Project :: ECE 445 - Senior Design Laboratory

Project

#	Title	Team Members	TA	Documents	Sponsor
20	Vinyl Record Auto-Flipper	Alfredo Velasquez Bustamante Mohammed Alkawai Riyaan Jain	Chi Zhang	design_document1.pdf final_paper1.pdf photo1.jpeg photo2.jpeg presentation1.pdf proposal1.pdf video
	Team Members: - Alfredo Velasquez (av28) - Riyaan Jain (riyaanj2) - Mohammed Alkawai (alkawai2) # Problem Statement: Vinyl records have experienced a resurgence in popularity due to their rich and warm sound quality, and ability to physically own and view your favourite music and artworks. However, the need to manually flip records disrupts the listening experience, making listening to vinyl records more difficult than it needs to be. To address this, we propose developing an automatic record flipper that detects when one side has finished playing and seamlessly flips the record to continue playback without user intervention. # Solution Overview: Our design will integrate three primary subsystems to automate the playback of both sides of a 7-inch vinyl record: Tonearm Mover: Automates the lifting, positioning, and lowering of the tonearm to start playback and to clear the record during flipping. Record Flipping Mechanism: Automatically flips the record to play the opposite side upon detecting the end of a side. Turntable Rotator: Controls the rotation of the turntable to ensure proper playback speed and synchronization with the other subsystems. We will modify an existing compact record player to incorporate these subsystems, drawing inspiration from the flipping mechanisms used in vintage jukeboxes. Our focus will be on adapting these concepts to a smaller, modern context suitable for 7-inch records. # Solution Components: ## Tonearm Mover: Function: Automates the movement of the tonearm to initiate playback and to lift it away during the record flipping process. Components: - Servo Motor (HS-318): To precisely control the vertical movement (lifting and lowering) of the tonearm. - Stepper Motor (290-028): To manage the horizontal distance to get to the record - Ultrasonic Sensor (HC-SR04): To detect the end of the record by sensing a decrease in distance, indicating the tonearm is below it. - ESP Microcontroller (Part # not found on ECE supply): ESP microcontroller to process sensor inputs and control motor actions. ## Record Flipping Mechanism: Function: Automatically flips the record to enable playback of the opposite side. Components: - Roller Actuator (Part #W171DIP-21): To rotate the record from one side to the other. - Side clamps (5075A25): To securely hold the record during the flipping process without causing damage. - Ultrasonic Sensor (HC-SR04): To confirm the presence and correct positioning of the record before and after flipping. - Control Circuitry (W171DIP-21): To manage the timing and sequence of the flipping operation. ## Turntable Rotator: Function: Ensures consistent and accurate rotation of the record at standard playback speeds. Components: - DC Motor with Speed Controller (Part #ROB-10551): To drive the turntable at precise speeds (45 RPM for 7-inch records). - Rotary Encoder (Part #377): To monitor and adjust the rotational speed in real-time. - Power Supply Unit (Part #168605): To provide stable power to the motor and associated electronics. # Criteria for Success: - Automatic Detection: The system accurately detects the end of a record side without user intervention. - Seamless Flipping: The record is flipped automatically and correctly aligned for playback of the opposite side. - Tonearm Precision: The tonearm is precisely controlled to avoid damaging the record or stylus during lifting, positioning, and lowering. - Playback Quality: The system maintains or enhances the audio quality of the original record player, ensuring no degradation due to the automation processes. - User Safety: The automated components operate safely, posing no risk to users during operation.

Title

Team Members

Documents

Sponsor

Vinyl Record Auto-Flipper

Alfredo Velasquez Bustamante
Mohammed Alkawai
Riyaan Jain

Chi Zhang

design_document1.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
photo1.jpeg
photo2.jpeg
presentation1.pdf
proposal1.pdf
video

Team Members:
- Alfredo Velasquez (av28)
- Riyaan Jain (riyaanj2)
- Mohammed Alkawai (alkawai2)

# Problem Statement:
Vinyl records have experienced a resurgence in popularity due to their rich and warm sound quality, and ability to physically own and view your favourite music and artworks. However, the need to manually flip records disrupts the listening experience, making listening to vinyl records more difficult than it needs to be. To address this, we propose developing an automatic record flipper that detects when one side has finished playing and seamlessly flips the record to continue playback without user intervention.

# Solution Overview:
Our design will integrate three primary subsystems to automate the playback of both sides of a 7-inch vinyl record:
Tonearm Mover: Automates the lifting, positioning, and lowering of the tonearm to start playback and to clear the record during flipping.
Record Flipping Mechanism: Automatically flips the record to play the opposite side upon detecting the end of a side.
Turntable Rotator: Controls the rotation of the turntable to ensure proper playback speed and synchronization with the other subsystems.
We will modify an existing compact record player to incorporate these subsystems, drawing inspiration from the flipping mechanisms used in vintage jukeboxes. Our focus will be on adapting these concepts to a smaller, modern context suitable for 7-inch records.

# Solution Components:
## Tonearm Mover:
Function: Automates the movement of the tonearm to initiate playback and to lift it away during the record flipping process.
Components:
- Servo Motor (HS-318): To precisely control the vertical movement (lifting and lowering) of the tonearm.
- Stepper Motor (290-028): To manage the horizontal distance to get to the record
- Ultrasonic Sensor (HC-SR04): To detect the end of the record by sensing a decrease in distance, indicating the tonearm is below it.
- ESP Microcontroller (Part # not found on ECE supply): ESP microcontroller to process sensor inputs and control motor actions.

## Record Flipping Mechanism:
Function: Automatically flips the record to enable playback of the opposite side.
Components:
- Roller Actuator (Part #W171DIP-21): To rotate the record from one side to the other.
- Side clamps (5075A25): To securely hold the record during the flipping process without causing damage.
- Ultrasonic Sensor (HC-SR04): To confirm the presence and correct positioning of the record before and after flipping.
- Control Circuitry (W171DIP-21): To manage the timing and sequence of the flipping operation.

## Turntable Rotator:
Function: Ensures consistent and accurate rotation of the record at standard playback speeds.
Components:
- DC Motor with Speed Controller (Part #ROB-10551): To drive the turntable at precise speeds (45 RPM for 7-inch records).
- Rotary Encoder (Part #377): To monitor and adjust the rotational speed in real-time.
- Power Supply Unit (Part #168605): To provide stable power to the motor and associated electronics.

# Criteria for Success:
- Automatic Detection: The system accurately detects the end of a record side without user intervention.
- Seamless Flipping: The record is flipped automatically and correctly aligned for playback of the opposite side.
- Tonearm Precision: The tonearm is precisely controlled to avoid damaging the record or stylus during lifting, positioning, and lowering.
- Playback Quality: The system maintains or enhances the audio quality of the original record player, ensuring no degradation due to the automation processes.
- User Safety: The automated components operate safely, posing no risk to users during operation.

Featured Project

# People

Scott Liu - sliu125

Connor Lake - crlake2

Aashish Kapur - askapur2

# Problem

Buses are scheduled inefficiently. Traditionally buses are scheduled in 10-30 minute intervals with no regard the the actual load of people at any given stop at a given time. This results in some buses being packed, and others empty.

# Solution Overview

Introducing the _BusPlan_: A network of smart detectors that actively survey the amount of people waiting at a bus stop to determine the ideal amount of buses at any given time and location.

To technically achieve this, the device will use a wifi chip to listen for probe requests from nearby wifi-devices (we assume to be closely correlated with the number of people). It will use a radio chip to mesh network with other nearby devices at other bus stops. For power the device will use a solar cell and Li-Ion battery.

With the existing mesh network, we also are considering hosting wifi at each deployed location. This might include media, advertisements, localized wifi (restricted to bus stops), weather forecasts, and much more.

# Solution Components

## Wifi Chip

- esp8266 to wake periodically and listen for wifi probe requests.

## Radio chip

- NRF24L01 chip to connect to nearby devices and send/receive data.

## Microcontroller

- Microcontroller (Atmel atmega328) to control the RF chip and the wifi chip. It also manages the caching and sending of data. After further research we may not need this microcontroller. We will attempt to use just the ens86606 chip and if we cannot successfully use the SPI interface, we will use the atmega as a middleman.

## Power Subsystem

- Solar panel that will convert solar power to electrical power

- Power regulator chip in charge of taking the power from the solar panel and charging a small battery with it

- Small Li-Ion battery to act as a buffer for shady moments and rainy days

## Software and Server

- Backend api to receive and store data in mongodb or mysql database

- Data visualization frontend

- Machine learning predictions (using LSTM model)

# Criteria for Success

- Successfully collect an accurate measurement of number of people at bus stops

- Use data to determine optimized bus deployment schedules.

- Use data to provide useful visualizations.

# Ethics and Safety

It is important to take into consideration the privacy aspect of users when collecting unique device tokens. We will make sure to follow the existing ethics guidelines established by IEEE and ACM.

There are several potential issues that might arise under very specific conditions: High temperature and harsh environment factors may make the Li-Ion batteries explode. Rainy or moist environments may lead to short-circuiting of the device.

We plan to address all these issues upon our project proposal.

# Competitors

https://www.accuware.com/products/locate-wifi-devices/

Accuware currently has a device that helps locate wifi devices. However our devices will be tailored for bus stops and the data will be formatted in a the most productive ways from the perspective of bus companies.