Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
51 Power Bank Sharing System
Fangwei Gao
Hanlei Gu
Huiwen Song
Shaoyu Meng
Fangwei Gao(fangwei2), Hanlei Gu(hgu7), Huiwen Song(hsong38)

Power Bank Sharing System

Problem:

Think about this scenario: when you are out in a restaurant, shopping mall or a Starbucks trying to reach your friend, your phone is out of battery. This could possibly happen to anyone who has a mobile phone. However, most people don’t carry cables or power banks with them all day long because, first, this situation normally does not happen; and secondly, cables entangle and become a mess in the bag and power banks are not only heavy (inconvenient), but also very expensive for some high-performance models. However, once this situation happens, people run out of options.

Solution Overview:

Power bank sharing station system. Place the stations in shopping malls, restaurants and other public places where people do not have the convenience to stick to a power outlet to charge their phones. Each station holds several power banks. When customers would like to borrow a power bank, they could scan the QR code on the station and the station would automatically pop out one power bank with a enough charge. When customers would like to return the power bank, they need not necessarily return it to the station where they originally borrowed the bank, but they can just find a nearby station with an empty slot and insert the bank into the station. This service can solve the problem because first, the banks provide portability that charging cables does not have; second, people do not need to pay for the bank, they are just charged for the service provided.

A deposit and a payment option would be required from the user. The customers should simply log in to their mobile app (which is part of our system) to scan QR code to check out the bank and the charge would be automatically placed on their accounts when they return the power bank. And the deposit would be returned when they return the power bank. If at place where a valid credit system is implemented, like a U of I, the credit system can be incorporated, so that student could check out banks with their i-card and the fees will directly posted on the the student account. Each power bank should have USB A, USB C, and lightning cables to cover customers with different models of cellphones. The bottom side(to connect with the station) should have metallic parts as a connector and a "charging cable". That is, when the power banks are in the station, they should be charged and stick to the station, which could not be unplugged.

Solution Components:

Hardware:

1. The station will have a power unity that power the station and charge every power bank in the station.

2. The slots that hold the power banks should be capable of detecting if the banks are checked out or returned back. It would also be able to detect how much power is left in each bank.

3. Locking unit should be able to lock the banks before the checking out process is completed and release the bank when checked out.

4. Each power bank should be identified when checked out and returned in order to calculate the time and rate.

Software:

1.We would like to design an Android app that allows users to locate power bank stations, unlock power by scanning QR code on a power bank station and check the status of the power bank brought. Our current plan for this app is React-Native + Flask + MongoDB.

2. We need to program a microcontroller in a power bank station as the main interface. The microcontroller should be connected to the internet and communicate with our central server to handle unlocking and returning processes.

Criterion for Success:

A good interaction between users and our power bank sharing system can be achieved. Users can borrow a power bank in a short time by simply opening a mobile app and scanning a QR code. The returning process should be smooth as well to create a good user experience. The power banks should be stored and kept correctly and securely when not been checked out.

Decentralized Systems for Ground & Arial Vehicles (DSGAV)

Mingda Ma, Alvin Sun, Jialiang Zhang

Featured Project

# Team Members

* Yixiao Sun (yixiaos3)

* Mingda Ma (mingdam2)

* Jialiang Zhang (jz23)

# Problem Statement

Autonomous delivery over drone networks has become one of the new trends which can save a tremendous amount of labor. However, it is very difficult to scale things up due to the inefficiency of multi-rotors collaboration especially when they are carrying payload. In order to actually have it deployed in big cities, we could take advantage of the large ground vehicle network which already exists with rideshare companies like Uber and Lyft. The roof of an automobile has plenty of spaces to hold regular size packages with magnets, and the drone network can then optimize for flight time and efficiency while factoring in ground vehicle plans. While dramatically increasing delivery coverage and efficiency, such strategy raises a challenging problem of drone docking onto moving ground vehicles.

# Solution

We aim at tackling a particular component of this project given the scope and time limitation. We will implement a decentralized multi-agent control system that involves synchronizing a ground vehicle and a drone when in close proximity. Assumptions such as knowledge of vehicle states will be made, as this project is aiming towards a proof of concepts of a core challenge to this project. However, as we progress, we aim at lifting as many of those assumptions as possible. The infrastructure of the lab, drone and ground vehicle will be provided by our kind sponsor Professor Naira Hovakimyan. When the drone approaches the target and starts to have visuals on the ground vehicle, it will automatically send a docking request through an RF module. The RF receiver on the vehicle will then automatically turn on its assistant devices such as specific LED light patterns which aids motion synchronization between ground and areo vehicles. The ground vehicle will also periodically send out locally planned paths to the drone for it to predict the ground vehicle’s trajectory a couple of seconds into the future. This prediction can help the drone to stay within close proximity to the ground vehicle by optimizing with a reference trajectory.

### The hardware components include:

Provided by Research Platforms

* A drone

* A ground vehicle

* A camera

Developed by our team

* An LED based docking indicator

* RF communication modules (xbee)

* Onboard compute and communication microprocessor (STM32F4)

* Standalone power source for RF module and processor

# Required Circuit Design

We will integrate the power source, RF communication module and the LED tracking assistant together with our microcontroller within our PCB. The circuit will also automatically trigger the tracking assistant to facilitate its further operations. This special circuit is designed particularly to demonstrate the ability for the drone to precisely track and dock onto the ground vehicle.

# Criterion for Success -- Stages

1. When the ground vehicle is moving slowly in a straight line, the drone can autonomously take off from an arbitrary location and end up following it within close proximity.

2. Drones remains in close proximity when the ground vehicle is slowly turning (or navigating arbitrarily in slow speed)

3. Drone can dock autonomously onto the ground vehicle that is moving slowly in straight line

4. Drone can dock autonomously onto the ground vehicle that is slowly turning

5. Increase the speed of the ground vehicle and successfully perform tracking and / or docking

6. Drone can pick up packages while flying synchronously to the ground vehicle

We consider project completion on stage 3. The stages after that are considered advanced features depending on actual progress.

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