Solar Splash Senior Design Project

Indiana University Purdue University IndianapolisThe Solar Splash senior project is the first attempt at creating an entirely solar propelled watercraft. The initial project intent was to design and create a supplement meets the specifications and compete in the competition. With this in mind, a budget approach was taken in order to be able to fund the task at hand. As the project progressed toward the end of the low-level design phase it was evident that the competition would not occur. At the midpoint of the project, the goals and objectives had changed entirely. The new focus was targeted at proving the operation of the systems involved in the watercraft. Having been faced with a new series of objectives and an entirely new scope, the project began to appear doable. The primary focus of the project at this point entirely relied on simulation data and data analysis. The idea was not reinventing the wheel but rather verifying that the wheel rolled. Using the designed propulsion, solar and sensors systems, with the help of a combination of software programs, the idea of a budget solution can be seen. The software used tell the story of the boat that would have been created had the project continued down the original proposed path. As systems were tested and analyzed, they were also adjusted and improved upon. The analysis process consumed a lot of time but acted as a highlighter for all the flaws that the system suffered from. This document introduces the design concepts and schematics of the Solar Splash senior design project. Within are detailed drawings and diagrams for the electrical systems devised for the construction operation of the watercraft. This report is a means of displaying the layout of the final product and how all systems tie together. The report will contain detailed information on not only hardware aspects but also software and how those will bridge together. The report is meant to be in layman’s terms and should be easily interpreted at all levels. The bulk of the information found in the report will be found in the testing sections where analysis of a theoretical boat is done. The motor design, solar design, and fluid dynamic analysis of the boat hull and propeller can be found in their respective section. The innerworkings, testing processes and thoughts behind each decision can also be found in these sections. The document begins with a table of contents identifying each main and subcategory of information. The next page is the document identification, revision history, and lesser known definitions. Following that is the introduction and scope. Specification requirements for the ‘general requirements’, ‘electrical requirements’ and ‘mechanical requirements’ are found on the following page. A system flowchart can be found in the high-level Design along with the design decision matrices for each system. The design portion then begins starting with the System-wide design changes and decisions. The hardware and software designs and schematics follow and cover the proposed schematics and drawings for the system. Cost breakdowns for each individual system are also found in the low-level section. Testing methodologies, results and an explanation of the testing software can be found after the low-level design. A summation of all these testing results is found near the tail of the document. Conclusions, recommendations, and appendixes can be found as the last three sections, respectively.Electrical Engineering Technolog

Living IoT: A Flying Wireless Platform on Live Insects

Sensor networks with devices capable of moving could enable applications ranging from precision irrigation to environmental sensing. Using mechanical drones to move sensors, however, severely limits operation time since flight time is limited by the energy density of current battery technology. We explore an alternative, biology-based solution: integrate sensing, computing and communication functionalities onto live flying insects to create a mobile IoT platform. Such an approach takes advantage of these tiny, highly efficient biological insects which are ubiquitous in many outdoor ecosystems, to essentially provide mobility for free. Doing so however requires addressing key technical challenges of power, size, weight and self-localization in order for the insects to perform location-dependent sensing operations as they carry our IoT payload through the environment. We develop and deploy our platform on bumblebees which includes backscatter communication, low-power self-localization hardware, sensors, and a power source. We show that our platform is capable of sensing, backscattering data at 1 kbps when the insects are back at the hive, and localizing itself up to distances of 80 m from the access points, all within a total weight budget of 102 mg.Comment: Co-primary authors: Vikram Iyer, Rajalakshmi Nandakumar, Anran Wang, In Proceedings of Mobicom. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 15 pages, 201

TDMA frame design for a prototype underwater RF communication network

This document is the Accepted Manuscript version of the following article: Xianhui Che, Ian Wells, Gordon Dickers, and Paul Kear, ‘TDMA frame design for a prototype underwater RF communication network’, Ad Hoc Networks, Vol. 10 (3): 317-327, first available online 23 July 2011. The version of record is available online at doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.adhoc.2011.07.002 © 2011 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.Very low frequency electromagnetic communication system is used in a small scale underwater wireless sensor network for coastal monitoring purposes, as recent research has demonstrated distinct advantages of radio waves compared to acoustic and optical waves in shallow water conditions. This paper describes the detailed TDMA and packet design process for the prototype sensor system. The lightweight protocol is time division based in order to fit the unique characteristics and specifications of the network. Evaluations are based on initial beach trial as well as modeling and simulations.Peer reviewe

Development of a Digital Rain-Sensing Irrigation Pump Controller and an Android Enabled Bluetooth Paddlewheel Flowmeter

For better irrigation efficiency, it is recommended that farmers track their water consumption to avoid over-irrigating. However, it is difficult to implement this as it is labor intensive to supervise pumps manually and available technologies require high investment. Therefore, a rain sensing pump controller for 3-phase electric irrigation pumps and a stand-alone portable Android enabled paddlewheel flowmeter has been developed to test their feasibility. The pump timer is a retrofit device for irrigation pump panels. The controller allows an irrigator to start and stop the pump with less supervision. An infrared rain sensor is integrated with the controller to measure rainfall and terminate pumping at a preset precipitation threshold. Also, the pump controller has no batteries and automatically restarts the pump if pumping is interrupted by a power outage. Functional testing of 30 days demonstrated zero false rainfall interrupt during actual rainfalls and an average accuracy of 10% in rainfall depth measurement. The paddlewheel flowmeter uses a microcontroller integrated with a recently developed communication protocol known as Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE API). The flowmeter calculates and transmits real-time flow data to an Android app. However, due to component limitations, the flowmeter lacks storage memory, and therefore the totalizer reading is reset to zero when power is interrupted. The prototype uses an optimized paddlewheel design. Nine different 3D-printed plastic paddlewheels were tested to improve paddle efficiency. Three distinct blade designs, each printed in 3 blade-count variations of 4, 6 and 8 blades were compared to a turbine meter. The diameter of the axial shaft was also reduced to minimize drag. The most efficient paddlewheel design was determined by its regression slope, startup speed, and relative flow-measurement errors. The average error of the conventional steel paddlewheel was reduced from 17% to +-1%. However, to estimated flowrate the final software uses the Kc-factor which was found to be 18,700 pulses/acre-inch at all flowrates. The flowmeter utilizes solar power to charge the supercapacitor bank. The completed prototype was operated for 108.5 hours to test functionality and resulted in an error of 1% in flowrate and a difference of 5.5% in total volume

Hovercam

Quadcopters are widely used in recreational areas and often have video cameras mounted to them. The Hovercam increases the range of usefulness of quadcopters and allow the user to record him or herself while performing any task. The Hovercam will use GPS to track and follow a target. A smartphone application will be used to control the Hovercam in its basic functions of taking off, hovering, and landing

TDMA frame design for a prototype underwater RF

Very low frequency electromagnetic communication system is used in a small scale underwater wireless sensor network for coastal monitoring purposes, as recent research has demonstrated distinct advantages of radio waves compared to acoustic and optical waves in shallow water conditions. This paper describes the detailed TDMA and packet design process for the prototype sensor system. The lightweight protocol is time division based in order to fit the unique characteristics and specifications of the network. Evaluations are based on initial beach trial as well as modeling and simulations

Embedded Platform for Self-constructed Drone System

This thesis explores the design and development of a modular embedded platform for a self-constructed drone system, combining theoretical understanding with practical implementation. The project focuses on creating custom hardware for the flight controller and operator interface, developing software libraries for essential modules, and validating their functionality through isolated testing. Key components, including wireless communication modules, sensors, and motor controllers, were integrated into the design, with simulations conducted using eCalc XcopterCalc to estimate theoretical performance metrics such as hover time, thrust-to-weight ratio, and energy efficiency. While the full system integration remains incomplete, the validated software libraries and hardware designs provide a strong foundation for future work. The work highlights the accessibility of modern resources for UAV development, demonstrating how affordable components, online tools, and systematic methodologies enable individuals with limited experience to construct sophisticated systems. This thesis contributes to the understanding of UAV systems by presenting a replicable and scalable approach to drone design, with potential applications in education, research, and hobbyist projects