Senior Design Projects - Fall 2023 Showcase

ClearSky Kit envisions a comprehensive solution for real-time air quality assessment, addressing the growing pollution concerns in our communal space, Florida International University (FIU). The team focuses on the development of an entirely solar-powered air monitoring kit for enhanced environmental awareness. The kit integrates a PurpleAir sensor for air quality monitoring and a DHT sensor for additional temperature and humidity measurements. Power management is orchestrated through a Raspberry Pi Zero, resulting in intermittent powering of the system to conserve energy. All extrapolated data can be seen through a mobile-friendly website where users can view real-time, local data and trends over time. In its last stages of development, the project exhibits promising strides. With increased awareness of air quality, individual responsibility will increase, and FIU may see improvements in its atmospheric conditions. ClearSky Kits acknowledges the ongoing progress in creating a sustainable and proactive attitude towards air monitoring. 

This project introduces a low-cost wireless smart outlet for urban households, prioritizing real-time power consumption categorization and remote monitoring through a mobile application. The outlet aims to empower informed energy conservation decisions by emphasizing cost-effectiveness, user-friendly operation, and easy installation. Objectives include ensuring safety, scalability, and marketability while adhering to cost-efficiency constraints and aligning with the course schedule. The smart outlet is tailored for homeowners, business owners, and tech/non-tech users, reducing power consumption, tracking device data, and cutting power flow to turned-off devices. Additionally, the project integrates a simple magnetic relay, a wireless controller, and a current sensor to revolutionize household energy management, offering rapid switching, durability, remote operation, real-time current measurement, and mobile app accessibility. Despite potential drawbacks like higher SSR costs and accuracy limitations, the project represents a holistic initiative blending technological innovation, ethical considerations, and systematic development for a user-friendly, energy-efficient smart outlet. The aim is not only to deliver a technologically advanced product but also to contribute positively to ethical engineering practices, societal awareness, and environmental responsibility.

The project combines electrical design and programming to create an intelligent, autonomous robotic system. Our team is dedicated to the software portion of the autonomous robot. The robot traverses the intricate competition board that includes multiple ramps, a trench, and miniature objects that lie around the competition board. The autonomous robot’s specialized design includes a NUC, motor drivers, Arduino Mega, a tread system, robotic arm, and a tracking camera. It utilizes the robotic arm and tracking camera to identify, retrieve, and precisely place designated objects within the corresponding areas of the competition board. 

In the dynamic landscape of UAV development, the two-axis vector tilting vertical fixed-wing UAV emerged as a revolutionary solution to the pain points that have plagued traditional fixed-wing and rotorcraft models. The UAV field's unprecedented growth, spanning environmental monitoring, disaster relief, and various other sectors, necessitates a paradigm shift. This innovative airplane seamlessly integrates the strengths of both rotor and fixed-wing UAVs, offering a groundbreaking approach to address challenges associated with landing site dependency, low flight speed, and limited endurance. The distinctive feature of this UAV lies in its two-axis vector tilting mechanism, optimizing performance and overcoming drawbacks of conventional designs. Notably, the reduced fuselage cost and minimized air resistance, in comparison to composite wing counterparts, mark a significant leap forward in efficiency. The tail-seat take-off capability further enhances operational flexibility, requiring less stringent landing site conditions. Through meticulous optimization, this UAV achieves outstanding performance metrics, showcasing enhanced practicality and adaptability across a spectrum of applications. The profound market potential stems from its ability to deliver superior results in environmental monitoring, agricultural plant protection, power inspection, and beyond. As the UAV landscape evolves, this two-axis vector tilting vertical fixed-wing UAV stands as a beacon of innovation, poised to shape the future of unmanned aerial systems.