Automated precision passing system

Athletes are always seeking ways to improve their performance. Down time and a lack of capable throwers prevent athletic receivers from practicing their skills. We hope to aid athletes in receiving drills within their respective sports and increase practice efficiency. In order to achieve this, the machine has one major axis of rotation driven by a motor. This enables it to adjust where the ball is being thrown. Using an Arduino Uno coupled with a Roboteq AX1500 motor driver, the Automated Precision Passing System is able to throw a ball to a specified point in space by adjusting both the azimuth and ball-throwing motor speed. Our testing shows that our prototype has the ability to position itself in three different orientations as well as adjust the launch motor speed, but we were unable to launch the ball the original distance that we desired. From this project, we gained valuable knowledge in the areas of machine design, control systems, and project management. In order to continue the project and create a functional consumer product there are several improvements that need to be made to the system. The Automated Precision Passing System needs to be more rigid, have more power, and include more throwing positions

Login Authentication with Facial Gesture Recognition

Facial recognition has proven to be very useful and versatile, from Facebook photo tagging and Snapchat filters to modeling fluid dynamics and designing for augmented reality. However, facial recognition has only been used for user login services in conjunction with expensive and restrictive hardware technologies, such as in smart phone devices like the iPhone x. This project aims to apply machine learning techniques to reliably distinguish user accounts with only common cameras to make facial recognition logins more accessible to website and software developers. To show the feasibility of this idea, we created a web API that recognizes a users face to log them in to their account, and we will create a simple website to test the reliability of our system. In this paper, we discuss our database-centric architecture model, use cases and activity diagrams, technologies we used for the website, API, and machine learning algorithms. We also provide the screenshots of our system, the user manual, and our future plan

Building fault detection data to aid diagnostic algorithm creation and performance testing.

It is estimated that approximately 4-5% of national energy consumption can be saved through corrections to existing commercial building controls infrastructure and resulting improvements to efficiency. Correspondingly, automated fault detection and diagnostics (FDD) algorithms are designed to identify the presence of operational faults and their root causes. A diversity of techniques is used for FDD spanning physical models, black box, and rule-based approaches. A persistent challenge has been the lack of common datasets and test methods to benchmark their performance accuracy. This article presents a first of its kind public dataset with ground-truth data on the presence and absence of building faults. This dataset spans a range of seasons and operational conditions and encompasses multiple building system types. It contains information on fault severity, as well as data points reflective of the measurements in building control systems that FDD algorithms typically have access to. The data were created using simulation models as well as experimental test facilities, and will be expanded over time

Rapid Prototyping of PEM Fuel Cell Bi-Polar Plates using 3D Printing and Thermal Spray Deposition

This article presents the results of exploratory research on novel methods for the fabrication of functional, metallic, gas flow, bi polar plates (BPP) for use in proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC). Low cost, high speed, additive manufacturing methods that combine 3D printing (3DP) and thermal spray (TS) technologies are described. Functional flow plates were manufactured by creating 3DP patterns and then depositing, and releasing, dense metals with TS methods. The new method yields dense metal plates, with interesting options for material choices and complex designs.Mechanical Engineerin

A dynamics-driven approach to precision machines design for micro-manufacturing and its implementation perspectives

Precision machines are essential elements in fabricating high quality micro products or micro features and directly affect the machining accuracy, repeatability and efficiency. There are a number of literatures on the design of industrial machine elements and a couple of precision machines commercially available. However, few researchers have systematically addressed the design of precision machines from the dynamics point of view. In this paper, the design issues of precision machines are presented with particular emphasis on the dynamics aspects as the major factors affecting the performance of the precision machines and machining processes. This paper begins with a brief review of the design principles of precision machines with emphasis on machining dynamics. Then design processes of precision machines are discussed, and followed by a practical modelling and simulation approaches. Two case studies are provided including the design and analysis of a fast tool servo system and a 5-axis bench-top micro-milling machine respectively. The design and analysis used in the two case studies are formulated based on the design methodology and guidelines

Solemate: A Music App for Runners

Solemate is a mobile application designed to enhance the running experience through music. Our feed-forward algorithm sets the runner’s pace by playing music that varies in tempo. By encouraging the user to match their steps to the beat, our application cultivates a run that feels natural and inspires intrinsic motivation, especially for the beginner runner

Synergies between processing and memory in children's reading span.

Previous research has established the relevance of working memory for cognitive development. Yet the factors responsible for shaping performance in the complex span tasks used to assess working memory capacity are not fully understood. We report a study of reading span in 7- to 11-year old children that addresses several contemporary theoretical issues. We demonstrate that both the timing and the accuracy of recall are affected by the presence or absence of a semantic connection between the processing requirement and the memoranda. Evidence that there can be synergies between processing and memory argues against the view that complex span simply measures the competition between these activities. We also demonstrate a consistent relationship between the rate of completing processing operations (sentence reading) and recall accuracy. At the same time, the shape and strength of this function varies with the task configuration. Taken together, these results demonstrate the potential for reconstructive influences to shape working memory performance among children