Sponsors

Cypress Semiconductor Corporation

Sponsored Projects

  • Automatic Toothpaste Dispenser (Spring 2019)
  • Automatic Toothpaste Dispenser (Spring 2019)
  • Smart Electric Toothpaste Dispenser (Spring 2019)
  • Smart Electric Toothpaste Dispenser (Spring 2019)

Illinois Robotics in Space

Illinois Robotics in Space (IRIS) is an RSO at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Every year IRIS competes in the NASA Robotic Mining Competition at Kennedy Space Center, works on smaller robotics-related projects and teaches younger students at local schools about what IRIS does.

Sponsored Projects

  • IRIS Localization System (Spring 2015)
  • IRIS Localization System (Spring 2015)

Illinois Tool Works Inc.

Sponsored Projects

  • Weld Gun Spatial Tracking System (Spring 2019)
  • Weld Gun Spatial Tracking System (Spring 2019)

Micron

Sponsored Projects

  • Soccer Team Gameplay Metrics (Spring 2019)
  • Soccer Team Gameplay Metrics (Spring 2019)
  • Traffic Sensing Bicycle Light (Spring 2019)
  • Traffic Sensing Bicycle Light (Spring 2019)

Siebel Center for Design

Sponsored Projects

  • Reconnaissance robot (SCD pitch) (Spring 2019)
  • Reconnaissance robot (SCD pitch) (Spring 2019)

Illini Solar Car

Sponsor

While Illini Solar Car started as a handful of engineering students in 2014, it takes more than that to create a solar car. Today we have grown into a much larger operation harnessing the skills of students from four colleges at Illinois to create one beautiful product.

Sponsored Projects

  • CUSTOM MPPTS FOR ILLINI SOLAR CAR (Spring 2024)
  • Active Cell Balancing for Solar Vehicle Battery Pack (Spring 2021)
  • Modules for Safe Power Distribution in an Electric Vehicle (Spring 2019)
  • Modules for Safe Power Distribution in an Electric Vehicle (Spring 2019)
  • Standalone Steering Wheel for Solar Racing Vehicle (Spring 2019)
  • Standalone Steering Wheel for Solar Racing Vehicle (Spring 2019)
  • Integrated Li-ion Battery Sensors (Fall 2018)
  • Integrated Li-ion Battery Sensors (Fall 2018)

LASSI

Sponsor

Laboratory for Advanced Space Systems at Illinois

Sponsored Projects

  • Power Board for Illini-Sat3 (Spring 2019)
  • Power Board for Illini-Sat3 (Spring 2019)

Lextech

Sponsor

Northrop Grumman Corporation

Sponsor

Northrop Grumman Corporation has provided funding for laboratory equipment and supplies in the area of applied electromagnetics, as well as support for the following groups.

Sponsored Projects

  • Filtered Back – Projection Optical Demonstration (Fall 2014)
  • Filtered Back – Projection Optical Demonstration (Fall 2014)
  • Wearable UV Radiation Sensing Device (Fall 2014)
  • Wearable UV Radiation Sensing Device (Fall 2014)
  • Radio Jammer (Fall 2005)
  • Radio Jammer (Fall 2005)

Advance Devices

Supporter

ARM

Supporter

Boeing

Supporter

Intel

Supporter

National Instruments

Supporter

Raytheon

Supporter

Rockwell Collins

Supporter

Rockwell Collins has provided funding for laboratory equipment and supplies in the area of applied electromagnetics. A number of RF student projects have directly benefited from these improvements to the laboratory.

Sponsored Projects

  • Quadcopter - Sense and Avoid - Revised RFA (Fall 2014)
  • Quadcopter - Sense and Avoid - Revised RFA (Fall 2014)
  • Continuous-frequency Synthesizer (Spring 2005)
  • Continuous-frequency Synthesizer (Spring 2005)
  • football position tracker (Spring 2005)
  • football position tracker (Spring 2005)
  • Point-to-Point RF Communication for Wildlife Project (Spring 2005)
  • Point-to-Point RF Communication for Wildlife Project (Spring 2005)
  • RFID-based parking meter system (Spring 2005)
  • RFID-based parking meter system (Spring 2005)
  • Smart Inventory Management System (SIMS) Using RFID (Spring 2005)
  • Smart Inventory Management System (SIMS) Using RFID (Spring 2005)
  • Wireless Laptop Alarm (Spring 2005)
  • Wireless Laptop Alarm (Spring 2005)
  • Car rooftop antenna (Fall 2004)
  • Car rooftop antenna (Fall 2004)
  • Portable Wireless Locator System (Fall 2004)
  • Portable Wireless Locator System (Fall 2004)
  • Transmission line modeling in SPICE (Fall 2004)
  • Transmission line modeling in SPICE (Fall 2004)
  • Wireless Heart Attack Detector with GPS (Fall 2004)
  • Wireless Heart Attack Detector with GPS (Fall 2004)
  • Wireless switch of household appliances for handicapped (Fall 2004)
  • Wireless switch of household appliances for handicapped (Fall 2004)

Skot Wiedmann

Supporter

Sponsored Projects

  • Interactive Proximity Donor Wall Illumination (Fall 2018)
  • Interactive Proximity Donor Wall Illumination (Fall 2018)
  • Modular Analog Synthesizer (Fall 2017)
  • Modular Analog Synthesizer (Fall 2017)
  • AUDIO - ANALOG/DIGITAL SYNTHESIZER - ANALOG VOLTAGE CONTROLLED OSCILLATOR TO DIGITALLY CONTROLLED STEP-SEQUENCER (Spring 2017)
  • AUDIO - ANALOG/DIGITAL SYNTHESIZER - ANALOG VOLTAGE CONTROLLED OSCILLATOR TO DIGITALLY CONTROLLED STEP-SEQUENCER (Spring 2017)

TAKE Solutions

Supporter

Funded Project 39 (smart door) Spring 2015

Texas Instruments

Supporter

Texas Instruments has donated laboratory equipment for DSP and RFID based projects. A number of student projects have directly benefited from these improvements to the laboratory.

Sponsored Projects

  • Miner Tracking Devices (Spring 2006)
  • Miner Tracking Devices (Spring 2006)
  • Quantum Cryptography Project 1 (Spring 2006)
  • Quantum Cryptography Project 1 (Spring 2006)

Xilinx

Supporter

Active Cell Balancing for Solar Vehicle Battery Pack

Tara D'Souza, John Han, Rohan Kamatar

Featured Project

# Problem

Illini Solar Car (ISC) utilizes lithium ion battery packs with 28 series modules of 15 parallel cells each. In order to ensure safe operation, each battery cell must remain in its safe voltage operating range (2.5 - 4.2 V). Currently, all modules charge and discharge simultaneously. If any single module reaches 4.2V while charging, or 2.5V while discharging, the car must stop charging or discharging, respectively. During normal use, it is natural for the modules to become unbalanced. As the pack grows more unbalanced, the capacity of the entire battery pack decreases as it can only charge and discharge to the range of the lowest capacity module. An actively balanced battery box would ensure that we utilize all possible charge during the race, up to 5% more charge based on previous calculations.

# Solution Overview

We will implement active balancing which will redistribute charge in order to fully utilize the capacity of every module. This system will be verified within a test battery box so that it can be incorporated into future solar vehicles.

Solution Components:

- Test Battery Box (Hardware): The test battery box provides an interface to test new battery management circuitry and active balancing.

- Battery Sensors (Hardware): The current battery sensors for ISC do not include hardware necessary for active balancing. The revised PCB will include the active balancing components proposed below while also including voltage and temperature sensing for each cell.

- Active Balancing Circuit (Hardware): The active balancing circuit includes a switching regulator IC, transformers, and the cell voltage monitors.

- BMS Test firmware (Software): The Battery Management System requires new firmware to control and test active balancing.

# Criterion for Success

- Charge can be redistributed from one module to another during discharge and charge, to be demonstrated by collected data of cell voltages over time.

- BMS can control balancing.

- The battery pack should always be kept within safe operating conditions.

- Test battery box provides a safe and usable platform for future tests.