project2proposals

= = Project 2 Topic and Team Proposals


 * Everyone in class should PROPOSE a project OR indicate you are interested in JOINING one or more the projects proposed so far.
 * Indicate desire for JOINING by adding a line "YOUR NAME - Interested!" after the PROPOSAL.
 * It is okay to both PROPOSE a project and indicate your interest in JOINING another project.
 * It is okay to say you are interested in JOINING several projects. In the end, you'll just be on one team.
 * It is okay to MODIFY a proposed project to make it COOLER.
 * You should make your edits by NOON MONDAY October 17.
 * In class on Tuesday October 18, we will put together the teams.
 * IMPORTANT: Do NOT stay in EDIT mode on this page for extended periods of time. That would increase the chance of RACE CONDITIONS where two people are editing the page at the exact same time, leading to heartache.
 * THINK of what you want to write, click EDIT, type QUICKLY, and then click SAVE.

Let's go!

Project 2 Teams


 * Interactive Menu Ordering System**

This project would provide a fun and easy way to order food at a restaurant. Patrons place small "tokens" (provided) of the food they want onto the "order area" for their table. These would ideally be miniature versions of the food. The patrons submit their order through some mechanism (e.g. a "submit" token placed onto the order area), and the order is sent to the kitchen. Feedback at the table might include confirmation of the order's contents, submission status, and whether the food is ready. The system could be expanded to include tokens for other items, such as water and silverware.

Each token would contain a passive RFID tag, and the order area would contain an RFID reader. The RFID reader would be connected to an Arduino with some sort of wireless capability (Bluetooth, WiFi, etc.), which would send and receive data with a PC somewhere in the restaurant. The PC would also host a web application used by the kitchen staff to read orders and even update their status.

Weekly specials could be implemented using the Sifteo cubes. The cubes would either need their own RFID tags (they do not have RFID), or one cube could be used to act as the "special server", where another cube placed next to it would send in an order for the selected special. Using Sifteo cubes would require a PC in close proximity to the table.

There are USB RFID readers and also Arduino RFID reader kits that can be bought for about $100 - you'd need to move quick to buy one and learn its API. In Japan many restaurants display plastic models of sushi and other foods -- you could put tags on a bunch of toy model foods! In addition to practical use in a restaurant, the system could also be used to teach children about healthy meals -- the child picks out the items for her "lunch", if there is too much fat and starch and too little protein or fiber, the system suggests alternative choices!

Harry Ledley - interested! Gabe Unger - interested! Simon Weber - interested! Julian E. Herwitz - interested Chelsea Flint - interested


 * Mindwave Study Tracker** //(Micah Fujiwara)//

Using a mindwave plugged into a computer, the Mindwave Study Tracker would track the users attentiveness over time as they read over material. Ideally, the Mindwave Study Tracker will have modes for both computer and book study, with the Computer version capable of tracking page numbers within files such as PDF's.

During the study period, the computer will run a timer which counts up. Below the timer would be options to pause the timer for study breaks, and a stop button to end the study session. The program will play quiet beeps or otherwise signify the user when their attention runs low. There could easily be an option to turn the low-attention alert off.

When the session is completed, the program will plot a line graph, showing the various states of attentiveness you showed while studying. Vertical bars on the graph will indicate where page turns were made (automatically detected for on-computer PDF study, manually tracked or un-tracked for books). This graph will allow the user to see the data on their study and identify segments where they might not have paid full attention to the page, so that they may go back and re-evaluate the segment they read.

To track page-turns or otherwise segment data for live books and other paper resources, the tracking might be done manually with a computer button. Ideally, it could also possibly done automatically if a microphone is used to detect the sound of a page turn.

This could very a very interesting research project!


 * Pervasive Robotics**

Combining some of the products we already have to improve the quadcopter. Working on self guided systems using other devices as visual (regular, or IR) and/or use sensors that communicate with drone programing, like products we already have. Elie Glik- Interested!

Surely someone else would like to be on Team Robot! Mindwave and/or Kinect control of iRobot Create and/or Quadcopter would be exciting. Even if the Mindwave could only reliably sense 1 bit, that could be used e.g. to make the iRobot or AR.Drone move towards or away from the user or some other target. Another cool idea would be to program the AR.Drone to autonomously find and hover over the over the iRobot, while a user is driver the iRobot.

Using the arduino and possibly web programing, and sensors, create an interactive (both based on presence and online presence) project that will be displayed in a hall way that UofR community can interact with. //**Possible ideas:**//
 * School Interactive Mural- Work of Art**
 * LED light array, and webcam
 * Xbox Connect and display / competition based on movement
 * Take content off public Facebook and display. Also create video’s of people and post them, while they do something active (possibly itunes commercial idea to preserve privacy). And then possibly create a voting system.
 * Piano Steps (Eddie Samuels interested)

Erin Brady - interested Anna Loparev - interested Micah Fujiwara - Interested Elie Glik- Interested Aaron Berkowitz - Interested Chelsea Flint - interested

I love the idea of using Kinect and/or other sensors to control a work of art. A related idea: use a "flash mob" of people to display a work art, where each "pixel" is the screen of a cell phone running a web app. The app either tells the user where to stand, or uses gps to tell the server where the user is located. The more people gathered, the finer the detail of the image.

Tying the Kinect into presentation software (e.g. Powerpoint). Use gestures to control movement through a presentation. Detect where the user is and black out parts of the image where their head is so that the projector doesn't blind them.
 * Kinect for Presentations**

David Klein - interested Sam Atlas - interested Julian E. Herwitz - interested Micah Fujiwara - Interested

See Kinect PowerPoint Control http://kinectpowerpoint.codeplex.com/ for code for Kinect control of Powerpoint. Blacking out the area of the user's face would be unique new feature - any idea how to control Powerpoint or the video drivers to do that?


 * Mail Buddy**

University of Rochester students and faculty alike receive a helpful email notification each time a package arrives for them. Sadly, no such notification system is in place for traditional snail mail. This can result in countless unnecessary trips to the post office each time an important delivery is expected. I propose making a small device disguised as a tiny package that users could leave in their mailbox to receive new mail alerts. The device would be constructed using the same ATMEL 328p microprocessor that powers the Arduino platform and would leverage a Sharp IR range finder and a Wi-Fi module for connectivity. Further, the device would be programmed to sleep for most of each day only waking briefly to perform a check for new mail. During this brief wake cycle the device could also use history to recompute the optimum sleep time delta to maximize the chances of seeing mail upon the next wake and to further extend battery life.

Possible use in PO boxes? Eddie Samuels - interested Kyle Murray - interested! Dan Panz - interested Sam White - Interested Aaron Berkowitz - Interested Chelsea Flint - interested

Sound useful! Any experience with the rangefinder - will it work within a small space such as mailbox? Indeed it will. Sharp makes several models including one that accurately senses anything between 4cm and 30cm.