Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
33 Budget Clip-On Posture Checker
 Ashit Anandkumar
Destiny Jefferson
Edward Ruan
 Wenjing Song proposal1.pdf
Title: Budget Clip-On Posture Checker


Team Members:
- Ashit Anandkumar (aa97)
- Edward Ruan (eruan3)
- Destiny Jefferson (djeff4)

# Problem

Describe the problem you want to solve and motivate the need.

Today, people work long hours at desks, either using their computers or mobile devices. This leads to poor posture whether it be through rounding shoulders, slouching, or tilting their head forward. These poor habits can lead to chronic neck, back, and shoulder pain, fatigue, and possibly some spinal and musculoskeletal issues. Most of the time people subconsciously fall into a position of poor posture and don’t notice its negative effects until they experience discomfort. Current solutions include either having a brace which is restrictive and expensive, an application that uses cameras which require users to sit in front of which is tedious and impractical, and reminders that occur without measuring actual poor posture which people tend to ignore. There needs to be a discreet solution that can accurately monitor posture in real time, provide immediate feedback, and is portable. There is currently a product on amazon that does this, but this product is expensive and no one should be emptying their wallet for a simple but useful posture checker device.

# Solution

Describe your design at a high-level, how it solves the problem, and introduce the subsystems of your project.

The Clip-On Posture Checker will be an affordable small wearable device that is clipped onto the user’s upper shirt or upper body. This device will continuously monitor the body’s orientation and its deviation from proper posture. Everyone’s proper posture is different which is why the device has a calibration button the user can press when sitting/standing in their proper posture, after a set time the device will be calibrated. Within a set parameter, a deviation outside of this calibrated range will trigger immediate feedback. When the user slouches or leans forward a lot, the device will immediately provide haptic feedback which will prompt the user to correct their posture.







# Solution Components

## Subsystem 1 - Sensory

This sensory subsystem will detect the user’s orientation and motion. The component(s) required will be something like an ICM-20948, which contains an accelerometer, gyroscope, and magnetometer to properly detect user posture deviation from their calibrated proper posture.

## Subsystem 2 - Processing/MCU

For the processing subsystem, we will use the Arduino Nono 33 BLE or ESP32 to handle all the sensor data collection, filtration and feedback control. Both these microcontrollers have a compact size and will help fit into this wearable project. The microcontroller will continuously read the orientation and acceleration sensors and be able to calculate whether the posture is correct or not. Additionally, there will be a filtration system to calculate the tilt/change in posture from the calibrated position. Additionally, the filtration system will also be able to detect if it is just a slight movement by the user or a posture change. Lastly the microcontroller will be in charge of sending feedback to the user to help indicate to the user that there is a change in posture.

## Subsystem 3 - Feedback

This feedback subsystem serves to notify the user in real-time when they have poor posture. It will be a simple vibration motor for haptic feedback, a ERM motor will suffice, optionally LEDs or a buzzer can also be included.

## Subsystem 4 - Power

This power subsystem will provide stable power and lasting operation to ensure proper posture checking behaviour. The components required would be a small rechargeable 3.7V LiPo battery @200-500 mAh, a voltage regulator for the MCU, and a battery charging circuit.

## Subsystem 5 - Enclosure

This mechanical subsystem serves to enclose the entire device and its components, the components could simply be a plastic shell to hold all the components and a metal clip so the user can clip on the device to their body.

# Criterion For Success

Describe high-level goals that your project needs to achieve to be effective. These goals need to be clearly testable and not subjective.

For the device to be successful, the device shall detect the user’s torso tilt angle within ±5° accuracy relative to the calibrated upright posture. The device shall provide real-time feedback (vibration or LED) within 1 second when posture deviation exceeds a threshold angle (e.g., 15° forward lean). The device shall operate continuously for at least 8 hours on a single battery charge. The device shall log posture data with a time resolution of at least 1 minute and store or transmit a minimum of 24 hours of usage history.

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.