Asthma medication inhalation monitor
The goal of this project is to develop a microprocessor montor which can attach to the new disk shaped asthma drug inhalers as manufactured by Glaxo-Wellman. Such devices exist for the old style cylindrical dispensers which sprayed the drug into the individual's mouth. However, no devices are available or planned for the new dispensers which require that the individual inhale the drug out of the dispenser. Medical researchers want a device which can be attached to the Glaxo dispensers, record the time when an individual is taking the drug, verify that the drug was inhaled, and save the information for later transfer to a PDA or PC.Electrical Design:
The currently planned device would consist of a microprocessor board incorporating a serial interface and sensor electronics (probably a pressure sensor to verify the inhalation of the drug and an optical sensor to detect mechancial actuation of the inhaler). Design constraints include small size and low power. The board should incorporate some form of real-time clock, a serial interface for a PC or PDA, and appropriate electronics to interface to the sensors.Mechanical Design:
A key aspect of this asthma monitor will be its ability to mechanically integrate with the Glaxo inhaler. FDA regulations require that we not drill into or alter the Glaxo inhaler in any way. Consequently, we envision a mechanical shell which will snap over the Glaxo inhaler, cover the Glaxo mouthpiece, and contain a housing for electronics and an electrical connector for data readout. A critical part of the mechanical design will be an interface between the mechancal shell and the mechanical lever arm of the Glaxo inhaler to determine when the patient wants to actually take the drug. This must be mechanically reliable and incorporate an electrical sensor to indicate to the microprocerssor that the patient is initiating a drug inhalation. A final part of the mechanical design will include designing a system to verify that the patient has actually inhaled the drug. Our current thinking is that this might be done using a pressure sensor and appropriate hardware/software to detect a pressure drop in the mouthpiece which would be associated with the patient inhaling the drug.Software Design:
The software will integrate the functions of the medication monitor. We envision a small O/S (possibly TinyOS) which will support energy saving functions including a sleep mode, data organization and management of non-volatile storage, communications with a PC or PDA including a control mode allowing time setting, data retrieval, and any signal processing to verify drug inhalation.This project is being done in collaboration with the Pediatrics Dept. of Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital. This is obviously a multi-person project and will require mechancial, hardware and software expertise in the project team.
(Contact Prof. Merat, EECS)
Water Level Monitoring Device
The goal of this project is to develop a manufacturable system which can monitor water levels in a vertical glass tube, a sight glass, for a commercial hot water furnace. If the water level drops significantly or behaves in any of several other ways the device should transmit a warning message to a pager or text equiped phone. This project would build upon several previous senior projects who have worked with the TAP/IXO protocol and the MC 33794. The emphasis of this project would be to design and implement a working system which we can field test.Water Level Sensing:
A previous senior project has identified the Motorola MC 33794 e-field sensor as an excellent way to non-invasively monitor water level for this project.Communications/Signal Processing:
Regardless of the sensor used to measure the water level some level of signal processing to determine when the water level is changing in a way that requires transmitting an error message. This warning must be communicated via a text message to a pager or suitable phone. A summer senior project has demonstrated text messaging using a microprocessor with a modem chip. The microprocessor sent information using the TAP/IXO protocol.Electronics board:
It is desired to design an inexpensive, single-board microcomputer with an integrated MC 33794 e-field sensor, appropriate amounts of digital I/O, and a modem. This design will be implemented on a printed circuit board. Software will be developed to monitor the water level and detect various alarm conditions (falling water level, rising water level, a water level which does not change, etc.) and send appropriate messages using the integrated modem.
(Contact Prof. Merat, EECS)
NASA Mission Communications Modeling
The goal of this project is to design a set of realistic mission scenarios which can be used to benchmark space network simulations and emulations being developed by other student researchers. The scenarios should be based upon current and planned space missions and specified in terms of existing and future communications hardware, the characteristics (e.g., bits/second, error rate, and power consumption) of the hardware, the statistics of the data being transmitted, and the network topology (e.g., low-earth orbit, geosynchronous satellite, lunar orbiter, etc.).Background:
NASA is working to replace current manually controlled point-to-point space communications systems with an Internet-like system which can flexibly route information from source to destination. Such space networks would different significantly from their terrestrial counterparts in that the core routers (satellites) are moving with the result that the network connections change over time, the long-range communications links between satellites spread out the transmitted signal power resulting in noisy communications, and the satellites are subject to power limitations.References:
- K. Hogie, E. Criscuolo, and R. Parise, “Link and routing issues for Internet protocols in space,” Proceedings IEEE 2001 Aerospace Conference, pp. 963-976.
- J. Rash et al., Implementation guide for the use of the Internet protocol suite in space mission communications, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, July 2004.
(Contact Prof. Merat, EECS)
Web-based Service Clearing House
The goal of this project is to design a Web-based system which can be used to promote community service activities by matching student/faculty/staff expertise to community needs, providing a calendar of community service events, and providing scheduling services for resources.This is not just a Web page, but a complex interface to a database. It is thought that this could be best implemented using the same Phone language used to implement the EECS department's Web page. The users have provided a long list of desired features.
- Will enable current and prospective students to explore potential service opportunities offered to Case students
- Will have “registered user” usage restrictions as appropriate (full access granted to Case students/faculty/staff/alumni only)
- Will incorporate an interactive calendar that accommodates community partner and student organization websites and e-mail addresses as well as van usage schedule
- Will enable users to provide personal identifying data, including type of service they are interested in.
- Will enable registered users to generate online “shopping lists” of service opportunities that incorporate community partner and student organization websites and e-mail addresses; will enable faculty to make service-learning consultation requests.
- Will accommodate registration for larger one-time events and van usage requests
- Will enable community partners to enter data on community needs, and request service from individual students, teams from service-learning courses and/or OSCS programs, etc.; will also incorporate tracking mechanism for reporting of community members served.
- Will incorporate a service activity evaluation form, including rating of service site and statistics on number of community members served.
- Will interface with the new Student Information System (ISIS) so that students involved in service-learning courses and other activities can be more easily tracked and demographic characteristics identified, as needed
- Will incorporate GIS mapping and RTA routing information identifying service sites by various criteria and optimal public transportation routes from University Circle
- Will incorporate a student activity tracking mechanism as follows: the objective of the volunteer and other student affiliates tracking database (volunteer database) will be to facilitate the counting of volunteers (and affiliates) and the hours they serve per program/activity, along with other classifying data. The database will incorporate the following features:
- Eliminates double counting of volunteers and affiliates, but aggregates data for all programs an individual has served in
- Design has to be user friendly with an easy learning curve for the non computer savvy individual
- Program has to be expandable as the tracking needs of the office grow
- Program has to be designed to use software that is popular and easy to gain access to
- Ability to do queries (pre established; e.g., query for the names of students that have volunteered at least 30 hours during the fall semester and are nursing majors).
- Ability to track classification information like gender, race, major, graduating class, email address etc.
- A student employee payroll calculation and tracking function
(Contact Prof. Merat or Prof. Zhang, EECS)
Mac-based oscilloscope
(Contact Prof. Merat, EECS)
A new generation of test equipment has been released which is based upon A/D converters and low-cost microprocessors. Unfortunately, the vast majority of new products are for Windows and linux -- there are no Mac instrument interfaces available. The goal of this project will be to design a complete suite of Mac based software interfaces for the BitScope, a popular commercially available oscilloscope module for the PC with a USB interface. The project will encompass a great deal of software design as well as signal processing. Since there is a LabVIEW interface for the BitScope this could be done in LabVIEW or as stand-alone software.
Wireless Networking/Sensor Webs
I am interested in many applications of short range radio communications for such applications as control, data telemetry, and sexcurity. The current Freescale wireless competition provides an excellent opportunity for developing Wireless applications using the evolving Zigbee standard which was developed for consumer applications. Several of my ideas are listed below and I would be willing to listen to entertain student ideas.Low-power: One of the major problems in working with systems of this type is minimizing power consumption for battery based applications. The goal of this project would be to develop a low-power operating system for microprocessor-based data acquisition applications. This may be based upon TinyOS or may be a simpler system developed from the ground up. The ultimate design goal will be to develop energy consumption models of the microprocessor and develop an energy-aware OS and energy efficient communications protocols.
Robot-coordination: We have long wanted to be able to coordinate multiple robots such as the Lego robots using a low-cost solution. Bluetooth has been unacceptable for this application because of cost (development systems and Bluetooth modules are expensive) and companies have been unwilling to share programming information with customers who do not plan to purchase at least 100,000 units per year. The goal of this project would be to develop a low-cost Zigbee solution for robot control in either the EECS 375 Lego Robotics or EECS 396 Mechatronics courses.
Sensing and control:There are many applications around the factory and home which require small amounts of information to be transmitted wirelessly. These applications may including sensing (see the boiler monitor project above), intrusion sensing (using the e-field sensor), and control (such as lighting). The goal of this project would be to develop wireless protocols for these systems which may support power down and sleep modes, sensor interfacing and signal processing, and heart beat modes (in which shut down nodes periodically check for data or instructions).
(Contact Prof. Merat, EECS)
Wireless Networked Gun Target Actuation System
A need exists for the development of wireless networked target actuation system such as is used for shooter training and practice. The actuator would be required to rotate a target 90° from a horizontal orientation to a vertical orientation for a pre-programmed period of time and then return the target to its initial position. The system must also be able to sense the impact of the round and drop the target when the target is struck. The system should be able to support a minimum of 10 actuators that can be accessed from a computer (preferably a laptop) over a wireless network (preferably 802.11 compliant). The system should be able to operate over a maximum distance of 300 yards from the base station to the furthest actuator. It is envisioned that the actuators would be laid out on the shooting range at distances from 5 to 300 yards from the firing point. The software would recognize the actuators and assign each an ID that would appear on the computer display. The user would then program the actuators for the amount of exposure time and hide time for each target and the total number of target exposures. These times are typically on the order of 5 seconds. The actuators would themselves require an on-board microprocessor to control the actuation mechanism, arbitrate communications and keep track of scoring. Scoring can performed in one of two modes. Mode 1 would score solely based on the number target impacts. Mode 2 would score using a time/distance based bias method in that the maximum point score can be obtained only within the first 2 seconds of exposure and decreasing thereafter until the target drops at the end of the exposure period. In addition, the software would allow the targets to be configured such that certain targets can be assigned a higher point score, such as those at further distances. The actuators must be designed to operate from a battery, and the design should be such that it maximizes operational time between battery recharges. The actuators must able to operate for a minimum of 100 actuations over a time period of five hours.A previous senior project has done much of the basic design; however, the target impact sensor system is to be designed in this senior project. This project would entail sensor research and actual testing of the impact sensor.
(Contact Mr. Mark Podany, mpodany@pgmdi.com)
Adso the Librarian
This is a project for a local start-up company. There are currently numerous software packages for the management of digital photos (e.g., Apple iPhoto, Adobe Photoshop Album, iView Media Pro, etc.) There is, however, currently no robust cross-platform software available for the management of scanned files and images, and other user-created/user-acquired (UCUA) documents.
A functional prototype database has been developed to perform simple search routines to locate UCUA journal articles, and searches can be performed by Author, by Journal, by Year, by Keyword, etc. The user was responsible for hand-coding this bibliographic information into the database, and linking this information to the electronic file. Adobe Acrobat Forms was used to re-capture this bibliographic information, and attach it to the electronic file. This functional prototype was developed in 4D for the Apple Gx platform.
This functional prototype needs fundamental and evolutionary enhancements. The company desires the following tasks: (1) evaluation of similar/competitive products, identifying strengths and weaknesses; (2) improved search capabilities, possibly including GREP-style features; (3) data import/export capability; (4) duplicate entry management and internal data synchronization; (5) improved GUI (company will assist/develop/provide artwork to support); (6) streamlined data entry process; (7) cross-platform support (MAC/PC); (8) document preview; and (9) interface to other databases (e.g., Lexis-Nexis, SilverPlatter, etc.).
This will be a classic "real-world" design engineering project, with project management, design plan and schedule, design specifications, design activities and design reviews, design verification, design validation, and design documentation. The company seeks excellence in design and design documentation.
(Contact James J. Rogers, Coastal Consulting Group, Ltd. coastalcg@earthlink.net)
Integrated electronics for real-time optical coherence tomography (OCT)
Description: Improvement and integration of signal processing electronic for real-time OCT imaging instrument. Project will involve specification, design, simulation, fabrication, testing, and integration of signal processing electronics, including a frequency-tracking bandpass filter. This improvement will impact all of our clinical and scientific projects using real-time OCT imaging.
(Contact Prof. Rollins, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Departments of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering
office:(216) 844-5904; lab:(216) 844-3298
FAX:(216) 844-8011
e-mail: amr9@po.cwru.edu)
Imaging software tool for clinical optical coherence tomography applications
Development of a software package for viewing, processing, and analyzing OCT images and image streams. The package will be used by researchers and clinical collaborators, including non-technical users. Project will involve integration of existing software, development of new software, and interfacing with users to specify functional and interface needs. This improvement will impact all of our clinical and scientific projects using real-time OCT imaging.
(Contact Prof. Rollins, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Departments of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering
office:(216) 844-5904; lab:(216) 844-3298
FAX:(216) 844-8011
e-mail: amr9@po.cwru.edu)
Optical Design Projects
These projects will involve design of optical systems for OCT.
(Contact Prof. Rollins, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Departments of Medicine and Biomedical Engineering
office:(216) 844-5904; lab:(216) 844-3298
FAX:(216) 844-8011
e-mail: amr9@po.cwru.edu)
Smart Traffic Signs
This is a continuation of a previous senior project which used PIC based STAMP microcomputer boards and commercial wireless boards operating at 433 MHz to successfully demonstrating broadcast traffic sign information to suitably equipped cars. Although a proof of concept was demonstrated there remains a large amount of work to be done. Potential projects include (1) redoing the wireless communications for 915 MHz by interfacing suitable transmitter and receiver boards to the STAMPS or other single board computers, (2) developing a directional antenna for the transmitter (perhaps a Yagi or a circular waveguide based upon a Pringles can, (3) developing a software protocol which can accommodate transmitting information corresponding to the known sign types, and (4) developing an antenna suitable for implantation in a road surface which can be used to select a specific channel to receive thereby allowing cars to receive lane specific information.
(Contact Prof. Merat, EECS)