Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
57 Device to track laundry machines and availability
 Christopher Song
Michael Fong
Robert Audino
 Dhruv Mathur design_document1.pdf
design_document2.pdf
design_document3.pdf
design_document5.pdf
design_document6.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
proposal1.pdf
proposal2.pdf
Problem: Not all apartments come with in unit washing machines, so there is usually a communal washing machine that is either within the building or in another building nearby, which would require you to carry your dirty laundry with you to put it in. The problem in this is that tenants would not know if there was an available machine, and there isn’t an easy way to track the availability of a machine other than staying in the room and waiting for the person to come and finish their laundry. This also applies to students in dorms such as our own university.

Solution: Our solution to this problem would be an app that is connected to sensors on each machine to show if one is available for use. We would also implement a queue system in which you can put yourself in line for use of the washing machine which would make it so you do not have to wait in the room for the machine.
The way the queue works is as follows. People sign up to use a washer or a dryer, but not any specific machine, since we don’t want 5 people in line for washer 1 when washer 2 is completely open. In order to prevent line cutting, only the next person in line is notified when a machine opens. In order to prevent the line getting backed up by someone who isn’t using their laundry privileges, we are implementing two solutions. First, we will add a grace period of 15 minutes so that if you don’t change out your laundry within 15 minutes, the next person in line gains your privileges. Second, if something comes up and you can’t do your laundry right now, we will add an option to leave the queue immediately and allow the next person in line to use the machine.

Solution Components:

Subsystem #1: Washing machine/Dryer vibration sensor. This subsystem will use a vibration sensor to track the current status of the washing machine or dryer (in use or not in use). We thought about using a heat sensor, but since not all wash and dry cycles are hot, this wouldn’t always work.

Subsystem #2: Pressure Sensor: Even if a washing machine or dryer is finished, there still may be clothes inside. To make sure that the machine is truly ready for the next user, we are going to use a pressure sensor to check if the clothes are still present or not.

Subsystem #3: Locking mechanism: Once the washing machine is available for the next person to use, there would be a lock on the door which would take in a password or combination that is randomly generated and sent only to the next user to open and use the machine.

Subsystem #4: This subsystem will be in charge of relaying information provided by the washing machine status sensors to an app using bluetooth. An arduino with a Bluetooth communication module can be used for this purpose.

Subsystem #5: The app that will track washing machine status and allow users to sign up for a queue to use the washing machines. A washing machine/dryer is listed as available only if the following two criteria are met. Firstly, the machine must be totally stopped, which would indicate that the washing or drying is done. The app would receive this information from the vibration sensor. Secondly, the machine has to be empty, meaning that the washed/dried clothes have been removed. Our pressure sensor will communicate this information.

Criterion for Success: The system is able to accurately track statuses of washing machines.
System is able to provide status information of washing machines to an app.
Users of the app are able to sign up for a queue to use the washing machines.
The device locks the machine and unlocks once the generated code is entered.

Recovery-Monitoring Knee Brace

Dong Hyun Lee, Jong Yoon Lee, Dennis Ryu

Featured Project

Problem:

Thanks to modern technology, it is easy to encounter a wide variety of wearable fitness devices such as Fitbit and Apple Watch in the market. Such devices are designed for average consumers who wish to track their lifestyle by counting steps or measuring heartbeats. However, it is rare to find a product for the actual patients who require both the real-time monitoring of a wearable device and the hard protection of a brace.

Personally, one of our teammates ruptured his front knee ACL and received reconstruction surgery a few years ago. After ACL surgery, it is common to wear a knee brace for about two to three months for protection from outside impacts, fast recovery, and restriction of movement. For a patient who is situated in rehabilitation after surgery, knee protection is an imperative recovery stage, but is often overlooked. One cannot deny that such a brace is also cumbersome to put on in the first place.

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Solution:

Our group aims to make a wearable device for people who require a knee brace by adding a health monitoring system onto an existing knee brace. The fundamental purpose is to protect the knee, but by adding a monitoring system we want to provide data and a platform for both doctor and patients so they can easily check the current status/progress of the injury.

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Audience:

1) Average person with leg problems

2) Athletes with leg injuries

3) Elderly people with discomforts

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Equipment:

Temperature sensors : perhaps in the form of electrodes, they will be used to measure the temperature of the swelling of the knee, which will indicate if recovery is going smoothly.

Pressure sensors : they will be calibrated such that a certain threshold of force must be applied by the brace to the leg. A snug fit is required for the brace to fulfill its job.

EMG circuit : we plan on constructing an EMG circuit based on op-amps, resistors, and capacitors. This will be the circuit that is intended for doctors, as it will detect muscle movement.

Development board: our main board will transmit the data from each of the sensors to a mobile interface via. Bluetooth. The user will be notified when the pressure sensors are not tight enough. For our purposes, the battery on the development will suffice, and we will not need additional dry cells.

The data will be transmitted to a mobile system, where it would also remind the user to wear the brace if taken off. To make sure the brace has a secure enough fit, pressure sensors will be calibrated to determine accordingly. We want to emphasize the hardware circuits that will be supplemented onto the leg brace.

We want to emphasize on the hardware circuit portion this brace contains. We have tested the temperature and pressure resistors on a breadboard by soldering them to resistors, and confirmed they work as intended by checking with a multimeter.

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