Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
33 Puzzle Module for Portable Escape Room
Colin Flavin
Helen Swearingen
Nicholas Russo
Weihang Liang design_document1.pdf
design_document2.pdf
design_document3.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
photo1.png
proposal1.pdf
proposal2.pdf
Colin Flavin (colinlf2), Nick Russo (nerusso), Helen Swearingen (hes2)

# **_PROBLEM_**
Champaign-Urbana Adventures in Time and Space (CATS) escape room company is working on a portable escape room device that can be moved to different locations and set up/torn down quickly. They need the main puzzle module designed and built for the box as well as a power distribution system that can connect each module together. The device should be able to take in wall power and convert it to useful voltages for each system in the device.


#**_SOLUTION OVERVIEW_**

For the puzzle module that we are building, we will build an "invisible maze." This will consist of a few parts. On one side of the Escape Box Device, there will be a screen which will display a path to be followed by Person A. Person A will be on the opposite side of the screen wearing a device with visual and haptic feedback systems (most likely lights and vibrations). Person B will be watching the screen. Person B will see the path on the screen and direct Person A to follow the path. Person A will follow Person B's directions, with the wearable device changing color/vibrating if they get too far off track, in which case they will have to start over. After the maze is followed, the device may be taken off and they may continue with the rest of the Escape Box Device. This puzzle module will consist of a camera to track the location of the person wearing the feedback device (which contains an AprilTag QR code), which will serve as a location marker and an additional source of feedback to the players. There will also be a screen that displays the correct path to follow and the location of the maze-traveler in real time. There would be a foot or so of tolerance for a "proper" path to follow with an additional 1-3’ of tolerance outside of that as a "warning zone," where the wearable device would provide feedback that the maze-traveler would need to get back on track.
For the power system, we will design a power converter system for them to use in their device. We want a modular sort of approach with a variety of voltage rails that can be used as new modules come in and are replaced. We will make use of a variety of AC/DC converters to meet the needs of the various sub-modules.

#**_SOLUTION COMPONENTS_**

Control Subsystem
This system will coordinate the various modules.

Wearable Device Subsystem
A robe, coat, or backpack with an AprilTag visible on it, and lights and buzzers to give the wearer feedback about how close they are to the path they need to follow. It would have rechargeable batteries or be able to charge from within its place in the crate between games.

Tracking Subsystem
A camera will be placed on top of the box. One player will have an AprilTag visible to the camera at all times. The AprilTag will then be read in by the camera and processed on a Raspberry Pi using the AprilTag library. From that, we can extract the distance the person is away from the box.

Display Subsystem
While one player is in the maze area, another player will read a display in a place obstructed from the first’s view. This display system will display a randomly generated maze, as well as the player currently in the maze. It will give live updates of the players location, providing valuable feedback to the players in the game.

Power Subsystem
An AC power supply (outlet) will go into the system and then convert it into DC rails for each puzzle on the portable escape room. We plan to use AC/DC converters to accomplish this, as well as design a failsafe circuit for potential power problems.

Processing Subsystem
Processing power may be an issue given the amount of data we need to process. To remedy this, we are planning on designing an arm processor to run the game and display, while a Raspberry Pi runs the AprilTag library for tracking portion.

#**_CRITERION FOR SUCCESS_**

The goal of this project is to build a fully functional, wall-powered puzzle module for the escape box device. The device should be able to take in wall power and rectify it to DC voltage, stepping down that voltage to power different voltage rails necessary for the device.
For the puzzle module itself, it should be able to choose a path for players to follow and display this path on the screen on one side of the box. On the other side, the camera should be able to find the AprilTag mounted on the wearable device and correctly identify its position relative to the camera’s location, with a 1-3’ margin of error. 1-3’ out of that, the wearable device will provide haptic and visual feedback as a warning. Any further than that, and the wearable device will signal that the run has failed and needs to be restarted. The screen on the opposite side of the box should be able to update real-time to track the location of the maze-walker.

S.I.P. (Smart Irrigation Project)

Jackson Lenz, James McMahon

S.I.P. (Smart Irrigation Project)

Featured Project

Jackson Lenz

James McMahon

Our project is to be a reliable, robust, and intelligent irrigation controller for use in areas where reliable weather prediction, water supply, and power supply are not found.

Upon completion of the project, our device will be able to determine the moisture level of the soil, the water level in a water tank, and the temperature, humidity, insolation, and barometric pressure of the environment. It will perform some processing on the observed environmental factors to determine if rain can be expected soon, Comparing this knowledge to the dampness of the soil and the amount of water in reserves will either trigger a command to begin irrigation or maintain a command to not irrigate the fields. This device will allow farmers to make much more efficient use of precious water and also avoid dehydrating crops to death.

In developing nations, power is also of concern because it is not as readily available as power here in the United States. For that reason, our device will incorporate several amp-hours of energy storage in the form of rechargeable, maintenance-free, lead acid batteries. These batteries will charge while power is available from the grid and discharge when power is no longer available. This will allow for uninterrupted control of irrigation. When power is available from the grid, our device will be powered by the grid. At other times, the batteries will supply the required power.

The project is titled S.I.P. because it will reduce water wasted and will be very power efficient (by extremely conservative estimates, able to run for 70 hours without input from the grid), thus sipping on both power and water.

We welcome all questions and comments regarding our project in its current form.

Thank you all very much for you time and consideration!