illumination

Sungmin Jang, Anita Jung, Zheng Liu

Interactive Proximity Donor Wall Illumination

Featured Project

Team Members:

Anita Jung (anitaj2)

Sungmin Jang (sjang27)

Zheng Liu (zliu93)

Link to the idea: https://courses.engr.illinois.edu/ece445/pace/view-topic.asp?id=27710

Problem:

The Donor Wall on the southwest side of first floor in ECEB is to celebrate and appreciate everyone who helped and donated for ECEB.

However, because of poor lighting and color contrast between the copper and the wall behind, donor names are not noticed as much as they should, especially after sunset.

Solution Overview:

Here is the image of the Donor Wall:

http://buildingcampaign.ece.illinois.edu/files/2014/10/touched-up-Donor-wall-by-kurt-bielema.jpg

We are going to design and implement a dynamic and interactive illuminating system for the Donor Wall by installing LEDs on the background. LEDs can be placed behind the names to softly illuminate each name. LEDs can also fill in the transparent gaps in the “circuit board” to allow for interaction and dynamic animation.

And our project’s system would contain 2 basic modes:

Default mode: When there is nobody near the Donor Wall, the names are softly illuminated from the back of each name block.

Moving mode: When sensors detect any stimulation such as a person walking nearby, the LEDs are controlled to animate “current” or “pulses” flowing through the “circuit board” into name boards.

Depending on the progress of our project, we have some additional modes:

Pressing mode: When someone is physically pressing on a name block, detected by pressure sensors, the LEDs are controlled to

animate scattering of outgoing light, just as if a wave or light is emitted from that name block.

Solution Components:

Sensor Subsystem:

IR sensors (PIR modules or IR LEDs with phototransistor) or ultrasonic sensors to detect presence and proximity of people in front of the Donor Wall.

Pressure sensors to detect if someone is pressing on a block.

Lighting Subsystem:

A lot of LEDs is needed to be installed on the PCBs to be our lighting subsystem. These are hidden as much as possible so that people focus on the names instead of the LEDs.

Controlling Subsystem:

The main part of the system is the controlling unit. We plan to use a microprocessor to process the signal from those sensors and send signal to LEDs. And because the system has different modes, switching between them correctly is also important for the project.

Power Subsystem:

AC (Wall outlet; 120V, 60Hz) to DC (acceptable DC voltage and current applicable for our circuit design) power adapter or possible AC-DC converter circuit

Criterion for success:

Whole system should work correctly in each mode and switch between different modes correctly. The names should be highlighted in a comfortable and aesthetically pleasing way. Our project is acceptable for senior design because it contains both hardware and software parts dealing with signal processing, power, control, and circuit design with sensors.

Project Videos