Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
70 EduGrid Microgrid Demonstrator
 Ahmet Colak
Jason Hart
Srijan Kunta
 Abdullah Alawad proposal1.docx
EduGrid Microgrid Demonstrator

**Team Members:**
- Jason Hart (jhart34)
- Ahmet Colak (colak2)

**Problem:**
Students often have limited understanding of how the electric power grid is designed to stay safe and reliable, especially the protection systems, breakers, relays, fault isolation, that prevent small failures from becoming large outages. Because these concepts are not taught in a fun and accessible way, many students do not see what power engineers actually do or why the field matters, which can reduce interest in pursuing power and energy careers. Recent large scale outages, such as the winter storm related failures experienced in Texas, show how grid reliability, planning, and protection directly affect daily life and the safety of the public, highlighting the need for clear, hands on public education.

**Solution:**
Our product will include an interactable tabletop power grid that allows the user to see the flow of power from source to load, all while having access to switches and controls that aim to isolate faults, correct the power factor, and visualize the flow of power on our grid. All of these systems will provide students with an intuitive and engaging tool to learn more about the important role of power engineers.

**Solution Components:**


**Subsystem 1:**

**Power distribution and DC/DC regulation:**

Provides stable regulated power rails for the entire project so the ESP32-S3, display, LEDs, and indicators operate reliably. This subsystem converts the main input supply into a clean 5 V rail and a clean 3.3 V rail, with protection and power indication.

- 5 V system rail Buck Switch Converters: TPS54202DDCR
- 3.3 V logic rail Low Dropout Voltage Regulators: TLV75533PDBVR
- Input power connector: 2.1 mm DC jack PJ-102A
- Power switch: SPST toggle/slide switch (example: EG1218)
- Protection: reverse Schottky diode SN74S1053DWR
- Power indication LED: standard LED (WP7113SURDK14V) + resistor (generic)

Subsystem 2:

**Power grid state machine and fault initializer**

The brain of the system that stores the states of feeders, faults, measurements, display text, and breakers. Displays voltage, current, and power factor for power factor correction.

- Microcontroller: ESP32 S3
- Text-display showing V, I, PF, fault state: SSD1306
- Power factor correction (buttons to add capacitance or inductance): 108-D6C40F1LFS-ND

**Subsystem 3:**

**Feeder and breaker tripping behavior**

The microcontroller will initialize fault scenarios that will require the user to manually trip breakers to isolate faults
- Breaker toggleswitch: 100SP5T1B1M1QEH
- Programmable LEDs for power-flow and fault visualization LED: WS2812B

Subsystem 4:

**Mechanisms for fault selection, activation, and protection success.**

- Manual rotary selector: PEC11R-4220F-N0012
- Fault selection/activation light: 732-5017-ND
- Buzzer for incorrect fault isolation: CUI CEM-1203

**Criterion For Success:**

- Fault selection, activation, and isolation switches with clear LED/noise indication of success or failure.
- Clear depiction of power flow and feeder/breaker location on the board's face.
- Product is safely enclosed with now exposed conductors or excessive heating
- Each fault state is selectable and operational.

Backpack Buddy - Wearable Proximity/Incident Detection for Nighttime Safety

Jeric Cuasay, Emily Grob, Rahul Kajjam

Backpack Buddy - Wearable Proximity/Incident Detection for Nighttime Safety

Featured Project

# Backpack Buddy

Team Members:

- Student 1 (cuasay2)

- Student 2 (rkajjam2)

- Student 3 (eegrob2)

# Problem

The UIUC campus is relatively a safe place. We have emergency buttons throughout campus and security personnel available regularly. However, crime still occurs and affects students walking alone, especially at night. Staying up late at night working in a classroom or other building can lead to a long scary walk home. Especially when the weather is colder, the streets are generally less populated and walking home at night can feel more dangerous due to the isolation.

# Solution

A wearable system that uses night vision camera sensor and machine learning/intelligence image processing techniques to detect pedestrians approaching the user at an abnormal speed or angle that may be out of sight. The system would vibrate to alert them to look around and check their surroundings.

# Solution Components

## Subsystem 1 - Processing

Processing

Broadcom BCM2711 SoC with a 64-bit quad-core ARM Cortex-A72 processor or potentially an internal microprocessor such as the LPC15xx series for image processing and voltage step-down to various sensors and actuators

## Subsystem 2 - Power

Power

Converts external battery power to required voltage demands of on-system chips

## Subsystem 3 - Sensors

Sensors

Camera - Night Vision Camera Adjustable-Focus Module 5MP OV5647 to detect objects in the dark

Proximity sensor - detects obstacle distance before turning camera on, potentially ultrasonic or passive infrared sensors such as the HC-SR04

Haptic feedback - Vibrating Mini Motor Disc [ADA1201] to alert user something was identified

# Criterion For Success

The Backpack Buddy will provide an image based solution for identifying any imposing figure within the user's blind spots to help ensure the safety of our user. Our solution is unique as there currently no wearable visual monitoring solutions for night-time safety.

potential stuff:

Potentially: GNSS for location tracking, light sensor for outdoors identification, and heartbeat for user stress levels

camera stabilization

heat camera

Project Videos