Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
23 Self-adjusting Cap
Minghao Liu
Shuhan Li
Yichen Gu
John Kan appendix1.txt
design_document1.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
other2.pdf
presentation3.pptx
proposal1.pdf
video
Description: Many students like to wear hats or caps. In summer, caps can ward off strong sunlight. However, this function is quite limited since we have to keep adjusting the orientation of the cap as the direction of the sunlight changes. A cap that automatically adjusts its orientation based on the direction of the sunlight is a good solution to this problem.

Uniqueness: There are no such products in the market now, nor were there any past projects on this topic.

System Build Up (Basic function)
Subsystem #1: Sensing and controlling
The sensors consist of about 5-6 light sensors around the edge of the hat and accelerometers. The light sensors provide information about the direction and intensity of the sunshine. All the collected data are processed by the controller (TI) and calculate the optimal orientation of the shield.

Subsystem # 2: Mechanical movement
Actuator 1: The brim of the hat is driven by a motion servo motor. As the brim rotates around the edge of the hat according to the sunlight position, it provides proper shadow to adjust according to the sunshine to provide the correct shadow over the eyes.

Subsystem # 3: Solar power system management
One essential part of our design is the power management. The user should at least be able to use the hat for a full day. However, the motor will consume a lot of power. One solution is to add solar power. On the shield of the hat, we will attach a flexible solar panel to provide the power to our mechanical system. The lithium rechargeable battery will be used to store the energy generated.

Extension for riders
We plan to integrate the personal transportation signaling into the cap design. Though there are ideas about design a vest or belt with transportation signals, our cap is controlled by the head movement which is more convenient for the rider.
An accelerometer will detect the left or right rotation of the head to signify to the possible action of turning. A second accelerometer is used to detect vertical motion - the users need to nod their heads to confirm the turning action.

Actuator 2: led light stripes located on edge of our hat indicate a left or right turn.

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