Sixth Sense technology of Pranav Mistry

'SixthSense' is a wearable gestural interface that augments the physical world around us with digital information and lets us use natural hand gestures to interact with that information.

The SixthSense prototype comprises a pocket projector, a mirror and a camera contained in a pendant like, wearable device. Both the projector and the camera are connected to a mobile computing device in the user’s pocket. The projector projects visual information enabling surfaces, walls and physical objects around us to be used as interfaces; while the camera recognizes and tracks users' hand gestures and physical objects using computer-vision based techniques.



Sixth Sense prototypes cost approximately $350 to build, the main cost being the micro-projector.

Hardware and Software Detail :

It is very generous of Pranav Mistry that he had announced in Nov 2009 that the source code will be released under Open Source.You can find sixth sense open source page here.

Download Software ( C++ and C#)



Related Projects :
Robotics Project
Computer Science Projects
Mechanical engineering Projects
Electronics Projects
Electrical projects

Autonomous Agile Aerial Robots

The most effective way to build autonomous aerial vehicle is quad rotor.

A quadrotor, also called a quadrotor helicopter or quadrocopter, is a multicopter that is lifted and propelled by four rotors.

University of  Pennsylvania professor Vijay Kumar and his team developed such a quad rotor robot which can operate autonomously without the help of  remote control or GPS System.


I found this project very interesting and thought to share it with you.

Why this aerial robot different from its counterparts?

It it different because of its small size(8 inch)  and less power consumption(around 15 watts).Moreover, it is agile,autonomous and smart enough to take its own decisions while flying both indoors and outdoors.

What's the use of it?

It can be used in Biochemical leaks, Construction and Transportation.

How it works ?

As professor Vijay explained, it has four rotors. If you spin these rotors at the same speed, the robot hovers. If you increase the speed of each of these rotors, then the robot flies up, it accelerates up. To accelerate this robot horizontally it should be in tilted position.

There's two ways of doing it :

One is to rotate rotor four faster and rotor two slower. And when you do that, there's moment that causes this robot to roll. And the other way around, if you increase the speed of rotor three and decrease the speed of rotor one, then the robot pitches forward. And then finally, if you spin opposite pairs of rotors faster than the other pair, then the robot yaws about the vertical axis. So an on-board processor essentially looks at what motions need to be executed and combines these motions and figures out what commands to send to the motors 600 times a second. That's basically how this thing operates. So one of the advantages of this design is, when you scale things down, the robot naturally becomes agile.

TED Lecture by Professor Vijay(Must Watch) :

    

Power Generation using Foot Steps

Scientists at the University of Hull are researching ways of turning human motion into electricity.

They are working on a prototype staircase that converts the movement of people walking up and down it into a power source.This project is similar to Human Powered Harvesting as discussed before on this blog.

It is hoped systems could be installed in railway stations or other public places with a large flow of people passing through.
If these generators were to be installed at the Victoria Underground Station in central London, the power generated by the 34,000 people moving around would be able to power approximately 6,500 lightbulbs.


How we can do that ?

There are mainly two ways to achieve that :

1. Using Piezoelectric Materials :
The word piezoelectricity means electricity resulting from pressure.A property certain materials have to generate an electric current when they are squeezed or pressed. For example, lead zirconate titanate crystals will generate measurable piezoelectricity when their static structure is deformed by about 0.1% of the original dimension. Conversely, those same crystals will change about 0.1% of their static dimension when an external electric field is applied to the material.

2.Using Gears:

The gears inside the staircase that are used to rotate the generator. The staircase has to be specially designed that can achieve a small displacement when being stepped on. The gears ratio and flywheel are optimized to get the maximum possible power out by driving the micro-generator. Alternatively, we can use a spring action with magnets and coils triggered by the staircase action to generate electricity./div>

Useful Links :

Electricity from Footsteps

BBC Report on Step power generation system

Japan Harness Energy from Footsteps

Similar Posts :
Mechanical engineering Projects
Physics Projects
Solar Projects
Windmill Projects

Electronics Projects
Electrical projects

RFID based mobile payment system

Mobile payment is an alternative payment method. Instead of paying with cash, cheque or credit cards, a consumer can use a mobile phone to pay for a wide range of services and digital or hard goods.

Radio-frequency identification (RFID) is the use of a wireless non-contact system that uses radio-frequency electromagnetic fields to transfer data from a tag attached to an object, for the purposes of automatic identification and tracking. Some tags require no battery and are powered by the electromagnetic fields used to read them.

Mobile Payment system is a service that aims to securely and conveniently move retail banking and financial services to cell-phones. It is a mobile-banking facility for the unbanked.
How to build my own ?

Circuit Diagram and Details


Related Projects :
Mechanical engineering Projects
Computer Projects
Electrical Project ideasElectronics Projects
Robotics Project

Human Tracking Fan System

Fan is one of the most important tool that human beings have ever developed.First fan came into existence in India.The punkah fan was used in the India in the early 500 BC. It had a canvas covered frame that was suspended from the ceiling. Servants, known as punkawallahs, pulled a rope connected to the frame to move the fan back and forth.In 19th century Industrial Revolution took place and fan kept on evolving ever since.

What's the significance in Fan in Modern World?

Fan is the most important electronic machine for poor living all across the world. It is not costly as Air conditioners and coolers, runs on low power and easy to carry(table fan).

The only problem with table fan is its inefficiency, we need to adjust it according to our position or start its motor which rotates it all over the place in 180 degrees and wasting its power by directing air at empty spaces for much of the rotation cycle.

What is Human Tracking Fan System ?

We are trying to build a fan which can track human and adjust itself according to the position of a person sitting in a room.

How it works ?

It consists of two PIR Sensors which can detect person sitting position because humans typically radiate more infra-red light than their surroundings, such as a wall for instance, detecting motion is fairly simple.

How to build one ?

Click here to learn more about it.




Related Projects :

Mechanical engineering Projects
Computer Projects
Electrical Project ideas

Electronics Projects
Robotics Project

Online health monitoring

Imagine a world where you do not need to visit your doctor for your regular checkup.All you need is a simple device called online health monitor system.

This is three steps process :

1. Using health monitor equipment's it gets relevant information about your body.

2.Then computer process this information and update it to the server.

3.Any user around the world can access this information in real time with the help of ip address of the server computer.

To understand it completely, please click below :
Complete Detail

Related PDF :

Online Health Monitor in digitally controlled power controllers
Wireless Lan Health Monitoring 

Related Video :

GSM Operated Robot

Mobiles are very common today and there are very few places left where mobile signals can't reach.Imagine, when you can control robots from anywhere in the world and  this is now possible with GSM operated robot.

GSM (SMS) Controlled Wireless Robot” is automatic robots which are capable of receiving signal using your mobile, for e.g. in the video given below that robot is controlled by keys dialed using mobile. When mobile user dial 6 robot starts moving forward and when user dials 3 it stops.

Other Uses :

This technology can be used to lock and open door of your house, controlling electronic appliances at your home and starting or turning off your car.

Related PDF :
GSM Based Electrical Control System


Related Project
Robotic Engineering Project
Mechanical Projects
Electronics Project

Analysis of EGR emission reduction technique

In internal combustion engines, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) is a nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions reduction technique used in petrol/gasoline and diesel engines. EGR works by recirculating a portion of an engine's exhaust gas back to the engine cylinders.

 In a gasoline engine, this inert exhaust displaces the amount of combustible matter in the cylinder. In a diesel engine, the exhaust gas replaces some of the excess oxygen in the pre-combustion mixture. The principal function of EGR to reduce the amount of NOX that is produced during the combustion process Nox is created by high combustion temperature that allowed the Nitrogen and Oxygen to combined and form Nitrogen Oxide. A combustion temperature of at least 2500 degree is required to form Nitrogen oxide. We use exhaust gases to curb that temperature inside  the chamber.



Project Idea :

This idea is to understand details of the thermal and mechanical properties of the deposit layer, and how they are affected by operating conditions, The student will work with our group to improve test hardware, conduct experiments, and interpret results. It will provide hands on experience in a modern engine test cell with an advanced heat transfer study.

 

Related Projects:

Automobile Projects
Mechanical Projects
Physics Project

Bio Gas powered vehicle

Although we have discussed lot of project ideas related to bio gas on this blog, but as you know, none of these include powering our automobile engines using bio gas.I recently searched for this topic and found that in 1974, a British documentary film entitled Sweet as a Nut detailed the biogas production process from pig manure, and how the biogas fueled a custom-adapted combustion engine.In 2007, an estimated 12,000 vehicles were being fueled with upgraded biogas worldwide, mostly in Europe.

I want you to build project which is powered by bio gas engine.

Why Biogas powered engines?

Biogas can be compressed, much like natural gas, and used to power motor vehicles.If concentrated and compressed, it can also be used in vehicle transportation. In the UK, for example, biogas is estimated to have the potential to replace around 17% of vehicle fuel. Compressed biogas is becoming widely used in Sweden, Switzerland, and Germany. A biogas-powered train has been in service in Sweden since 2005.

Related Links: 

Mechanical Projects
Physics Project
Solar Projects
Windmill Projects

360-degree panorama Camera

"A picture is worth a thousand words" refers to the notion that a complex idea can be conveyed with just a single still image. Camera is integral part of human life, we can't imagine living without it.Without camera too, humans were very much interested in depicting themselves on the paper,when there was no camera around,painters played the role of camera.Even, you can find photographs of emperors and scientist from last centuries painted by that time great painters.


So, what's new in panorama photographs?

They are the future, imagine a world where you don't need to worry about adjusting frame,frames or taking individual photographs,Panoramic camera would take 360 degree photograph of any particular time. Moreover if we can make 360 degree video from that , it would appear to viewer as that he himself is standing at the place of photograph.

Example from 360cities.net Panoramic Image :


Old Town Square Christmas Market in Prague

What's the Idea?

If you build your final year engineering project related to Panoramic cameras or images, you may end  making big bucks in future. Moreover, there is large scope for improvement in this field.There are lot of questions need to be answered  For e.g.  how we will embed panorama camera with our mobile phone. What if for that we need to change shape and size of our mobile forever. This is a great idea and I want some of you to work for it and bring happiness on the face for camera lovers.

Useful Links :

Bracket for Strip Photography

Related PDF :

Stereo Panorama Single Camera
Line Scan Based Panoramic Camera System for Lunar Lander 

 

Control your devices using eye contact

This project is about controlling devices using our eyes. Imagine when you can use your eyes to scroll your computer screen up and down with your eyes movement. This project is also important for online marketing companies to find out exactly where they should place there advertisement to get maximum attention of the user.This can also be used in Video games where protagonist  needs to look around.

Eye tracking is the process of measuring either the point of gaze ("where we are looking") or the motion of an eye relative to the head. An eye tracker is a device for measuring eye positions and eye movement. Eye trackers are used in research on the visual system, in psychology, in cognitive linguistics and in product design.

The Eye Tracking Device (ETD) is a headmounted device, designed for measurement of three-dimensional eye and head movements under experimental and natural conditions. The tracker permits comprehensive measurement of eye movement (three degrees of freedom) and optionally head movement (six degrees of freedom).

There are a number of methods for measuring eye movement. The most popular variant uses video images from which the eye position is extracted. Other methods use search coils or are based on the electrooculogram. Eye tracking is the process of measuring either the point of gaze ("where we are looking") or the motion of an eye relative to the head. An eye tracker is a device for measuring eye positions and eye movement. Eye trackers are used in research on the visual system, in psychology, in cognitive linguistics and in product design. There are a number of methods for measuring eye movement. The most popular variant uses video images from which the eye position is extracted. Other methods use search coils or are based on the electrooculogram.

Related PDF :

An Eye Tracking Computer User Interface
Eye-Tracking Analysis of User Behavior

Related Video :



Related Projects :

Computer Science
Robotics Project ideas
Electronics Engineering
Electrical Projects 

Tiny Biogas generator

What is Biogas?

Biogas typically refers to a gas produced by the Anaerobic digestion.Anaerobic digestion is a series of processes in which microorganisms break down biodegradable material in the absence of oxygen.Organic waste such as dead plant and animal material, animal dung, and kitchen waste can be converted into a gaseous fuel called biogas.

Why should we use Biogas for generation of electricity?

In developing countries, simple home and farm-based anaerobic digestion systems offer the potential for low-cost energy for cooking and lighting.Waste Management is one of the biggest problems we are facing in the modern world. Using Biogas generation plant we not only help in waste management but also generate electricity from it. If waste can't be managed properly,it would cause serious diseases and harm environment too.

From 1975, China and India have both had large, government-backed schemes for adaptation of small biogas plants for use in the household for cooking and lighting.

Bio gas can be used to rotate turbines of power plants replacing pollutants such as coal. Even though it can't be used in big plants but it has great potential to become useful for individual farmlands and farmers.

Useful Links:

Mini Bio Gas fuel turbine

Related Projects :

Mechanical Projects
Solar Energy Project Ideas
Windmill Power Generation System