Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
39 Bird Box Project
 Kevin Chen
Maria Nacenta Fernandez
Michael Zhang
 Christopher Horn design_document1.pdf
design_document2.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
other1.pdf
presentation1.pptx
proposal1.pdf
#Background/Motivation
Communication amongst animals is incredibly valuable for us to observe and analyze. Research on these auditory behaviors and responses are unknown for birds and would be extremely valuable for the case of enhancing our current communication technologies.

#What Constitutes Success/Objectives
Create a functional “Bird Box” system where researchers can use and adjust to perform various trials for conditioning of Birds
A working project would be able to sustain one full trial with the bird after receiving sound inputs from the researcher and at the end output an excel sheet and a sound file for future use

#Functional Details
The system will make record of 4 different responses from the bird.
Target-response: The system will reward with food
Target-miss: The system will record but not respond
Sham-response: The system will punish with lights out
Sham-miss: The system will record but not respond
For the purpose of the conditioning process, sham audio sounds would be chosen periods in which the background sound is repeated and projected as if it were a target sound. This is to prevent the bird from repeating
The system would record each individual instance and format it into an excel document/spreadsheet for the researcher to analyze.


#Modular Design of Project -- Minimum Viable Product

#Hardware Detailing

##Power System
AC/DC Power converter
Power supply for all hardware components

##Food Dispensing Mechanism
###Design Requirements:
Silence (so no audio from trial is playing)
Consistent food distribution
Timed to allow the bird to eat the entire amount instead of having to gulp everything and return to the trial
Design follows form of 2 part process
1) While the bird is trialing, the dispenser's main chamber fills up to the required quota to the second / output chamber. If the bird succeeds, the 2nd chamber releases the allocated food.
2) Then the device re-allocates some volume of seed to the 2nd chamber before reclosing
###Hardware specification
DC power
Clock cycle for time


##Bird Response Mechanism
###Design Requirements
Sensitive Buttons
Lightweight buttons, a beak can only do so much
Different color for Bird to distinguish the purpose
###Hardware requirements
Sends data to software interface
Has a timer installed to be able to alert for time-out feature (if the bird is idle for too long)
DC power
Wired to hub that sends data to software interface

##Audio Output/Speaker System
Adafruit speaker that Mike Suggested (https://www.adafruit.com/product/1314)
Receives .wav files to play from the software interface
DC power

##Camera for observation
Probably a camera add on
Needs to be able to capture live footage so that the researcher can observe during the trial

##Light for Box/Punishment mechanic
Basic LED light
Driven by Arduino circuit
Has clock to time out

#Software Detailing
##UI for Research/Parameter input
The interface would allow for researchers to submit .wav files for the audio sounds that they choose to use for the trials. This submission also will perform calculations for the researcher to hone specific time requirements for their test. To specify, because the general structure of a test consists of a repeated background sound. To perform conditioning, the sequence would deviate from the normal background, for a specific trial “interval”, the sequence would yield
##Outputs CSV/Excel data for Researcher

#Extraneous
##Perch for Bird to sit on during experiment
##Water dispenser

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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