Temperature Compensation of Strain Gauges

Not all strain gauge Wheatstone Bridge circuits are made equal. While most of them allow for self-temperature compensation, not all of them do. This project aimed to create and test a control compensator system to manage the temperature of strain gauges and to understand the advantages of using digital data transmission over analogue. In this project, Two Type I Quarter Bridge circuits were tested using external digital thermometers to measure the change in temperature of the strain element when force is applied to the sensor and the outputs were compared to those of a Type II Quarter Bridge circuit.

Not all strain gauge Wheatstone Bridge circuits are made equal. While most of them allow for self-te...

 Wireless Low voltage guitar amplifier

Play your guitar wirelessly! This project focuses on the design and build of a low voltage wireless guitar amplifier. Using a Bluetooth transmitter hidden within the backplate of a guitar, the amplifier can amplify the audio signals from the guitar pickups which is received using a Bluetooth receiver at the input stage. High gain amplifiers give the overall system a great distortion sound, perfect for practicing rock and metal riffs. The amplifier includes adjustable filters for treble, middle and bass and uses a 30W speaker that is capable of playing sounds up to 100dB within a 33Hz – 3.6KHz range. A 9V battery is used as a power source and the high efficiency of the amplifier allows the user to play their guitar through the amplifier for hours.

Play your guitar wirelessly! This project focuses on the design and build of a low voltage wireless ...

Non-Invasive Blood Glucose Monitor

Diabetes Mellitus is a well-known world-wide problem that effects millions year on year. It has no cure and can only be controlled via regular monitoring of blood glucose which typically involves an invasive system. The prototype has been developed to address this issue and set a baseline for monitoring blood glucose, non-invasively using Photoplethysmography (PPG) signals. The monitoring system uses a custom designed PCB with a set of second order anti-aliasing filters to separate the AC and DC components of a photodiode sensor. The voltage components are sampled accurately using Mbed RTOS and Real-Time Cyclic Redundancy Checks (CRC) are performed during the sampling process to ensure data integrity. The resultant data is safety stored via the use of a Micro-SD Card, adding portability to the system as well as flexibility for the user.

Diabetes Mellitus is a well-known world-wide problem that effects millions year on year. It has no c...

MPPT solar charge controller 

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Life Size Remote Control Wall-E Robot

The goal for my 3rd year project is to see if I could build a remote-control full-scale Wall-E model within the limited time frame, this consists of designing, 3D modelling and building the main structure of Wall-E as well as building a custom, Arduino based, remote to control the entire model. Designing and 3D modelling it took up the majority of the allotted time which is something I didn’t anticipate but doing so taught me how to model parts more efficiently, I also got movement from various appendages of the model which were all controlled via my retrofit remote. Whilst I did face many challenges building this model, I was capable of building a working full-scale Wall-E model during the time frame using Arduino and I am happy with the overall outcome of the project and hope to develop it further in the future.

The goal for my 3rd year project is to see if I could build a remote-control full-scale Wall-E model...

EV conversation Kit

The drive for this project was the increasing demand for vehicles that are not reliant on fossil fuels such as EV’s(Electric Vehicles) and Hydrogen based fuel systems, Since the ever rising cost of carbon based fuels; Petrol & diesel this market has grown stronger. One downfall with EV’s is the cost, being more than most audiences can afford. Using brushed DC motors or motor it is possible to replace near-all one/two cylinder engines with this motor driver without a loss on performance. The Design to drive the motor or motors derives from a H-bridge motor driver which allow Bi-directional travel for the current to flow. The design also stops any inrush current via the use of PWM and overcurrent when a motor jam occurs. This Kit allows for further development and with the use of the micro controller finer tuning on performance is possible.

The drive for this project was the increasing demand for vehicles that are not reliant on fossil fue...

STM32 Based Digital Percussion Synthesizer 

This project has designed and produced a polyphonic audio synthesizer for percussive sound design using digital signal processing techniques. The system uses numerous modulation techniques to produce audio effects for the multiple audio streams in real time using two microcontrollers. One microcontroller handles the LCD user interface and user inputs and the other handles all signal processing and DAC output. The different audio streams have unique signal path architectures and modulation techniques to allow the system to create a variety of sounds and emulate different instruments. By using oversampling techniques and accurate signal modulation, the system outputs high quality audio. All hardware and software were custom designed for the project using multithreaded programming techniques. 

This project has designed and produced a polyphonic audio synthesizer for percussive sound design us...

Control System to Measure Pressure in Hydraulic Components

This project is designed and made for the System Tests Department at Domino Printing Sciences. Domino Printing Sciences develop Commercial and Industrial Inkjet printers. The system testing department is required to test each individual component of their printers. The final product is designed to test the hydraulic components within an industrial printer. This project is a control system that has a PID controller to provide pressure through a restrictor whilst measuring the pressure demand, speed, and temperature within the system. The pumps are required to produce a pressure of 1 bar and be able to maintain it in order to test the pump’s integrity. The system uses an Arduino microcontroller to control the voltages and read the desired variables which are then put into a text document. This product can support up to two simultaneously running tests.

This project is designed and made for the System Tests Department at Domino Printing Sciences. Domin...

Smart Bluetooth obstacle avoidance car

This design mainly analyzes the design process of intelligent automobile control system based on STM32F103 microprocessor. This test takes STM32F103 microprocessor as the core chip, adopts PWM technology to control speed and steering gear, obstacle avoidance module realizes obstacle detection and obstacle avoidance function, Bluetooth module realizes signal reception and transmission function, and other peripheral extension circuit realizes the overall function of the system. In control mode, the car's movements can be controlled by mobile APP. In automatic obstacle avoidance, the car with ultrasonic obstacle avoidance circuit distance obstacle avoidance. On the basis of the hardware design, the software design scheme to realize the motor control function and the intelligent car simple obstacle avoidance function is proposed, and the corresponding control program is written under the STM32 integrated development environment Keil, and the program is downloaded by STlink.

This design mainly analyzes the design process of intelligent automobile control system based on STM...

Electric Air Sensor Guitar

A Guitar that operates and plays different sounds and notes by interrupting some IR sensors. A copper wire used to implement some resistance which can be used to have different pitch and sounds depending on the distance away from the sensor. Tested & implemented to monitor how the distance will affect the notes played.

A Guitar that operates and plays different sounds and notes by interrupting some IR sensors. A coppe...