TEL3M Independent Study Projects: Hardware

#	ACE	Title	Description
1	AD	Speakers	For my 2015 Independent Study Project, I would like to take on the challenge of building a set of left and right stereo audio speakers. I have sources the necessary components for purchasing here and here. The first link is for a fullrange driver and the second is for a woofer. Every pair of speakers would require two of each. Each one costs approx. $20, coming to a price of $40 per set of speakers. The project would allow me to expand my technical skills in the area of prototyping with 3.5mm input and building the enclosures which have to be carefully measured to provide the correct internal area for the woofer and the driver so their combined audibility sounds proper. Although not an overly complex endeavour, it will provide challenging in the sense that I have never worked with audio technology on this level before. I believe that Dylan Commons, is also taking on a task similar to this. I believe that this mutual goal can be beneficial for the both of us as we can communicate our ideas to help each other better understand how to properly design the enclosures for our respective systems.
2	JD	Hovercraft	The engineering concept that has always interested me the most is getting things to move. Servo motors and spinning engines lie at the center of many technologies, such as the fans that will be used in my hovercraft. It will have to have a light frame with several light weight fans providing lift through some medium. Steering would be controlled in some fashion by the servo motors; they would either be turning one of the fans, or turning a sail on the craft. There would be a lot of work involved in this project including building a frame, wiring and providing logic for the fans and servos, calculating the maximum weight the vessel could be with all parts attached, and assembling everything in an efficient and compact hovercraft. The risk factor on this task is quite high, seeing as how I don't even know if I can provide enough lift with these fans and I haven't yet learned how to do the calculations for lift. Out of ten, I would rate the risk at a high 7 or 8. The steering of the craft would either be controlled by a pre-loaded onboard method or through remote controls. Both would add an extra layer of complication and only one of them is necessary. I will need to work overtime to complete this task by the end of the year, but it would be very nice to see it finally working, which is what I'll strive for.
3	RH	Notifier	My ISP commitment is a website notification edge-lit display, powered by Spark Core. The device will connect to Reddit or another website's API, and activate an edge-lit display based on whether you have received a notification. The Spark Core is a tiny Wi-Fi development kit, which is much like an Arduino except it has the ability to connect to the Internet. When a notification from a website is received, the connected edge-lit display will light up to a chosen color using RGB LEDs. The display will then be connected to the USB port of a laptop for power, or another 3.3V power supply. A possible goal of this project is to reduce its development costs so it could be sold in the Dragon's Lair to other students for personal use. Once created, the software could be adjusted not only to connect to Reddit, but possibly to social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, or an email client. Once a working prototype is made, I will need to make the product as robust and small as possible for display on a desk. This project will challenge me to learn how to use a Spark Core, connect to website APIs, and make edge-lit displays.
4	JL	Square- Wave Oscillator	For my ISP I want to build a square wave oscillator. This oscillator will encompass two different project ideas I have been considering. The first being a synth oscillator, and the second being a pre-amp, a power amp and speakers (however for this project I will be eliminating the power amp). I will build a square wave oscillation circuit that will connect to a pre-amp circuit to boost the signal, which will then connect to speakers that I hope to build. I also plan to make additions to the oscillator circuit so the sound can be manipulated in different ways, for example frequency, volume, and delay. The speakers will probably be one of the greater challenges I face in this project since there are so many variables that have to be considered when designing them. The main reason I am pursuing this as my ISP is because of my interest in music and sound production, which can be seen in my choice of making the Arduino Theremin. I really like the idea of creating sound and manipulating it, and I know that this project will satisfy that. Finally, when I am finished with my ISP I will have the ability to keep adding and learning more about this project.
5	RP	Joystick	For my ISP, I want to look into the Thumb Joystick and create demos for it that would be viewable either on an LCD display, a touchscreen display, or something else. I would would focus on creating a simple environment for the Joystick to be used in and then build onto it, one by one. Creating different demos showing how the Joystick can be used. Since data for the Joystick comes in the form of vertical displacement, horizontal displacement, and a button, multiple demos could be created focusing on each aspect individually and in combination. While the focus of the project would be the Thumb Joystick, I also want a deeper understanding of the display being used as well. For that reason, I would like to use a touchscreen display, or even Processing, to allow for a more flexible environment for the Joystick to be looked into. My main interest in this project is because there would be no actual end to it. Once the Joystick and the display are set up, it would be possible to continue creating more and more demos leading up to the presentation of the ISP. There is no limit on the amount of different ways the Joystick's functions could be shown. That is why I am interested in looking into the Thumb Joystick and a complex display for my ISP.
6	JR	4-bit CPU	I'm interested in finding out how things work. I like the feeling of really grasing an understanding of how and why things are the way they are. For my ISP I want to further my understanding of computer architecture. I want to figure out how all the parts of a CPU work. To do this I will construct a simple 4 bit computer using TTL chips. My goal for this computer is to run a simple program that can add numbers using an accumulator input interface. This interface will allow a user to input numbers that will be added together. I hope to keep a project log on a google doc I've already started, and possibly multiple ER entries for all major events/breakthroughs while building the computer. I believe this will prove to be quite a challenging project for me and my abilities in time management and documentation will be tested by undertaking this endeavour.
7	JY	Tuner	For my ISP, I would like to create a musical tuner and adjustable metronome. Musical tuners would be very useful in the music department as tuning done by the students is done by ear and the metronome would be useful during personal practice. This project would be broken up into to parts, although one part is much larger and more difficult than the other. The smaller part will be the adjustable metronome. The goal for the metronome is to be able to use a potentiometer to dial the BPM that will be heard. The sound will be created using a simple speaker, and a LCD or series of 7-segment displays will be used to display the BPM. The second, much larger, part of this project will be the tuner. This tuner will be adjustable, meaning that you can change which note you are tuning to. The tuner will then display whether you are sharp or flat using 2 LEDs. What has been outlined is the initial plan for this project and many more additional functions are planed. These include displaying exactly how sharp or flat the note being played is and detecting the note that is being played so manual input would not be needed. There are 2 reasons why I want to do this project for my ISP. The first is because the focus of this project, reading sound and comparing it to set values, interests me, and I want to research and get a better understanding of it. The second is because it could be beneficial to the RSGC community. For those reasons stated, I want to make my ISP a musical tuner and metronome.

ACE

Title

Description

Risk Factor
(out of 10)

Speakers

For my 2015 Independent Study Project, I would like to take on the challenge of building a set of left and right stereo audio speakers. I have sources the necessary components for purchasing here and here.

The first link is for a fullrange driver and the second is for a woofer. Every pair of speakers would require two of each. Each one costs approx. $20, coming to a price of $40 per set of speakers. The project would allow me to expand my technical skills in the area of prototyping with 3.5mm input and building the enclosures which have to be carefully measured to provide the correct internal area for the woofer and the driver so their combined audibility sounds proper. Although not an overly complex endeavour, it will provide challenging in the sense that I have never worked with audio technology on this level before.

I believe that Dylan Commons, is also taking on a task similar to this. I believe that this mutual goal can be beneficial for the both of us as we can communicate our ideas to help each other better understand how to properly design the enclosures for our respective systems.

Hovercraft

The engineering concept that has always interested me the most is getting things to move. Servo motors and spinning engines lie at the center of many technologies, such as the fans that will be used in my hovercraft. It will have to have a light frame with several light weight fans providing lift through some medium. Steering would be controlled in some fashion by the servo motors; they would either be turning one of the fans, or turning a sail on the craft. There would be a lot of work involved in this project including building a frame, wiring and providing logic for the fans and servos, calculating the maximum weight the vessel could be with all parts attached, and assembling everything in an efficient and compact hovercraft. The risk factor on this task is quite high, seeing as how I don't even know if I can provide enough lift with these fans and I haven't yet learned how to do the calculations for lift. Out of ten, I would rate the risk at a high 7 or 8. The steering of the craft would either be controlled by a pre-loaded onboard method or through remote controls. Both would add an extra layer of complication and only one of them is necessary. I will need to work overtime to complete this task by the end of the year, but it would be very nice to see it finally working, which is what I'll strive for.

Notifier

My ISP commitment is a website notification edge-lit display, powered by Spark Core. The device will connect to Reddit or another website's API, and activate an edge-lit display based on whether you have received a notification. The Spark Core is a tiny Wi-Fi development kit, which is much like an Arduino except it has the ability to connect to the Internet. When a notification from a website is received, the connected edge-lit display will light up to a chosen color using RGB LEDs. The display will then be connected to the USB port of a laptop for power, or another 3.3V power supply. A possible goal of this project is to reduce its development costs so it could be sold in the Dragon's Lair to other students for personal use. Once created, the software could be adjusted not only to connect to Reddit, but possibly to social networks such as Twitter, Facebook, or an email client. Once a working prototype is made, I will need to make the product as robust and small as possible for display on a desk. This project will challenge me to learn how to use a Spark Core, connect to website APIs, and make edge-lit displays.

Square-
Wave
Oscillator

For my ISP I want to build a square wave oscillator. This oscillator will encompass two different project ideas I have been considering. The first being a synth oscillator, and the second being a pre-amp, a power amp and speakers (however for this project I will be eliminating the power amp). I will build a square wave oscillation circuit that will connect to a pre-amp circuit to boost the signal, which will then connect to speakers that I hope to build. I also plan to make additions to the oscillator circuit so the sound can be manipulated in different ways, for example frequency, volume, and delay. The speakers will probably be one of the greater challenges I face in this project since there are so many variables that have to be considered when designing them. The main reason I am pursuing this as my ISP is because of my interest in music and sound production, which can be seen in my choice of making the Arduino Theremin. I really like the idea of creating sound and manipulating it, and I know that this project will satisfy that. Finally, when I am finished with my ISP I will have the ability to keep adding and learning more about this project.

Joystick

For my ISP, I want to look into the Thumb Joystick and create demos for it that would be viewable either on an LCD display, a touchscreen display, or something else. I would would focus on creating a simple environment for the Joystick to be used in and then build onto it, one by one. Creating different demos showing how the Joystick can be used. Since data for the Joystick comes in the form of vertical displacement, horizontal displacement, and a button, multiple demos could be created focusing on each aspect individually and in combination. While the focus of the project would be the Thumb Joystick, I also want a deeper understanding of the display being used as well. For that reason, I would like to use a touchscreen display, or even Processing, to allow for a more flexible environment for the Joystick to be looked into. My main interest in this project is because there would be no actual end to it. Once the Joystick and the display are set up, it would be possible to continue creating more and more demos leading up to the presentation of the ISP. There is no limit on the amount of different ways the Joystick's functions could be shown. That is why I am interested in looking into the Thumb Joystick and a complex display for my ISP.

4-bit
CPU

I'm interested in finding out how things work. I like the feeling of really grasing an understanding of how and why things are the way they are. For my ISP I want to further my understanding of computer architecture. I want to figure out how all the parts of a CPU work. To do this I will construct a simple 4 bit computer using TTL chips. My goal for this computer is to run a simple program that can add numbers using an accumulator input interface. This interface will allow a user to input numbers that will be added together. I hope to keep a project log on a google doc I've already started, and possibly multiple ER entries for all major events/breakthroughs while building the computer. I believe this will prove to be quite a challenging project for me and my abilities in time management and documentation will be tested by undertaking this endeavour.

Tuner

For my ISP, I would like to create a musical tuner and adjustable metronome. Musical tuners would be very useful in the music department as tuning done by the students is done by ear and the metronome would be useful during personal practice. This project would be broken up into to parts, although one part is much larger and more difficult than the other. The smaller part will be the adjustable metronome. The goal for the metronome is to be able to use a potentiometer to dial the BPM that will be heard. The sound will be created using a simple speaker, and a LCD or series of 7-segment displays will be used to display the BPM. The second, much larger, part of this project will be the tuner. This tuner will be adjustable, meaning that you can change which note you are tuning to. The tuner will then display whether you are sharp or flat using 2 LEDs. What has been outlined is the initial plan for this project and many more additional functions are planed. These include displaying exactly how sharp or flat the note being played is and detecting the note that is being played so manual input would not be needed. There are 2 reasons why I want to do this project for my ISP. The first is because the focus of this project, reading sound and comparing it to set values, interests me, and I want to research and get a better understanding of it. The second is because it could be beneficial to the RSGC community. For those reasons stated, I want to make my ISP a musical tuner and metronome.

Grade	Contribution to Final Mark
10	10%
11	10%
12	15%

Grade

Contribution to Final Mark

10%

15%