Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
72 Automatic Window/Blind Regulator
Austin Chong
Mahdi Almosa
Marco Oyarzun
Douglas Yu design_document1.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
presentation1.pptx
proposal1.pdf
proposal2.pdf
Automatic Window/Blind Regulator

Team Members:
- aichong2
- oyarzun2
- malmosa2


# Problem

Waking up in the morning could pose a difficult challenge, especially when the temperature is too hot/cold or there isn't enough natural light in the room. In order for most people to fall asleep, the thermostat mostly takes care of the regulating temperature and they keep the blinds shut, however, some people prefer natural air and lighting in their homes instead. This could be an annoyance when the windows and blinds need to be changed manually.


# Solution

Our solution is to make a fully automated window/blind regulating system that opens the window and blinds according to different environment conditions. The solution to wanted air could be an automated device that opens and closes the windows at the correct temperatures and interior air quality levels. There would also be an additional security component that uses an outside-facing camera that tells the system to close the window if a security threat is detected or if the weather is poor (rain/snow). Also, if the air quality is low (smoke/pollution), the window would close in accordance with that. Conversely, if the air quality is poor inside then the window would open to allow fresh air to enter. Air quality and weather conditions would be updated in real time via the internet. According to the reading of the thermostat, the windows could be opened/closed in order to have a good temperature regulation in the room. Additionally, the blinds could open at sunrise and close at sunset or do both as custom times.


# Solution Components

## Subsystem 1

# Power supply system
The system will need varying levels of voltage, so either a wall outlet or battery can provide power that is then converted to DC to power the digital components.

# Opening mechanism
The system will need servos to open the window and blinds. This subsystem will receive signals from the microcontroller unit to determine when and how much to open the window or blinds.

# Control unit
This is where the microcontroller will operate. It will take input data from the temperature, air quality, and weather conditions (as well as current time) and move the servos accordingly.


# Criterion For Success

The first goal for this project would be to be able to open/close certain windows and blinds. There are a variety of windows that have different manual functions, some having a pulling system where others have to pull and lock. This would be the first challenge and most likely the most difficult milestone.

The next goal would be to connect the window regulator to a thermostat, to the internet, and to temperature and air quality sensors, in order to detect when to open/close the windows appropriately.

Another goal would be to have the blinds open or close at specific times, mainly before and after dark.

Iron Man Mouse

Jeff Chang, Yayati Pahuja, Zhiyuan Yang

Featured Project

# Problem:

Being an ECE student means that there is a high chance we are gonna sit in front of a computer for the majority of the day, especially during COVID times. This situation may lead to neck and lower back issues due to a long time of sedentary lifestyle. Therefore, it would be beneficial for us to get up and stretch for a while every now and then. However, exercising for a bit may distract us from working or studying and it might take some time to refocus. To control mice using our arm movements or hand gestures would be a way to enable us to get up and work at the same time. It is similar to the movie Iron Man when Tony Stark is working but without the hologram.

# Solution Overview:

The device would have a wrist band portion that acts as the tracker of the mouse pointer (implemented by accelerometer and perhaps optical sensors). A set of 3 finger cots with gyroscope or accelerometer are attached to the wrist band. These sensors as a whole would send data to a black box device (connected to the computer by USB) via bluetooth. The box would contain circuits to compute these translational/rotational data to imitate a mouse or trackpad movements with possible custom operation. Alternatively, we could have the wristband connected to a PC by bluetooth. In this case, a device driver on the OS is needed for the project to work.

# Solution Components:

Sensors (finger cots and wrist band):

1. 3-axis accelerometer attached to the wrist band portion of the device to collect translational movement (for mouse cursor tracking)

2. gyroscope attached to 3 finger cots portion to collect angular motion when user bend their fingers in different angles (for different clicking/zoom-in/etc operations)

3. (optional) optical sensors to help with accuracy if the accelerometer is not accurate enough. We could have infrared emitters set up around the screen and optical sensors on the wristband to help pinpoint cursor location.

4. (optional) flex sensors could also be used for finger cots to perform clicks in case the gyroscope proves to be inaccurate.

Power:

Lithium-ion battery with USB charging

Transmitter component:

1. A microcontroller to pre-process the data received from the 4 sensors. It can sort of integrate and synchronize the data before transmitting it.

2. A bluetooth chip that transmits the data to either the blackbox or the PC directly.

Receiver component:

1. Plan A: A box plugged into USB-A on PC. It has a bluetooth chip to receive data from the wristband, and a microcontroller to process the data into USB human interface device signals.

2. Plan B: the wristband is directly connected to the PC and we develop a device driver on the PC to process the data.

# Criterion for Success:

1. Basic Functionalities supported (left click, right click, scroll, cursor movement)

2. Advanced Functionalities supported(zoom in/out, custom operations eg. volume control)

3. Performance (accuracy & response time)

4. Physical qualities (easy to wear, durable, and battery life)