ECE Senior Design Day will be held on December 7th, 2018, at the McKimmon Conference & Training Center, where students will showcase this semester’s projects.
Below is a preview of some of the projects that will be presented on Design Day.
One team of engineers will be showcasing their project, “High Precision Field Location for Geological Explorations,” which is a two-party system that works by having a base station and a rover that is powered by solar panels. The base station communicates with satellites through antennas when you set it to your desired accuracy, and it will then communicate to the rover through RTK (Real Time Kinematics). They continuously talk to each other to get a more accurate location of the rover based off of the base station. The GPS’s end goal is to be able to get down to a precise single-digit centimeter level accuracy, which will help with conducting field surveys, taking magnetic field readings, and more.
Another team will present their “Low-Cost Remote Water Quality Testing Device,” which is needed for individuals that do not use city water. The CDC recommends that water quality should be tested once per year if a person is not using city water, which is automatically tested and monitored by the government. These individuals need an affordable way to know that their water is safe between those annual testings. Water quality testing devices that are already on the market cost thousands of dollars, but this device will cost less than $500 and will notify a person if the parameters have changed and they need to have their water tested at a lab.
Working remotely with their team’s supporters in Australia, a team with “Project Store Hound,” is part of a two-part project. The goal of this project is to provide in-store navigation by using an app on your phone. Instead of searching through an entire store or having to find someone to help you, this centralized app will help you locate the items you need. The second part is to provide a web portal for the companies themselves, so that they can go in and manage their inventories, floor plans, and overall is a platform for any companies that want to buy into it.