Here are my project ideas and final project documentation.
You can reach to my past and current projects through my GitHub at the About Me page. Also, the projects that me and my group do as an assignment will be posted and documented through here.
My Final Project: The Smart Health Assistant Coaster
I wanted to design a piece of technology that could genuinely help people achieve their health goals, moving beyond simple fitness trackers. That’s why I created the concept for the Smart Health Assistant Coaster.
The core idea is simple: a smart coaster that monitors your fluid intake, optimizes your drink temperature, and uses AI model to give you highly personalized health advice based on what you’re drinking.
The Hardware: The Smart Coaster
The coaster itself is the physical interface. I designed it to be available in both square and circle shapes to fit different mugs. It needs to be practical, so it has an Open/Close mechanism.
The key feature is the dynamic temperature control. Using a Heat/Cool Thermal Pad, the coaster can keep any drink at its ideal temperature. If my coffee is getting cold, it heats it up. If my iced tea is warming, it cools it down (I am thinking about using a specific material for the smart coaster to help cool the mug/glass over it to cool up, or I might just get rid of this idea, and just pursue into a idea that it just reminders the user via the app when their drink became the temperature they want). The coaster houses a battery and a microcontroller to manage all this. This microcontroller is crucial because it tracks consumption and transfers all that data to my app. I envision making this a unique coaster per user so the system is entirely personalized.
The coaster also has a visual reminder—a Reminder Light. This light tells me two things: whether I’m actively consuming the drink, and when the drink is running low. I also included a simple Adjust function to quickly change the set temperature.
The Software: The Mobile Health App
The mobile app is the brain and the dashboard. It shows me the real-time status of my drink.
Crucially, it handles the two-way communication: -Temperature Alert: It can give me prompts like, “Your drink is on optimum heat (YOU CAN START DRINKING), do you want me to adjust the temp?” -Consumption Tracking: It records my Consumption and uses a Predictive Recommender(for a specific diet that the user wants) to give me advice.
The Intelligence: The AI Model
This is where the “Health Assistant” part truly shines. I plan to train an AI Model specifically to personalize my health goals. I will input what I want to achieve—whether that’s to get fit, lose weight, or just maintain a healthy life.
Based on my goal and my current consumption habits, the AI will: -Adjust the Ideal: Automatically adjust the recommended temperature for my drink and tweak the ideal daily consumption amount. -Give Direct Advice: The app will then tell me exactly what I need to do to meet my goal, delivering highly specific alerts like, “You should drink two more cups of water, 2L to go, etc.; or you drank a lot, you’re above the 2L limit etc.”
Ultimately, the Smart Health Assistant Coaster is a holistic system that ensures my hydration is optimized for both enjoyment and health, acting as a constant, intelligent coach right on my desk.
Draft Materials List: Smart Health Assistant Coaster
I. Core Processing & Connectivity:
These components handle the logic and data transmission.
Microcontroller (MCU) -> ESP32 or ESP8266, or most probably own built PCB (e.g., NodeMCU): Controls all components, processes sensor data, and includes integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth for connectivity to the mobile app. (The ESP32 is generally better for power-hungry tasks like controlling the thermal pad
Power Management -> Lithium-Polymer (LiPo) Battery: Provides portable power for the coaster.
Charging Circuit -> LiPo Battery Charger Module (e.g., TP4056): Manages safe charging of the battery via a USB port (e.g., USB-C).
Power Regulator -> DC-DC Step-Down Converter: Ensures stable and correct voltage supply for all components, especially the MCU.
II. Sensing & Measurement:
These components capture the physical data (weight and temperature).
Consumption/Weight Sensor -> Load Cell (Single Point Strain Gauge): Measures the weight of the glass/cup. Changes in weight allow for precise, real-time tracking of fluid consumption.
Load Cell Amplifier -> HX711 Module: The signal from the load cell is very small; this module amplifies it for the microcontroller to read accurately.
Temperature Sensor (On Coaster) -> DS18B20 (Waterproof) or MLX90614 (Non-Contact IR): Measures the actual temperature of the beverage container/liquid surface. The waterproof DS18B20 would need to be in contact with the mug, while the MLX90614 can measure from a small distance.
Temperature Sensor (Ambient) -> Built-in to the MCU or separate Thermistor: Measures ambient air temperature for more accurate thermal control and consumption prediction.
III. Thermal Control (“Heat/Cool Thermal Pad”):
This is the most specialized and power-intensive part.
Thermal Element -> Peltier Module (TEC - Thermoelectric Cooler): Creates the Heat/Cool Thermal Pad. By reversing the polarity of the DC current, it switches between heating one side and cooling the other.
Peltier Driver/Controller -> H-Bridge Motor Driver (e.g., L298N or specialized TEC driver): Controls the direction and amount of current flowing to the Peltier module to switch between heating and cooling modes
Heat Dissipation -> Aluminum Heat Sink & Small Fan: The Peltier element generates heat on the opposite side of the desired effect (cooling generates a lot of waste heat). A heat sink and fan are essential to efficiently dissipate this waste heat into the environment.
IV. User Interface & Enclosure:
These components handle physical feedback and housing.
Reminder Light -> RGB LED (Common Anode): Provides visual feedback (e.g., Green for optimum temp, Red for drink low/needs consumption). The RGB allows for multiple statuses using different colors.
Adjust Function -> Momentary Push Button: Serves as the tactile input for the ‘Adjust’ function (e.g., to manually tare the weight, or switch modes).
Coaster Body/Housing -> 3D-Printed PLA or ABS Plastic: Creates the main enclosure for the Circle or Square design, designed to be durable and insulate the heat sink/fan.
Top Plate -> Aluminum or Ceramic Disc: The surface where the cup rests. Chosen for good thermal conductivity with the Peltier module.
Another Concept:
I thought of again pursuing with the idea of smart coaster, but now it will be used by restaurant, like specific places that require coasters for drinks etc. So, the thing with this project is to put screens over the smart coaster, and these will eventually have advertisements on it. Although it might sense weird, this will eventually help those chain that use the coasters to gain advertisement fee over those advertisements, and nearly every restaurant use coasters, so it would create another way of gaining additional gain. But, this is some sort of a entrepreneurship project, where I also gain a sort of income through those gains by cutting a little few percent of the revenue that the advertisement companies provide to the restaurants =D
Starting The Grind All Over Again with Fusion 360
Alright, now that I’ve leveled up my CAD skills and gained some real experience, I’m going to pull a ‘reincarnation anime’ move: I’m heading back to the beginning of the grind and restarting the entire design from scratch to achieve the perfect final version of this smart coaster. But, this time I will make it step by step, so that you can follow up in the process. I wanted to do this because after messing with Gemini for my probable design of the final project (like after I sent my initial draft design), it gave out a great result of the final design that I can use. It was also looking great and covering every other feature that I didn’t include before: the buttons, ventilations, USB-C slots, and more… Besides, this designed also matched with what I was expecting of my final project.
