• 10:00-10:30 Ryan re17wj
  A Digital Planimeter by Ryan Epp

  A planimeter is an analogue device created for measuring the area of any arbitrary shape. This project looked to create a functional prototype, that may or may not have been used before.

  The first step was physical desgin, as both the math calculations and building it require it. As for a planimeter, there are many variants, but in this case I used a wheeled variant, making use of one angle encoder, two arms of equal length, and a base and pivot point. The arms move with one another, that being the first arm in connected at both ends to the base and the second arm, while the second arm is only attached to the first, making use of the other end to pinpoint the position at which the user wishes to measure. The only reading given to the user is a wheel that sits on the second arm .

  The second step was the math behind the design. Unfortunately, wheeled planimeters have no easily available math constructs, however digital and other designs need only use addition and integration. That being said, there is no derivation, only theory towards the area. For this to work however, both arms still need be the same length. The equation used to area is as follows:

  Area = (Reading of wheel) * (Length of second arm)^2

  With room for error, a multiplier is used after a calibration test of a square measuring 100cm^2. The resulting equation uses modified versions of the base values for the Reading and Length.

• 10:30-11:00 Lily lw18pq
  A line-following robot by Lily Wang

  The purpose of this project was to design and implement an autonomous line following robot. The robot is made to detect and follow a path made from high contrast tape on a brightly lit surface. The robot uses two photodiodes to detect the intensity of the light and uses that data to determine the path to be taken. The robot is driven by two stepper motors on a miniature tank platform. The platform is driven by two stepper motors which are battery powered. The line following algorithm and motor control are loaded onto the PIC micro-controller. Software PWM is implemented for smooth driving and path following utilizes PID control. Small automated path following robots can be used small household applications or automated guidance.

• 11:00-11:30 Lucio ls09wo
  PiC-based weight scales by Lucio Santos

  The purpose of this project is to interface the PICLab board with a digital weighing scale model EB9017- 31P, to accomplish this objective is to modify this weighing scale by keeping the hardware and existing Wheatstone bridge strain gauge only and the other electronic circuit related components will be discarded.

  To proceed with this process, the following main and necessary components will be required:

  • An amplifier HX771
  • PICLab assembled with the micro-controller PIC16F877
  • A power supply of 5.0 volts/dc
  • An LCD module.
  • Miscellaneous components.

  It is assumed that the capacity of the weighing scale will be at a maximum of 300 ± 0.1 pounds. The following steps may follow for this assembly:

  • Prepare the existing Wheatstone Bridge connections
  • An HX711 amplifier
  • Amplifier connections to the PICLab
  • Make the corresponding connections to the LCD.

  Once the electronic circuit on the hardware assembling is completed, it will connect to the 5.0-V DC power source. The next step will be writing the code in an assembler language on the PICLab to interface with weighing scale after the coding is finished and tested. The weighing scale will be calibrated on PICLab by placing the known weights on the weighing scale that will give the reading on the LCD display in pounds or in kilograms.

• 11:30-12:00 Clean-up

Some memorable moments from this year's final project presentations.