ME 333 Final Project Ideas
My idea for a project is to build a joystick/mouse that is held in the air
by your hand and the direction is selected by tilting the joystick in the
direction you want to go. This is similar to the way a Microsoft Sidewinder
Gamepad worked from a few years ago.
An rough mechanical design would call for a pendulum-like object that and 4
to 8 optical or magnetic or mechanical sensors that would be tripped when
part of the pendulum moved near. From here, a signal would be sent out of
the device either to a preprocessor to amplify the signal and eventually
into the DAQ card for the computer. From here, the input would be
processed and a C program or Labview interface would have a cursor that
the joystick would control with a graphical interface.
It also would be possible to add a button to the controller that would start
could make the cursor draw when pressed.
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The Mecha-alarm clock is partially based on my roommate's inability to wake
up. I would like to build an alarm clock with multiple modes of waking the user
up. The user should be able to set the alarm for a certain time, and when that
time comes, there should be a loud buzzing sound. If this fails to wake up the
user in five minutes or so, the clock device should dump a cup of water on the
user. It would need some sort of motor to dump the cup of water.
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I would like to develop an assembly for a camera which would follow a person
through an infrared light. The user would have an infrared light placed
somewhere on his body, and there would need to be probably a number of
phototransistors to sense the position of the user. There should also be a
motor to pan the camera assembly (and perhaps another to tilt it -- we might
need some sort of gimbel). Basically, the main point is for the assembly to
follow the user in a two dimensional plane.
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This game involves a metal rod that moves up and down attached to a small car
that moves side to side. The metal rod is inserted through the face of a
metal wall, that has a pattern or maze cut out of its face. The object of the
game is to move the metal rod through the maze without letting it touch the
sides. The car and rod would be operated by input from the user through a
wired controller. There would be a display that receives output that pertains
to the users performance through the maze. For example, it could display time
and number of times the user makes contact with the sides. A motor would be
needed to drive the car and a motor would be needed to drive the rod as well.
There would have to be a sensor to receive an electrical signal everytime the
rod contacts the maze that would then be passed to the display. Also, there
would need to be sensors to receive the input from the user and pass it to
the car.
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My project proposal is a 3D Duck Hunt/Skeet Shooting game. A 2D target would
be controlled by motors a certain distance away from the shooter, who is
armed with a fake gun with a laser (or infrared)-sight. When the user starts
the game by either shouting "Pull" or perhaps stepping on a pedal, the target
will begin to move in a specified manner (variable speed and duration can be
set by a knob). Two motors will be used to control movement- one for up/down
and one for left/right. The user must then shine the light at a photodetector
on the target- if successful, the target will "fall" or register as a hit.
This can be done using a comparator/trigger circuit to determine when the
light produces a large enough voltage/current on the photodetector. The object
of the game will be to see how many of the total targets you can hit. Game
state logic and target movement will be implemented by the microcontroller.
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The idea that I had for a project for Mechatronics (ME 333) would be a game in
which one would use a joystick in order to trace out a pattern on a screen. The
user would be given three choices of difficulty: easy, medium, or hard. Each
difficulty setting will have a preprogrammed shape in which the user will have
to trace out within a certain time limit. The user will be given a percentage
score on how close he/she traced out the shape. The user interface will have
three switches corresponding to the difficulty levels and a joystick, which will
direct the user's trace. In order to visualize the traces, two lasers will be
used. The first will display the preprogrammed shape onto the drawing surface
by reflecting off of a vibrating mirror. The second laser (of a different color
than the first) will be reflected off of a separate mirror onto the same drawing
surface as the first. The drawing surface will be an opaque backdrop (color
dependent upon which laser colors are used). In order to produce the vibration
for 2D shape to be traced by the user, two small speakers will be used. One will
control the x-axis vibration while the other will control the y-axis vibration.
The vibrations of the speakers will be sent through a medium (wood) through a
plastic strip, on which the mirror will be affixed. This will create the desired
preprogrammed 2D figure upon the screen. The second laser trace in which the user
defines by the joystick will be controlled by the use of two stepper motors (or
something similar), which will similarly control the x and y-axes. Since the
second mirror will not be vibrating like the first, a laser "dot" will be seen
instead of a 2D figure. In order to keep track of the "correctness" of the user's
tracing, the program will know what the figure looks like, read in the joystick
movements, and convert the accumulated error between the two into a percentage.
This percentage will be read out onto the Handy Board screen. The Handy Board may
also display time remaining and/or difficulty setting.
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This project would be a mechanically recreated Venus fly-trap. The "mouth" portion
would consist of 2-4 bend sheet metal pieces with a padded ending at the apex of the
mouth and a sensor attached to the end to detect approaching "insects". This mouth
portion would be connected to 1-4 motors that would open and close the mouth (weak
enough for safety purposes, but strong enough to hold on to an object such as a
pencil). The microchip would control the timing of the opening and closing and would
activate the motors based on the sensor input.
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Touch sensors which are not rigid (such as the rat whiskers from last yearís ME 433),
can bend if their frame of reference is moved around (such as when the vehicle upon
which they are mounted is driving over a rough surface), causing them to perceive that
they hit something that they didnít. I propose a project to create a system using the
rat whiskers and gyroscopes on the main vehicle that will allow the discrimination
between whiskers bending due to the vehicle bouncing and due to hitting an object.
I expect that using the gyroscopes and a good mathematical model of the rat whiskers
will allow the implementation of a transfer function relating the position (and its
derivatives) of the vehicle to the displacement of the whiskers due to bouncing.
Superimposing this on the measured bending will yield a more accurate perception of
obstacles.
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Automatic Hot Chocolate Dispenser (inspired by the snow we had this weekend)
The hot chocolate dispenser (sketch below) will consist of 4 parts.
Part 1: Hot chocolate holding tank
Part 2: Holding tank stand and sensor
Part 3: Lazy Susan mug holder/sensor
Part 4: Display Pannel
Hot chocolate will be placed in the holding tank (1). The sensor (2) will
constantly monitor the amount of chocolate in the holding tank based on weight.
The lazy susan (3) will have specially designed grooves to hold mugs for the hot
chocolate. There will be a sensor attached in each groove to know if a mug is
present in the groove.
When the user wants a hot chocolate, he or she will input the number of desired
cups on the display panel (4). The microprocessor, which will be hooked up to both
the holding tank sensor and the lazy susan sensor, will calculate how many cups of
hot chocolate it can dispense before running out of hot chocolate. Additionally, it
will detect how many mugs are available in the lazy susan to deliver hot chocolate to.
If there is an insufficient amount of hot chocolate or an insufficient number of mugs,
an error message will be displayed on the display panel. If there is a sufficient hot
chocolate and a sufficient number of mugs, the dispenser will correctly dispense hot
chocolate into the mugs, automatically advancing the lazy susan when each mug is full
and without spilling hot chocolate. If a groove on the lazy susan is missing a mug,
the dispenser will skip over that space and continue filling existing mugs.
Sensors
A weight sensor will be required for the hot chocolate holding tank to determine how
much hot chocolate is available. Additionally, simple push-button sensors will be
necessary for each groove on the lazy susan to detect if a mug is present.
Motors
A small motor will be required to advance the lazy susan when the dispenser is finished
filling a cup.
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Skeet shooting game
The project would be to create a skeet shooting game. We will have a laser sensor that
would be moved in the vertical and horizontal plane using the stepper motors. This sensor
will mimic the movement of disc thrown in skeet shooting, following a few programmed courses.
A laser gun would be used to shoot at the target and a score system will keep a check on
the number of times the target is successfully shot.
Requirements:
2 stepper motors
1 Laser sensor
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Mechanical Model of the Stretch Reflex
The stretch reflex in humans occurs when a muscle is rapidly stretched past its
desired length. Sensors within the muscle send a signal to the spinal cord as a result of
this stretch and the signal is then relayed back to the muscle, telling it to contract and
resist the stretch. The signal is also relayed to the antagonist (opposite) muscle, telling it
to relax and not resist the contraction of the primary muscle. This reflex serves to
maintain the muscle at a specified length and assist with handling unstable loads. In
patients with stroke, there are cases when the reflex in hyperactive (responding to
comparatively slower changes in length) and cases where this reflex results in sustained
oscillation of the limb. A mechanical model of this reflex would require a joint with some
type of actuator to represent each muscle and strain gauges or potentiometers to measure
the rate of change in joint angle. This "artificial limb" could be programmed to exert a
range of torques based on the difference in force between the actuators and any rapid
change in joint angle would be resisted by a programmed reflex action. Another
possibility would be to model the pathologic case where a stretch results in oscillatory
motion similar to what has been found in patients with stroke.
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I propose an automatic drink mixing device. It would, as the title suggests, mix drinks automatically.
Although this is not necessarily limited to alcohol (because of school policies, underage teammates,
whatnot, etc), the general idea is to be able to select one of five or six preset drinks and have this extract
from the supplied bottles the necessary amount of liquid to make said drink. The actual extraction method
is to be debated at a later date, but my primary thoughts are either a small DC water pump (think
windshield wiper fluid pump) for each bottle or pressurizing each bottle (through inverting or regulated
compressed air cans) and rigging each with an electrically activated valve. Once that is decided upon, it
can be easily calibrated to figure out how long it takes to pour a certain amount - say 1/2 oz - or if we
wanted to get real precise and expensive, we could incorporate some integrating flow meter as a sensor.
After the mechanics are figured out, the electronics shouldn't be too hard. Something like this:
could be used as the input device, and we could either program the mixes and timing into the handy board or
brute force our way through with a large maze of logic and timing chips. As far as sensors go, this idea
doesn't appear to have any. We could incorporate some sort of device that flashes an LED when the bottles
are running low or empty.
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With the increase in popularity of poker, especially with college students, I came up with the idea of an
automatic chip dispenser.
These are the sensor and motor requirements I could come up with.
1) The chips would have be of different weights, unless we could obtain a sensor with color recognition.
2) A motor would be needed to spin the machine from player to player
3) A sensor to tell where players were seated
4) A motor to slide or shoot the chips out to each player
5) A means of input by the dealer so the machine knows how many chips each player should get
Those were the motors and sensors I came up with. The rest of the machine would just be a body to hold
the chips, and a base that would allow the machine to spin.
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This is a game of soccer penalty shoot-out. There will be two players involve,
one is the kicker and the other is the goal keeper. The kicker component will
be a motor that will propel (shoot) the ball towards the goal. To control this,
player1 will have to determine the shooting direction in terms of x-y coordinates
and determine the voltage of the motor corresponding to how strong to kick the
ball. Player2 will control the goalkeeperís movement. Player2 will input the
direction to move the goalkeeper. Left, right or middle with the x coordinates
system and high or low with the y coordinate. Player2 will also determine the
speed of the movement by giving the voltage value for the motor that will move
the goalkeeper. This game is basically a guessing game for both players in terms
of guessing the location to kick the ball and the location to jump for the save.
There will be a sensor, most probably infrared sensor, at the back of the goal
post that will sense if the ball crossed the goal line and automatically add
the score to the score sheet.
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My idea would be some sort of automatic beverage bottle opener. It would have
to use electrical systems and some sort of pressure sensor to have it find the
top of the bottle where the cap is. Then it could possibly use a hydraulic motor
or pure mechanical energy to generate torque in order to pull or twist off the
bottle cap. This would involved both mechanical and electrical systems and would
be doable in the amount of time we have and for the amount of shop training we
have we could make a lot of it in the Mechanical Engineering Machine shop. It
could also then throw the cap away In a trash can or disposed of it inside
itself as a mini recycle bin. You might also be able to use a heat sensor
because the temperature relating to heat conductance on the bottle cap is much
less than glass because the glass always gets a lot colder.
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The final project would be to design an automated dispenser for on tap beer. A "hand"
would retrieve a cup and hold it under the tap at an angle to prevent head. Another
component would start the tap. A sensor would detect the filling of the cup and adjust
the angle the cup is held at. When the cup is complete full, the tap would be deactivated.
The full cup would be placed on the table and an empty cup retrieved to start the process
over again.
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I propose to build an automatic aluminum can/plastic bottle crusher that can detect the
type of object to be crushed and from this, determine how to size the crushing bay and
apply the appropriate amount of force required to crush the object. A DC motor will be
needed to drive a gear train that transmits power. A few linear actuators would act to
open and close bay doors. Included in the design would be pressure sensors and switches
to determine if bay doors are closed. An encoder would determine the location of the
crusher head.
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* Background:
I propose to make a Baby Burper. Usually when the baby's are between the age of 0 and 1 year, they
tend to wake up at 4am hungry and crying, hence you might not get enough rest for your activities
and duties the next day. After you feed the baby, you will have to pat the baby on the back so that
he/she burps. If this procedure is not done, the baby will not fall asleep and will continue crying
with a stomach-ache throughout the whole night.
*Solution:
I suggest to create a device that burps the baby by putting him or her in a special chair at an
angle. A mechanical arm propeled by a motor will oscilate and pat the baby on the back continuously
to make the baby burp and expel the gases. A pressure sensor on the tip of the arm will monitor how
hard the baby is being pat (to prevent from killing the baby). A frequency receiver device
(microphone, pulse meter, etc..) will hear when the baby burps and stop crying and compare such
frequency to a preset one written on a program. Once the baby stops burping, the frequency receiver
will send a signal to stop the baby burper. As the baby burper stops, a pleasant audible tone will
notify the mother or the father that the baby is ready to sleep again.
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To make a controller for light switches and other electrical equipment
that would allow the user to turn on and off the equipment with a laser
pointer. This could be done using a light detecting transistor that
taps power from the source that the light is getting its power. This
would allow someone to turn off a light by shining a laser point at a
sensor. This could also be used to turn on and off other outlets as
well.
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I propose to make an automated snow shoveler. This device would sit on two tracks,
one on each side of the sidewalk. There would be a shovel blade connecting the two
tracks across the width of the sidewalk. The blade would be positioned on a slight
downward angle to help it scoop up the snow. There would be two force sensors on the
face of the shovel, equidistantly spaced from the centerline of the shovel. When these
sensors detected an adequate force on the face of the shovel from the snow, they would
activate two motors, both located at the shovel edge, one on the front edge, and one
on the back. These two motors would tilt the shovel to one side or the other through a
drive system, to remove the snow from the shovel.
Requirements:
Two force (pressure sensors)
Two Motors with drive systems
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My idea would be a robot that mixed martinis for the user. It would need input as to what
martini the user wanted. Sensors to make sure a glass was present, and sensors to monitor
the amount of each liquid it placed in the shaker. A motor would be needed to shake the
drink together. It should also have a wash cycle that rinses the shaker out. A tank would
be needed to hold leftover ice as well as fluid used to rinse the shaker. Pumps or gravity
feed would bring the mixes into the shaker. A refrigerated unit to hold ice would also be ideal.
I was really excited about this idea, until one of my friends pointed out to me last night
that it had been done 2 years ago. I couldn't come up with any new ideas in the short time
I had, but I feel that the implementation 2 years ago was rather poor. If I come up with any
other ideas this week I will submit them as well.
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dancing robot, which is basically just a bigger version on furby
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remote control RC car with autonomous function. The car is included with edge
detection sensors (micro switches, if it hit wall then reverse turn), also the car
will be controlled using infra red signal using a joystick as a controller. As long
as the controller is in range, the motor could go to full power, so the car could
move around fast, however, once the remote is out of range it automatically reverts
to survival mode, also if possible implement a self homing device, it'll automatically
return home if abandoned.
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Laser targeting: the opposite of the wildwest thing, aim the laser at the target, then
a gun will acquire the position of the laser and try to shoot it. It'll be a lot of
fun if we could extend the range and power of the gun....
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My idea for a project is a robot car that can navigate simple mazes. Basically, you
would give it the coordinates of the desired destination relative to its starting point,
and it would find it. It would have a series of distance sensors all around it, allowing
it to detect walls. After encountering a barrier, it would move parallel to barrier in
both ways (if necessary) until it found an opening, and then it would move through and
resume its quest. The robot would either have 2 DC motors with encoders on them or 2
stepper motors, allowing it to move forward, backward, and turn in place via 4 wheels.
An LCD screen and some way to input the coordinates would be necessary as well. Ideally,
there would be some sort of tracking device used so that the robot would just try to find
the device rather than deal with input coordinates.
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At my house we have a TV in the kitchen on a tray that swivels. This is very convenient
to watch while cooking and then turning it to the table to watch while eating. It might be
nice to attach a motor to this tray so that the TV can swivel to a pre-determined location on
it's own at the push of a button. A remote control to emit an infared light could also be used.
An infared photo sensor could pick-up this signal and move to the desired location. The size of
TV that could be placed on this tray would depend on the tork that the motor would be able to
generate. So basically, an electric motor and an infared light source as well as a sensor would
be needed. We would also need to create someway for the motor to know how far it has moved the
tray. Something similar to the way the furby detected its position would seem logical.
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Dial-Lock Buster
The basic principle of this idea is a device that can be placed on a dial operated lock (similar
to those found on lockers), and enter the code that is given by the user. This device will use
interface with the computer via a simple C program user interface or a small on-board computer.
The main unit of the device is two prongs that have the ability to grip onto the dial and rotate
it clockwise and counter-clockwise. It is important that the dial is started at the zero position
and then the device will do the rest, correctly turning the dial in each direction the respective
times and then stopping to the required numbers to open it. The main components of this design are
a motor that can provide a clamping force on the dial and another motor(s) to provide the rotating
force in both directions. A sensor could be used to determine the positioning of the dial within
the revolution. This would be an arduous project depending on the level of complexity but
nevertheless a useful one for those who hate to control the dial manually.
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Auto Trivial Pursuit
Looking at the previous projects, the ones that most often were favored by the students were the games,
since they were fun to play. My idea is to create a mechatronic version of trivial pursuit. We would
create our own board, with the same basic design as the original game. The center of the board would have
the control station, which would be a small tower with multiple, small motors inside of it and arms for each
game piece out side of it. Instead of using a dice, the user will hit a button to randomly generate a number
1-6. There will be an LED on each space, and the spaces with the user can move to will light up. The user
will choose a space, somehow, and the piece will automatically move. Then, perhaps a card will be dealt like
in the automatic dealer from the previous project. The user will say whether they got the question right,
and hit the "dice" button again. The piece mover will have to actuate in two directions, one to move the
piece around the outside circle, and one to move the piece up and down the radial arms.
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Inspired by the fact that my apartmentís floor always looks like the wild west with its dust ball
tumbleweeds scattered around despite my best efforts to clean I would be interested in trying to
create my own version of an automatic vacuum cleaner. This unit would hopefully be able to stand
alone (albeit with a power cord most likely) and run itself around a room. The unit would need
sensors to orient itself in a room and determine when it has hit a wall. It would be cool if the
vacuum could also determine when it was at a corner, then position itself correctly to use a
corner-shaped nozzle so that it could vacuum corners. The unit could also incorporate sensors to
determine how much dust it has picked up, and if it needs to be emptied. Finally, it would be really
cool (I donít know if it can be done) if the vacuum could measure its own suction power and report
any losses of suction due to blockages, etc.