Final Project Ideas (The Beginning)¶

Final Idea:¶

Fixed Wing Drone

The main goal is to be able to deliver crucial items to Bhutan’s remote areas such as Lunana for example.

Final sketch

Working in spirals, I will first want to develop a drone developed in the lab that can fly using an Off-the-shelf controller/joystick transmitter-receiver, then try and fabricate an in-house board and communicate with a an old joystick or an application. Then finally, incorporate an autopilot system.

Key Points/characteristics

Will be made with cardboard which is the easiest material for us to obtain in Bhutan . will reinforce it, or maybe even look into composite fibers
Use XLFR5 or MachUp for the stability aerodynamics simulations
Create an excel sheet for calculating flight time, etc
Three control surfaces (LR Ailerons, Rudder & Elevator) = Three servo motors. One motor for thrust, so fabricate a board that will control these. Leaning towards Xiao esp32 so that communicating is easier when trying to produce the receiver and transmitter myself
Use Fusion360 to 3D model the drone
Use Rhino to “Unfold” the model to create cuts to make it foldable
Use the Zünd to make the cuts and subsequently the drone
Use either ArduPilot or Pixhawk for the autopilot system

Week 2 Updates:¶

Fusion360 model of the box for the “CommuniBox” project idea:

Alt text

TinkerCAD model for the Basketball Backboard Feedback project idea:

Alt text

Initial Ideas¶

We had to begin working on our final project ideas and had to make a sketch for the idea. I brainstormed and tried to come up with a few ideas that I would maybe want to work on. While I understand that it is better to decide as soon as possible, I have not been able to make up mind up just and will look to use the next few days to consult my instructors and gurus to see which one would be most feasible and which one I would actually still be interested in in a couple of days. My current four ideas are:

Heat Sensation Glove

Basketball Backboard Feedback

Cycling Safety Jacket

Communibox

and just a disclaimer, I do not claim to be an artist or be good at sketching but I tried my best.

1. Heat Sensation Glove¶

I recently read an article about how people who suffer from CIPA (Congenital Insensitivity to Pain & Anhydrosis) on average have a lifespan of only about 25 years, dying to unfelt injuries. This is what inspired this idea. The idea revolves around making a glove that instantly glows red/blue with a sound warning with the wearer touches something too hot or too cold (temperatures that can hurt a human), warning the wearer to immediately remove their hand. As the project progresses maybe I could look into something for the anhydrosis aspect of it as well. The main input for this project would be the heat sensing aspect with the output being the warning light and sound.

As for issues I foresee, I think while it could be very helpful for someone with CIPA, they would have to constantly wear the gloves so maybe I need to look into more uses cases and scenarios as to where someone with CIPA could effectively use the gloves.

2. Basketball Backboard Feedback¶

As I explained in my About Me section, I am really passionate about basketball and sports and thats where this idea stems from. Basically this project will involve me completely fabricating a basketball backboard which has Force sensitive resistors. The whole idea is that there are many areas of the backboard that you can aim at with each area having a different percentage chance of it going in. There will be a desktop/app that immediately tells you where you shot the ball,and the likely percentage of the ball going in. This allows for a real time, active feedback that will allow you to see where one should and shouldn’t aim. This will be very helpful for coaches and also for solo individuals who want to take their game to the next level.

As for drawbacks and difficulties, it will be hard to take into account all the different angles at which one can shoot the ball and this aspect requires some more thought.

3. Cycling Safety Jacket¶

Cycling is a very common hobby and form of exercise here in Bhutan. However, unlike most countries, we do not have proper biking lanes and the street lights never work/is never turned on on time. For this idea, I want to make a jacket with illumination capabilites on the logo as seen on the sketch. The back will glow (not too intense) for proper visibilty. Another feature I want to add is that when the cyclist outs pressure on the breaks, the lights on the back will turn red to indicate that they are slowing down/coming to a halt. I also want to explore adding indicators like that on cars, and the arrows on the back of the jacket will blink/illuminate accordingly.

A clear drawback that I can see right now is that typically a person biking will sweat so it would be difficult to wash the jacket so I need to think about how it would be incorporated into the jacket. Surprisingly, Rico had a very similar project so maybe I could make it a wearable accessory rather than incorporating it directly into the jacket.

4. Communibox¶

This project is a bit more light-hearted, inspired by the flip-able octopus plushy that has both happy and angry sides and is hilariously used to communicate with their partners regarding their mood. The project will be either in a box or in a frame and will have an app connected to it, so the user can easily pick their mood from the app and the box will have a cute emoji/animation to display how that person is feeling.