Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
8 Facial Quantum Matching Mirror
 Akhil Morisetty
Alex Cheng
Ethan Zhang
# Facial Quantum Matching Mirror

Team Members:
- Akhil Morisetty (akhilm6)
- Alex Cheng (xueruic2 )
- Ethan Zhang (ethanjz2)

# Problem

Describe the problem you want to solve and motivate the need.
Chicago is spending 500 million dollars investing in the development of the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park. Professor Kwait is looking for a viable prototype of a Facial Quantum Matching Mirror that he can show investors to persuade them into creating a more expensive and museum-ready version. Our task is to create a visually appealing and functioning prototype that Professor Kwait can show to investors to eventually add to the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park.

# Solution

We propose a Facial Quantum Matching Mirror, an interactive display device that uses a one-way mirror and facial recognition to reflect a user’s likeness matched with well-known figures in selected categories such as engineers, scientists, or entrepreneurs. When the display is illuminated, the one-way mirror becomes transparent, allowing the user to see the matched character overlaid behind the glass. This creates the illusion that the user is “face-to-face” with a figure who resembles them, combining reflection, computation, and visual storytelling in a single interactive experience.
The system consists of a one-way mirror, a display panel of equal size mounted behind the mirror, a surrounding LED light ring, a camera, local storage, a microcontroller, and a user input button, all integrated within a single frame. When the system is idle, the display remains dark, causing the mirror to behave as a reflective surface so the user sees only their own reflection.

Upon pressing the button, the user selects a category and the system is activated. The microcontroller triggers visual feedback through the LED ring and commands the camera to capture an image of the user. This image is processed by the facial recognition backend, which identifies the most visually similar individual from the selected category. The result index is returned to the microcontroller, which retrieves the corresponding image from local storage and displays it on the screen.


# Solution Components

## Subsystem 1: Display Unit
This subsystem serves as the presentation and capture layer of the smart mirror. It uses an onboard camera to capture a photo of the person standing in front of the mirror, and a monitor behind a two-way mirror to render the user experience (UI prompts, loading screens, images, and optional video). During idle mode, the monitor remains black so the mirror looks fully reflective like a normal mirror. When the user presses the start button, the display transitions to a loading interface while the backend subsystems process the captured image and return a match. Once processing completes, the monitor displays the selected quantum scientist/engineer/entrepreneur (and any associated content), giving the mirror the appearance of an interactive digital mirror.

Components:
- 18’’ x 24’’ Wooden Picture Frame
- SANSUI 24” 100Hz PC Monitor
- 18” x 24” Glass Mirror
- 18” x 24” 50% Reflective Film

## Subsystem 2: LED Sensor Unit
This subsystem focuses on providing visual feedback to the participant throughout the interaction process. The LED Sensor Unit is activated after the participant presses the startup button and indicates that the system is processing the facial scan and matching operation. The LEDs will flash in a predefined pattern to signal that the system is active and working.
The LED Sensor Unit receives control signals from the system microcontroller and remains active until an “off” signal is sent by the display subsystem or system controller, indicating that the matched image or video has finished displaying. Once the off signal is received, the LEDs are turned off and the system returns to an idle state. The LED lights are mounted around the frame of the mirror to ensure high visibility and to enhance the overall user experience.

Components:
- Addressable LED strip: SEZO WS2812B ECO LED Strip Light

## Subsystem 3: Startup Button
This subsystem focuses on the start of the entire process for the project. The participant begins the process of using the mirror by choosing options from a set of buttons available to them. The participant will have the option of selecting the quantum category that they want, and starting the camera/scan process with another button. The participant has the control for when they are interested in and when they start the process. The button will be stationed next to where the participant will stand and have wires connected to the microcontroller subsystem.

Components:
- Button: 2x16 LCD Display with Controller

## Subsystem 4: System Microcontroller

The system microcontroller organizes and communicates between all the other subsystems in the project. All of the logic and transmission of data is handled by this subsystem. Moreover, the software component of the projects sends data back and forth between the microcontroller and itself. The system microcontroller is the overarching subsystem in the project, which essentially plays a role in every component of the solution.

Components:
- Microcontroller: ESP32-S3-WROOM-1-N16


# Criterion For Success

- Participants are able to select the category they are interested in to find a match for.
- Be able to accurately match the participant to a person in the topic the participant has selected: Accuracy should be at 75%
- After match has been found a personal video is displayed from the match
- Device does not start until participant steps on to pressure plate
- The led surrounding should be on after the user press the button and before the character image disappear
- The image on the monitor should be showing for up to 15 seconds, and then turn back to the black screen.

Economic Overnight Outlet

Chester Hall, Sabrina Moheydeen, Jarad Prill

Featured Project

**Team**

- Chester Hall (chall28), Sabrina Moheydeen (sabrina7), Jarad Prill (jaradjp2)

**Title**

- Economic Overnight Outlet

**Problem**

- Real-time pricing in ISOs, such as the Midwest, California, New England, and New York, provides differentials in electricity prices throughout the day that can be taken advantage of. The peak price of electricity compared to the minimum prices can feature variations of up to 70%. With price agnostic charging, this results in unnecessary costs for those who charge devices (see attached spreadsheet). This same principle can thus be scaled for large commercialized applications requiring high-capacity batteries, resulting in a higher savings potential to be taken advantage of.

- Calcs: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JBzt2xm0Ue4a_teosdak623h0zSP5nHRKi7Wi8rMcPo/edit?usp=sharing

**Solution Overview**

- We will create a device that can fetch real-time prices from regional ISOs and enable charging when prices are lowest. Our primary application will be centered towards warehouse electric vehicles using high-capacity, fast-charging lithium ion batteries. Such vehicles include forklifts, cleaning machines, and golf carts.

**Solution Components**

- [ISO LMP API] - Through use of a WiFi-enabled microcontroller we can fetch real-time prices and build our control system around these values.

- [Passive High Performance Protection] - In order to provide downstream safety to the loads, we will ensure the device features surge protection and is rated for the high current of fast charging. The switching of the connection will be done with a contactor whose coil is energized according to the microcontroller.

- [Device Display] - LCD display to show information about the current energy price and the current day’s savings.

- [Manual User Override] - The device will feature a manual toggle switch to either enable or disable the cost-optimized charging feature allowing users to charge loads at any time, not necessarily the cheapest.

- [User Interface] - Software application to allow for user input regarding the time of day the device must be charged by. The application will also display information about total savings per week, month, or year and savings over the device’s lifetime.

- [Control Power Converter] - In order to run the low voltage control systems from the outlet, either 120VAC or 3-phase 480VAC, we will need to step this down to a low DC voltage of around 3.3VDC.

- [Memory System] - Microcontroller capable of performing control function within user specified parameters.

- [Device Connection] - Connectivity to the battery of the device being charged so that current state of charge (SoC) information can be used. Potential experimental filter algorithms will be used in order to estimate the SoC automatically, without requiring the user to input the specific data of the device being used.

**Criterion for Success**

- Able to charge devices at lowest cost times of the day and display current pricing and savings information. The upfront cost of a large-scale reproducible product must be less than the lifetime savings incurred by purchasing the product. Users without an engineering background can easily analyze their savings to visually recognize the device’s benefit.