Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
79 Voice Dosimeter for Voice Therapy
 David Gong
Jaden Li
Michael Rizk
 Chi Zhang design_document1.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
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presentation1.pptx
proposal1.pdf
# Voice Dosimeter for Voice Therapy

Team Members:
- David Gong (dsgong3)
- Jaden Li (sizhel2)
- Michael Rizk (rizk2)

# Problem

The US societal costs of voice-related teacher absenteeism and treatment expenses alone have been estimated to be as high as 2.5 billion dollars annually. Such absenteeism could be prevented if teachers were able to measure how much they were using and straining their voices every day. Furthermore, there are currently no commercially available voice dosimeters. Some devices were available in the past, but they cost thousands of dollars. A low-cost and widely available voice dosimeter would allow for clinical and research use of voice-related problems and voice therapy options.

This project will be conducted in collaboration with graduate student Charlie Nudelman and Professor Pasquale Bottalico at the College of Applied Health Sciences. Their group had previously developed a DIY voice dosimeter using a contact microphone and a portable audio recorder. They are still using this device today, but there are a few improvements they would like to see.

# Solution

The device that Charlie and Pasquale are using is bulky and requires a wired connection. It is impractical for patients to wear daily and collect data for a long period of time. We aim to create a cheaper and more comfortable voice dosimeter that is capable of recording data for long periods of time without recharging while the data can be uploaded to another device wirelessly.

# Solution Components

## Sensor System
Accelerometer: Low power and need bandwidth of at least 3kHz (BMA580)
Medical Tape
Silicone enclosure

## Microcontroller
Microcontroller: SOC with BLE low power consumption (NRF52832-QFAB-R)

## Data Processing and User Interface
The recorded data is collected and uploaded to a device through bluetooth. This data is then processed to extract information about sound pressure level, fundamental frequency, and cepstral peak. Finally, this data can be viewed either through a website or an app.

## Power
Battery: enough power to last 8 hours given MCU, power consumption estimate
- Either a small rechargeable battery, or a button cell battery that can be replaced
PMIC: TPS65720EVM-515

# Criterion For Success
- Design a device that costs less than $200
- Accurately measure within some uncertainty compared to a microphone measurement in a quiet room: sound pressure level within 2dB, fundamental frequency within 5Hz, cepstral peak within 2dB
- Reject external noise and voices by at least 20 dB compared to the wearer’s voice.
- At least 8 hours of battery life

## Secondary Objective
- Cloud integration

El Durazno Wind Turbine Project

Alexander Hardiek, Saanil Joshi, Ganpath Karl

El Durazno Wind Turbine Project

Featured Project

Partners: Alexander Hardiek (ahardi6), Saanil Joshi (stjoshi2), and Ganpath Karl (gkarl2)

Project Description: We have decided to innovate a low cost wind turbine to help the villagers of El Durazno in Guatemala access water from mountains, based on the pitch of Prof. Ann Witmer.

Problem: There is currently no water distribution system in place for the villagers to gain access to water. They have to travel my foot over larger distances on mountainous terrain to fetch water. For this reason, it would be better if water could be pumped to a containment tank closer to the village and hopefully distributed with the help of a gravity flow system.

There is an electrical grid system present, however, it is too expensive for the villagers to use. Therefore, we need a cheap renewable energy solution to the problem. Solar energy is not possible as the mountain does not receive enough solar energy to power a motor. Wind energy is a good alternative as the wind speeds and high and since it is a mountain, there is no hindrance to the wind flow.

Solution Overview: We are solving the power generation challenge created by a mismatch between the speed of the wind and the necessary rotational speed required to produce power by the turbine’s generator. We have access to several used car parts, allowing us to salvage or modify different induction motors and gears to make the system work.

We have two approaches we are taking. One method is converting the induction motor to a generator by removing the need of an initial battery input and using the magnetic field created by the magnets. The other method is to rewire the stator so the motor can spin at the necessary rpm.

Subsystems: Our system components are split into two categories: Mechanical and Electrical. All mechanical components came from a used Toyota car such as the wheel hub cap, serpentine belt, car body blade, wheel hub, torsion rod. These components help us covert wind energy into mechanical energy and are already built and ready. Meanwhile, the electrical components are available in the car such as the alternator (induction motor) and are designed by us such as the power electronics (AC/DC converters). We will use capacitors, diodes, relays, resistors and integrated circuits on our printed circuit boards to develop the power electronics. Our electrical components convert the mechanical energy in the turbine into electrical energy available to the residents.

Criterion for success: Our project will be successful when we can successfully convert the available wind energy from our meteorological data into electricity at a low cost from reusable parts available to the residents of El Durazno. In the future, their residents will prototype several versions of our turbine to pump water from the mountains.