Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
5 Smartphone Hemocytometer
Fengmao Zheng
Rui Pu
Shixin Wu
Amr Martini appendix1.zip
design_document1.pdf
design_document7.pdf
final_paper2.pdf
photo1.jpg
presentation1.pptx
video1.mp4
Shixin Wu [shixinw2]
Rui Pu [ruip2]
Fengmao Zheng [fengmao2]

This project is mentored and sponsored by Prof. Brian T. Cunningham


# Problem:
White blood cell counts and classification are critical measurements in medical settings as it alerts doctors to autoimmune diseases, immune deficiencies, and blood disorders and helps monitor the effectiveness of chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer. Doctors are currently using a hemocytometer with optical microscope at their labs to manually differentiate and count the number of white blood cells, which is both unportable and inconvenient. This is highly inefficient as it requires a lot of time for doctors to send the blood sample back and forth for lab work, and it might be impossible in the case of an emergency.


# Solution Overview
The goal of our project is to design and build a portable smartphone hemocytometer that enables physicians to perform a white blood cell test at the point of care. We propose to use a 3D-printed microscope clip-on design from PNNL (see link below) and attach it to the phone camera for magnification. Then in order to count blood cells from the sample, we need to have a motion stage for sliding the sample and get a panoramic image from the phone. We will use a stepper motor to control the sample movement. The microphone will take image at each frame of the sample, and then stitch them together.


# Solution Components

## Blood Smear Sample
The blood smear samples are all prepared by Prof Cunningham.

## Mechanical subsystem
- 3D-printed ball microscope clip-on attached to the microphone camera for 40X/100X magnification
- x-z two-way motion stage for focusing and moving the blood smear sample laterally
- mechanical support that holds the microphone

## Electrical subsystem:
Processing module
- A microcontroller that controls the motor operation and LEDs & LCD Display. Also, manage the Bluetooth module to talk with microphone.

Communication module
- A Bluetooth module to communicate with the microphone for receiving on/off operation command from the user, and sending slider movement status and device status to the phone.

Display module
- LEDs for showing the device working status (scanning, done, standby, emergency shutdown, etc.).
- LCD display for user instructions and showing the scanning progress.

motor module
- a stepper motor and motor driver to control the lateral movement of the sample.

power module
- Use battery and voltage regulator to provide power to the motors and control circuits.


## Software
For the software side, we propose to build two applications - a high-level application that runs on a smartphone and a low-level application that runs on a microcontroller.
- The smartphone application will signal the motor to go to the next frame, take a photo when the microcontroller signals ready, store the images on the phone. Then the application will utilize algorithms from openCV to stitch them to a panorama, and then reduces the noise of the image by applying different filters.
- The microcontroller software will control the motor’s power supply to go a fixed distance after it receives the “next frame” signal and will return the “ready for photo” signal after the motor stops. It should also change the LED display accordingly.


# Criterion for Success
1. The system can take a clear panoramic image of the white blood cells in which the blood cells’ shapes and features are visible. This requires:
1. That we choose an appropriate magnifying lens magnitude.
2. That the phone camera focuses on the blood smear.
3. That the stepper motor can have a short enough minimal step to move from one frame of white blood cell to the next frame so that they can be stitched to a coherent panorama photo.
4. That the phone can communicate with the microcontroller (through Bluetooth module) and take photos at each frame automatically.


PNNL Microphone Microscope
https://availabletechnologies.pnnl.gov/technology.asp?id=393

Modularized Electronic Locker

Jack Davis, Joshua Nolan, Jake Pu

Modularized Electronic Locker

Featured Project

Group Member: Jianhao (Jake) Pu [jpu3], Joshua Nolan [jtnolan2], John (Jack) Davis [johnhd4]

Problem:

Students living off campus without a packaging station are affected by stolen packages all the time. As a result of privacy concerns and inconsistent deployment, public cameras in Champaign and around the world cannot always be relied upon. Therefore, it can be very difficult for victims to gather evidence for a police report. Most of the time, the value of stolen items is small and they are usually compensated by the sellers (Amazon and Apple are very understanding). However, not all deliveries are insured and many people are suffering from stolen food deliveries during the COVID-19 crisis. We need a low-cost solution that can protect deliveries from all vendors.

Solution Overview:

Our solution is similar to Amazon Hub Apartment Locker and Luxer One. Like these services, our product will securely enclose the package until the owners claim the contents inside. The owner of the contents can claim it using a phone number or a unique user identification code generated and managed by a cloud service.

The first difference we want to make from these competitors is cost. According to an article, the cost of a single locker is from $6000 - $20000. We want to minimize such costs so that we can replace the traditional mailbox. We talked to a Chinese manufacturer and got a hardware quote of $3000. We can squeeze this cost if we just design our own control module on ESP32 microcontrollers.

The second difference we want to make is modularity. We will have a sensor module, a control module, a power module and any number of storage units for hardware. We want to make standardized storage units that can be stacked into any configuration, and these storage units can be connected to a control module through a communication bus. The control module houses the hardware to open or close all of the individual lockers. A household can purchase a single locker and a control module just for one family while apartment buildings can stack them into the lockers we see at Amazon Hub. I think the hardware connection will be a challenge but it will be very effective at lowering the cost once we can massively manufacture these unit lockers.

Solution Components:

Storage Unit

Basic units that provide a locker feature. Each storage unit will have a cheap microcontroller to work as a slave on the communication bus and control its electronic lock (12V 36W). It has four connectors on top, bottom, left, and right sides for stackable configuration.

Control Unit

Should have the same dimension as one of the storage units so that it could be stacked with them. Houses ESP32 microcontroller to run control logics on all storage units and uses the built-in WiFi to upload data to a cloud server. If sensor units are detected, it should activate more security features accordingly.

Power Unit

Power from the wall or from a backup battery power supply and the associated controls to deliver power to the system. Able to sustain high current in a short time (36W for each electronic lock). It should also have protection against overvoltage and overcurrent.

Sensor Modules

Sensors such as cameras, motion sensors, and gyroscopes will parlay any scandalous activities to the control unit and will be able to capture a photo to report to authorities. Sensors will also have modularity for increased security capabilities.

Cloud Support

Runs a database that keeps user identification information and the security images. Pushes notification to end-users.

Criterion for Success:

Deliverers (Fedex, Amazon, Uber Eats, etc.) are able to open the locker using a touchscreen and a use- provided code to place their package inside. Once the package is inside of the locker, a message will be sent to the locker owner that their delivery has arrived. Locker owners are able to open the locker using a touchscreen interface. Owners are also able to change the passcode at any time for security reasons. The locker must be difficult to break into and offer theft protection after multiple incorrect password attempts.

Project Videos