Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
70 Automatic Drum Tuner
 Joey Bacino
Jonathan Fejkiel
Max Wojtowicz
 Shengyan Liu design_document1.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
proposal1.pdf
video
Members

Joey Bacino - jbacino2

Jonathon Fejkiel - jfejkiel2

Wojtowicz - mwojt3

Problem

Playing instruments is a pastime enjoyed by millions of people across the world. A task that almost every musician must endure before playing is tuning their respective instrument. For many this is done easily if they are of able body and have good pitch. However, turning lugs and listening for the right tune can be difficult if someone is weaker such as a child or the elderly, or if they are inexperienced in hearing perfect pitch such as a beginner.

Solution

The solution we propose is an automatic tuner for instruments that will adjust the instrument until the desired pitch is reached. We will specifically design our tuner for use on drums. The device will strike the drum, listen for the pitch, calculate how much it should either tighten or loosen the drum, and instruct a motor to do so. It will perform extra checks to ensure the drum was adjusted properly. Additionally, the mechanism will connect to a mobile app to select pitch if time permits.

Subsystem 1

Power Management System:

To have enough power for striking the tuning hammer and turning the pegs of the drums, we will utilize a power tool battery such as a Milwaukee M12 battery system. The same battery will power the microcontroller and sensors so it must be regulated to the correct voltages to ensure the safety of the components and the user as well. The power management subcircuit will have over-current and over voltage components such as fuses and diodes to ensure circuit protection. A buck converter will step the 12V supply down to the required inputs of the rest of the components.

Subsystem 2

Drum Striking Hammer:

For the motor that drives the hammer that would strike the drum, we will use a push-pull solenoid. We’re choosing a push-pull solenoid because they can provide a consistent and quick tap. Consistency is important around the entire drum, we need to make sure each strike is the same for every single hit on every single lug we would like to tune. A quick tap also allows the drum to resonate fully and not dampen the hit by leaving the hammer on the drum head. This is important because we want our pitch detection to be able to hear the purest/most dominant tone around each lug without any type of interference. Minimizing overtones will simplify our pitch detection system as we want as close to only one tone at any given time. Also, we would experiment with different materials such as rubber, wood, and felt to see which gets us the best result for our hammer.


Subsystem 3

Pitch Detection:

To detect the pitch of the drum at its current state, a microphone will begin to read the input of audio after the hammer has struck. The returned sound snippet will be recorded and the raw audio data will be converted to frequency domain data on the microcontroller. This can be done using a Fast Fourier Transform algorithm on the microcontroller. The dominant frequency will be noted as the pitch of the drum. Based on the input for the desired note, the microcontroller will then decide if the drum needs to be tightened or loosened and by what amount.

Subsystem 4

Tuning Motor Control:

For the motor that would be turning the lugs, we want to use a high-torque servo motor. High torque is a requirement for this part because when you want to tune your drum higher and higher, you need more and more torque as the drumhead provides more and more resistance against the tuning lugs. Servo motors also offer very precise control with feedback, so we could calibrate the motor to each lug and precisely determine how much the pitch changes with how much rotation.

Subsystem 5

Pitch Correctness LEDs:

The device will have LEDs that will indicate to the user if the current pitch of the drum is correct, close, or far off from the desired pitch. It will begin lighting when the drum is first struck. Every time the drum is struck after a pitch adjustment, the LEDs will display a different color so that the user will know the progress of the tuning. Green will be displayed and stay lit once the device has finished tuning to indicate to the user that they are ready to play. While the device is not in an active tuning task, the LEDs will stay lit blue to indicate a standby mode.

Criterion For Success

Our first criteria for success will be being able to accurately detect the pitch from our pitch detection system, as that will be the basis for how the two motors act. Another criteria for success will be repeatability, our system should return consistent pitch readings and tuning results across multiple tests. The second criteria is the accurate striking of the drum. This can not be too fast or slow, and must be the correct length of time. One more can be our lug-turning motor being able to accurately turn the lugs to the desired pitch without too many intermediate hammer strikes and adjustments. We also want minimal noise and interference from our motors.

Electronic Replacement for COVID-19 Building Monitors @ UIUC

Patrick McBrayer, Zewen Rao, Yijie Zhang

Featured Project

Team Members: Patrick McBrayer, Yijie Zhang, Zewen Rao

Problem Statement:

Students who volunteer to monitor buildings at UIUC are at increased risk of contracting COVID-19 itself, and passing it on to others before they are aware of the infection. Due to this, I propose a project that would create a technological solution to this issue using physical 2-factor authentication through the “airlock” style doorways we have at ECEB and across campus.

Solution Overview:

As we do not have access to the backend of the Safer Illinois application, or the ability to use campus buildings as a workspace for our project, we will be designing a proof of concept 2FA system for UIUC building access. Our solution would be composed of two main subsystems, one that allows initial entry into the “airlock” portion of the building using a scannable QR code, and the other that detects the number of people that entered the space, to determine whether or not the user will be granted access to the interior of the building.

Solution Components:

Subsystem #1: Initial Detection of Building Access

- QR/barcode scanner capable of reading the code presented by the user, that tells the system whether that person has been granted or denied building access. (An example of this type of sensor: (https://www.amazon.com/Barcode-Reading-Scanner-Electronic-Connector/dp/B082B8SVB2/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&keywords=gm65+scanner&qid=1595651995&sr=8-11)

- QR code generator using C++/Python to support the QR code scanner.

- Microcontroller to receive the information from the QR code reader and decode the information, then decide whether to unlock the door, or keep it shut. (The microcontroller would also need an internal timer, as we plan on encoding a lifespan into the QR code, therefore making them unusable after 4 days).

- LED Light to indicate to the user whether or not access was granted.

- Electronic locking mechanism to open both sets of doors.

Subsystem #2: Airlock Authentication of a Single User

- 2 aligned sensors ( one tx and other is rx) on the bottom of the door that counts the number of people crossing a certain line. (possibly considering two sets of these, so the person could not jump over, or move under the sensors. Most likely having the second set around the middle of the door frame.

- Microcontroller to decode the information provided by the door sensors, and then determine the number of people who have entered the space. Based on this information we can either grant or deny access to the interior building.

- LED Light to indicate to the user if they have been granted access.

- Possibly a speaker at this stage as well, to tell the user the reason they have not been granted access, and letting them know the

incident has been reported if they attempted to let someone into the building.

Criterion of Success:

- Our system generates valid QR codes that can be read by our scanner, and the data encoded such as lifespan of the code and building access is transmitted to the microcontroller.

- Our 2FA detection of multiple entries into the space works across a wide range of users. This includes users bound to wheelchairs, and a wide range of heights and body sizes.