Senior project ideas wanted!

[xDiViNiTix]

im a junior in high school and i attend this school that specializes in the sciences, mathematics, and engineering subjects...im nearing my senior year which means that i have to start thinkin up ideas for my senior project...i take electrical engineering classes and our instructor wants us to create a project that includes a hardware and software component, preferably using the pic microcontroller...

 

so...the bottom line is...do any of u have any ideas for me and my partner? lol

 

so far we've thought of a radio controlled pen which would be used for school purposes...it would be used during a test or something so when the professor calls time up, then he/she would press a button or do something to cause all pens to stop working...its a cool project but idk...lol

 

another idea was a book turner/light/bookmark...lol this involves more robotics and more work but...idk if we cant find anything we'll probably resort to that...

 

oh and it's gotta be a project that we can finish within umm...8 months or so...haha so make it reasonable! thanks for ur suggestions ahead of time

[Apeofman]

How about testing and plotting the effectiveness of energy saving devices under a range of temperatures to simulate cold, moderate, and hot climates.

 

I feel that this would be a worth while experiment, because there are many claims being made in the UK, that the use of low-energy bulbs and refrigerators will make a major impact on the number of power stations the nation uses. These ideas are being promoted by certain politicians who never lie. England tends to be cold in winter and warm in the summer so, it is my belief that the saving to the nation's total energy consumption will be considerably less than claimed, and that most of any reduction in electricity demand will manifest itself as an increase home gas consumption.

 

If this kind of experiment is of interest, then i have one other experiment. The result of which may provide a means of reducing energy consumption. Send me a private message if your interested.

[Genecks]

I like the pen idea.

[doublejab]

the pen idea is great! hopefully it will not turn out to be too bulky if u manage to do it tho..

[lethalfang]

The pen idea is a great idea indeed.

It's okay for the pen to be bulky and ugly. It does not even to be a working pen, even though it's nice if it is.

It's a proof of principle thing, and I figure you do not have the budget to get the finest cutting-edge equiptment.

[Cloud]

The pen idea sounds pretty good but is narrow in scope.

 

I suggest doing - JUST MAKE A ROBOT DAMINT !!!

 

You have 8 full months and a partner (and I'm assuming this is the only thing you have to do academically e.g. no other subjects/exams getting in the way)

 

Go for it.

( As for ideas - you sound like you know more that I do - What can't humans do, that robots can? - there's your line of enquiry).

 

I say - The robot idea. Good luck with that.

[5614]

The pen will be hard to make at a reasonable size.

 

You could make a remote controlled _______ (car, lamp, door etc.)

 

Or a robot that follows a line marked on the ground.

 

A walkie talkie.

 

Something which is wireless always looks good. Although a more complex stand alone unit can be just as good.

 

Ah, I have it! This is THE thing I've always wanted to do:

 

I did a demo in my lab in grad school - took a boom box output, modulated a laser diode (780 nm), sent the light across the room to a photodiode, sent the output into another boom box and played the music. I thought it was one of the coolest things I'd seen. Aside from setting up the laser system (which had happened already) it only took a few minutes plus the time to wire a BNC-RCA cable.

To make it look a bit more impressive you could use say a 5mW green laser (or more powerful) in a dark room because with that laser in those conditions you can see the beam in the air. So you'd play music on an ipod, take the output as the input for a laser, send the laser across the room, pick up the signal and use that to feed into some speakers.

 

As for what laser. Well if you have a 5mW red laser then you cannot see it in the air. But if you use 5mW green then you can, because your eye is more sensitive to green.

YT2095: Can you see a 50mW red laser in the air? I assume you can for 150mW.

 

Actually thinking about it, it really isn't very complex... it's just something cool that looks good. It's not really 8 months of work!

[xDiViNiTix]

The pen idea sounds pretty good but is narrow in scope.

 

I suggest doing - JUST MAKE A ROBOT DAMINT !!!

 

You have 8 full months and a partner (and I'm assuming this is the only thing you have to do academically e.g. no other subjects/exams getting in the way)

 

Go for it.

( As for ideas - you sound like you know more that I do - What can't humans do' date=' that robots can? - there's your line of enquiry).

 

I say - The robot idea. Good luck with that.[/quote']

 

haha yea well i do still have tests and stuff in the way xP but its all good...its senior year so the only part of the year that will really count in colleges' decisions would be the first marking period...after that, u just send ur grades and u wouldve already chosen where to go...and i assume that teachers would kno the predicament that this project would put us in so they would lighten up a bit on us haha i wish...

 

thanks for all ur ideas tho!

 

there was this one group last year who made a rotating light thing...basically it was a vertical row of red LEDs soldered onto a rod that spinned from the power of a motor...and it would spin so fast that it could display whatever words that you programmed into it...it was so cool...so it looks like words that were floating in the air cuz it was going around so fast for the human eye to catch...haha that wouldve been cool to do but someone already did it :'(

[xDiViNiTix]

the pen idea is great! hopefully it will not turn out to be too bulky if u manage to do it tho..

 

haha yea well apparently we're workin with an $100 per person/group for this project...and so idk how small i can get the parts with that money so that i can fit it into a pen xP and even with my money i doubt i can afford stuff like that since im pretty poor myself xP

[Genecks]

Do what great hackers do: dumpster dive.

 

A true scientist can sum up resources from around the person to the surroundings abound.

 

I believe you could sum up many resources from dumpster diving within an eight month time frame.

[YT2095]

you Pen idea is great in essence, but have you considered doing it the OTHER WAY around?

if I wanted to elliminate the cheating, I`de build a very tiny IR transmitter in each pen with it`s own individual number code that gets activated When the pen is clicked "Off" (can be writen with).

the examiner says time is up... you click your pen and present the code to the receiver on his desk, you are then eliminated, those that continue to write don`t get "logged out" and thus receive a fail for cheating

the whole thing only needs a pair of watch batteries, an SMD IR led and tone generator and of course a simple contact that closes when the pen is retracted.

saves messing with solenoids and stuff.

 

just a thought

[Genecks]

You want an electronic device to make?

 

Here you go:

 

Make an earpiece alarm clock. The ability to wakeup to an earpiece without disturbing others in the surroundings is the idea behind such a device. The proximity of the earpiece will allow the user to wake up in a timely manner without disturbing the noise level of the environment he or she sleeps in.

 

I'd like one of those.

[xDiViNiTix]

You want an electronic device to make?

 

Here you go:

 

Make an earpiece alarm clock. The ability to wakeup to an earpiece without disturbing others in the surroundings is the idea behind such a device. The proximity of the earpiece will allow the user to wake up in a timely manner without disturbing the noise level of the environment he or she sleeps in.

 

I'd like one of those.

 

wow actually that sounds really interesting...ill think about it and talk it over with my partner xP thanks!

[xDiViNiTix]

you Pen idea is great in essence' date=' but have you considered doing it the OTHER WAY around?

if I wanted to elliminate the cheating, I`de build a very tiny IR transmitter in each pen with it`s own individual number code that gets activated When the pen is clicked "Off" (can be writen with).

the examiner says time is up... you click your pen and present the code to the receiver on his desk, you are then eliminated, those that continue to write don`t get "logged out" and thus receive a fail for cheating

the whole thing only needs a pair of watch batteries, an SMD IR led and tone generator and of course a simple contact that closes when the pen is retracted.

saves messing with solenoids and stuff.

 

just a thought [/quote']

 

ohhhh i see what ur saying...so just takin the pen idea a bit further...very very nice well i still have about...just over a month to think about this...cuz once i choose i cant switch projects xP ill keep track of these ideas and talk it over with my partner...thanks!

[Prime-Evil]

"i take electrical engineering classes and our instructor wants us to create a project that includes a hardware and software component, preferably using the pic microcontroller..."

 

How about a solar hot water heater with a solar powered circulation pump and valves for drain down at night, and software that automatically controls the timing of the drain down and refilling and circulation based on hot water temperature and use, outside temperature, and solar insolation?

[Genecks]

wow actually that sounds really interesting...ill think about it and talk it over with my partner xP thanks!

 

Make it loud enough for the user to wake up.

[ireland8]

How did the controlled pen come out?

[swansont]

The OP hasn't been online here since 2006.