Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
63 Bluetooth Heater (Burner)
Navin Ranganathan
Shaunak Fadnis
Varun Kowdle
Zicheng Ma design_document2.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
presentation2.pdf
proposal2.pdf
# Bluetooth Heater (Burner)
# Team Members:

- Varun Kowdle (vkowdle2)
- Shaunak Fadnis (sfadnis2)
- Navin Ranganathan (navinr2)

# Problem
Each day, millions of people drink warm coffee, tea, or soup. However, one common challenge faced is maintaining the ideal temperature over time, especially in busy environments or during extended periods of consumption. Moreover, traditional methods like reheating in microwaves can degrade the quality of the drink or food, while passive insulating containers often fail to maintain the desired temperature for long. The repeated process of reheating can be time-consuming and energy-inefficient, making it a less than ideal solution for both home and office settings. This results to a compromised experience, as the taste derived from hot beverages and soups is significantly tied to their warmth.

# Solution

To address this issue, we propose to make a heating pad with bluetooth capabilities so that users can adjust temperature to three settings. This allows users to change the heating pad to their ideal temperature to the requirements of the beverage or soup. Integration of bluetooth allows for a convenient and remote control, enabling users to adjust settings directly from their smartphones. More importantly, we want to make sure that the pad is durable and energy efficient to support user needs.

# Solution Components:

## Subsystem 1
App (Bluetooth Connection) :
A bluetooth module will be used to communicate with a personal device to control the device. The user can set the temperature/heating amount for the pad(s), within a restricted amount. It will also provide feedback on what is at what temperature, and how long it has been (with possible warnings for a quality drop if it has been long enough.
Components:
Bluetooth Module (ex: RNBD451 - Microchip Bluetooth 5.2 Module)
## Subsystem 2
Heating Pad:
We would have a resistive heating element similar to a coil that would heat a pad for people to place cups, bowls, etc.. Using a temperature sensor we will feed data back to our control unit that also communicates with the app to see if any changes have been made.
Components:
Temperature Sensor
Heating Element Options:
Peltier Module (for adding cooling)
Inductive Coil

## Subsystem 3
Power Management:
Ensures the device operates efficiently, minimizing energy consumption while providing adequate power to the heating element. Components: Battery (if portable): A high-capacity, rechargeable battery that supports extended use on a single charge.Techniques such as automatic shutdown after a period of inactivity, or adaptive temperature control to reduce power usage when the target temperature is maintained. Similarly, bluetooth module to adjust temperature based on user preference

# Criterion For Success
The device must heat beverages or soups to the selected temperature with high accuracy and maintain the temperature within a narrow margin of error. Moreover, the device should maintain stable Bluetooth connectivity within a typical range, allowing for seamless communication between the heating pad and the user's mobile device.Likewise, the heating pad should use energy efficiently, reducing the need for frequent recharging (if battery-powered) or minimizing electrical consumption (if corded). Lastly, we must incorporate safety features to prevent overheating of both the pad and the beverage/soup, ensuring the device is safe to touch and does not pose a risk of burning the user or damaging surfaces.

Prosthetic Control Board

Caleb Albers, Daniel Lee

Prosthetic Control Board

Featured Project

Psyonic is a local start-up that has been working on a prosthetic arm with an impressive set of features as well as being affordable. The current iteration of the main hand board is functional, but has limitations in computational power as well as scalability. In lieu of this, Psyonic wishes to switch to a production-ready chip that is an improvement on the current micro controller by utilizing a more modern architecture. During this change a few new features would be added that would improve safety, allow for easier debugging, and fix some issues present in the current implementation. The board is also slated to communicate with several other boards found in the hand. Additionally we are looking at the possibility of improving the longevity of the product with methods such as conformal coating and potting.

Core Functionality:

Replace microcontroller, change connectors, and code software to send control signals to the motor drivers

Tier 1 functions:

Add additional communication interfaces (I2C), and add temperature sensor.

Tier 2 functions:

Setup framework for communication between other boards, and improve board longevity.

Overview of proposed changes by affected area:

Microcontroller/Architecture Change:

Teensy -> Production-ready chip (most likely ARM based, i.e. STM32 family of processors)

Board:

support new microcontroller, adding additional communication interfaces (I2C), change to more robust connector. (will need to design pcb for both main control as well as finger sensors)

Sensor:

Addition of a temperature sensor to provide temperature feedback to the microcontroller.

Software:

change from Arduino IDE to new toolchain. (ARM has various base libraries such as mbed and can be configured for use with eclipse to act as IDE) Lay out framework to allow communication from other boards found in other parts of the arm.