Preamble

Spring 2023 will be the first semester where I (Dr. Riccardo Longo) will teach this course, instead of Prof. George Gollin. Much of the material available on this webpage and that I will use during the lectures was kindly provided by Prof. Gollin. The structure of the course will be essentially the same as it was in Fall 2022, with a few changes that I implemented based on feedback I received from both Prof. Gollin and his students.

Contacts for Spring 2023

Main Instructor

Dr. Riccardo Longo, rlongo@illinois.edu, Loomis 481 --> Please use [PHYS-371] as prefix in the subject when e-mailing me or the TAs about the course

Teaching Assistants

Matthew Caleb Hoppesch, mch6@illinois.edu
Jennifer Campbell, jjc11@illinois.edu
 

Required Materials

There are no required texts for Physics 371. We will assemble starter "kits" of parts and tools for each of you in class. The kits will be distributed on the first lecture. 

You must come to each class (including the first) with:

-  A laptop or other device that is capable of running the Arduino Integrated Developer's Environment (IDE) as well as the current version of Anaconda's Python IDE. Note that smartphones will be insufficient for your needs. The Mac OS and some version of Windows are probably best, but if you insist on using a Unix/Linux laptop, it means that you are probably able to cope with the typical problems that might arise.

-  A charger for your laptop.

-  An adapter (if necessary) that will let your laptop read/write from/to an SD memory card.

- Your box of parts and tools.

-  Adapters that will let you connect a pair of USB-A cables to your laptop. 

-  A physical paper notebook in which you will perform calculations, take notes about your findings etc. etc.

Attendance at the entire Friday class session, from 1:00pm to 4:50pm, is obligatory. A portion of your grade will be assessed based on your active participation in class. In addition, Matthew Hoppesch (PHYS-371 TA), Jennifer Campbell (PHYS-371 TA) and Dr. Riccardo Longo (PHYS-371 Instructor) will meet with individual groups each week (location to be agreed w/ each group) for about half an hour to discuss nitty-gritty technical issues and monitor your progress. We will schedule these to avoid conflicts with your other academic obligations. These meetings are also obligatory. Please have your devices and tools on your person whenever we meet.

Office hours beyond the weekly group meetings are available upon request: let the TAs and/or me know that you'd like to meet; try to give us at least half-a-day advance notice.

As already done in previous editions of the course, there will be weekly homework assignments, at least in the first half of the course. Assignments may be related to the content of the weekly lecture or to the lab project. In general, each week's assignment will be due at 5 pm on Thursday of the following week. For example, the week 1 assignment is due by 4:59 PM of Thursday of week 2. You must email material of/from the completed assignment to the course TAs (mch6@illinois.edu, jjc11@illinois.edu) cc'ing myself (rlongo@illinois.edu). Each day of delay in turning in the assignment will result in a grade reduction of 10%. We will not grade assignments that are more than one week late. Please note that each student will have one wildcard available to either 1. turn-in one assignment with a delay up to one week (e.g. by the due date of the next week assignment) or 2. re-try an assignment where the grade received is unsatisfactory. In this case, the homework will be returned and the student will have until the next homework due date to re-work on it. The wildcard can be used only one time during the course for either case 1. or 2., by e-mailing me and the TAs by the due date of the assignment. For technical reasons involving Physics Dept. IT infrastructure, we may be unable to use the usual gradebook software. If this will be confirmed, you'll have to ask us for a report of your records if you'd like to see what we have for you. I will post assignments to the course website as the semester unfolds - and quickly run over them during the Friday class, to make sure everyone is onboard w/ the tasks.

Suggested projects (by Prof. Gollin & Dr. Longo)

Projects for Spring 2023 - final list!

1. How many beetles are in a corn field? Or in traps disseminated through them? Or on single cobs? Prof. Nick Seiter and his collaborators at ACES are interested in these questions. Maybe we can help them!
   • Using mockup targets (cobs, traps, leafs etc..) with fake beetles in the lab, we can try to develop a device capable of acquiring images of the target (also surveying the neighboring environment) and counting the number of beetles on the target via pattern recognition techniques. If this part of the project is accomplished successful, we can think about how to acquire data in fields! 
2. Mapping crowd flow across Loomis: can we instrument a device to measure the macroscopic flux of people through the (labyrintic) Loomis corridors? What about typical room's typical hourly occupancy? This may be useful for crowd control and optimization of social distancing measures!
   • What about pairing a movement sensor with associated picture acquisitions at ground level, to then count # of shoes? 
3. Live portable monitoring system for detector tests at accelerators! Every time we test a detector with a beam at an accelerator, it is crucial to keep track of the environment around the setup. Let's build a device to monitor and record this information. In this way, it will be possible to disentangle effects due to the tested detector from those induced by changes in the neighbouring environment. Standard (temperature, pressure, humidity etc.) parameters should be monitored and recorded, along with more complex quantities (electronic noise, magnetic field variations, etc.). The device should be easy to transport and setup, complemented by a user friendly DAQ and also equipped with a series of alarms that can trigger on certain measured quantities. If all of this is accomplished, it may be possible to instrument an alignment survey feature? 
4. Resuspension of particles can be used to study contamination after nuclear fallouts on a microscopic level (more info can be found here). Dr. Kaminsky and Illinois GS Nico Santiago are carrying out research on this topic at Argonne. We can help them by carrying out studies on resuspension generated by pedestrian and vehicles! 
   • Project 1: replicate the functionality of commercially available air quality monitors as well as expand upon them. One such sensor is the Purple Air PA-II which monitors concentration of dust particles in the air as well as temperature, pressure, and humidity. Additionally, we would like to have measurements of wind speed and direction. If time permits, this project would be made into a self-contained, portable, weather resistant, low power, Internet of Things (IoT) device that transmits its data to a central server.
   • Project 2: Study pedestrian resuspension of particles on sidewalk surfaces. This project would look to create a data pool that does not currently exist for resuspension studies. A Plantower sensor would be attached to a follow pedestrian, walking a set distance behind the first pedestrian. The 2 should measure a constant distance between them, while the measurement is taking place. The purpose of this experiment is to study how many particles are kicked up during a walking cycle over a set distance by various types of at different speeds.
5. Are water fountains in Loomis equally powerful? If I am in a hurry, shall I choose a particular one? How do they compare to other buildings? Let's find it out with a PHYS371-built device! 
6. Smart jacket for cyclists: can we instrument that to display, on the biker's back, turning signals and brake lights? We can also try to track the biker's heart rate, distance traveled, etc. We can extrapolate these quantities into different measurements, such as total calories burned.
7. Lab Room Temperature Distribution Analysis: the FORGE Lab would like to know how the temperature changes across our lab room, as it significantly affects some of our experiments. We have an understanding of how it changes in one spot, but there may be better spots to place our experiments that need temperature control. In particular, understanding what happens directly underneath vents and far away from them will help us prepare experiments for these conditions.
8. Macroscopic Collider: The measurements of cross sections are of great importance in particle physics. Can we design a setup to measure the (differential) cross section of a macroscopic collision, for example two air hockey pucks colliding with different impact parameters. What other physics phenomena can we measure with this apparatus?
9. The Mpemba Effect: does hot water actually freeze faster than cold water?
10. Predictive seismometry: Can we recognize seismic noise on a perimeter surrounding a sensitive device, and use this to predict the vibrations that will be experienced by the device? A possible application would be the stabilization of final-focus beam optics in a high energy linear electron-positron collider.
11. Daytime bovine methanogenesis measurements in a UIUC Animal Sciences barn. In the United States livestock generate more methane than nearly all other sources. Methane is an important, incredibly harmful contributor to climate change caused by greenhouse gas emission. Let's install a string of methane sensors, all read by an Arduino that is radio-linked to a WiFi-enabled base station.
12. Solar cell performance comparisons: control an NPN-based current source with an Arduino, see what various solar cells can do. I'm starting to use these in an agriculture technology project, and there are surprises in what I find. So let's scope this out in more detail.
13. Inertial navigation: how well can we integrate the rotations and accelerations of a Roomba autonomous vacuum cleaner to figure out where the device actually is?
14. An initial feasibility study of a rotating-mirror arthroscope. Orthopedic surgeons use an optical instrument called an arthroscope to view the surgical field during procedures such as joint repair. The typical field of view of an arthroscope can vary from 75° to 115°. Could we expand this to greater than 200° by synchronizing image capture with the orientation of a rotating mirror?
15. Spectral properties of African percussion instruments: Djembe vs. Conga. How (and why) does the sound change with technique?
16. Predictive shock mitigation on Illinois Central passenger trains. Amtrak rails are a mess just south of Kankakee. Could the bumps felt in one car be radio'd to a device in a car further towards the rear? It might allow an active suspension supporting a crate of delicate devices to better protect its cargo.
17. Noise produced by wind turbines. We want to do this in the time domain, not frequency domain.
18. Multiple-head IR non-contact thermometer. What would it take to measure the temperatures of a dozen subjects simultaneously? How fast can we do this?
19. Foot pressure profiles for users of standing desks. I like my standing desk, but should I be wearing protective footgear?
20. Airborne particulate concentrations in agricultural settings (outside/inside tractor and/or combine cabins)
21. Microphone-based, radio-linked vector anemometers (Prof. Gollin's invention!): could a sound engineer use these to correct (in real time) for wind-induced phase errors between towers of speakers in a large outdoor concert venue?
22. Pulse oximetry calibration issues. A pulse oximeter uses the relative absorption of light from 660 nm and 940 nm LEDs to determine the degree to which blood is oxygenated. The commercially available devices are calibrated for light-skinned subjects and can yield systematically incorrect results for subjects with darker skin. A Fall 2022 group investigated how to correct for this; we'd like to continue their work.

Syllabus and milestones

Milestones

•   1a. Modify the Arduino’s blink program so that it blinks the initials (of your English/American name) in Morse code. (Week 1, by end of Friday class)
•   1b. Install and test a BME680. (Week 1, by end of Friday class)
•   1c. On your breadboard, install the following devices (in addition to the BME680 and Arduino): LCD (including 10kΩ trimpot), keypad, and microSD breakout. (Week 2, by beginning of Friday class)
•   1d. Formulate a project plan and division of project responsibilities. (Week 2, by midweek group conference with course staff)
•   2a. Install, set, and read back a DS3231 real time clock. (Week 2, by end of Friday class)
•   2b. Install and read back a GPS module. Use it to set the DS3231 real time clock. (Week 2, by end of Friday class)
•   2c. Write a short text file to your SD card. Copy the file to your laptop, then write a short Python program to read it and display its contents. (Week 2, by end of Friday class)
•   2d. Finish installing all the parts on your breadboard required for your project’s data logger. (Week 3, by beginning of Friday class)
•   2e. Register an Autodesk user account, then visit the TinkerCad website. (Week 3, by beginning of Friday class)
•   3a. Write a single bare-bones program that read all your project circuit’s sensors and writes data to a microSD file. (Week 3, by end of Friday class)
•   3b. Write a single bare-bones Python data analysis program that generates histograms and plots of environmental data read by your BME680. Calculate means and RMS widths for these quantities. (Week 3, by end of Friday class)
•   3c. Log in to Autodesk and download EAGLE. (Week 4, by midweek group conference with course staff)
•   4a. Finish writing a reasonably sophisticated DAQ and use it for a quick field test of your devices. (Week 4, by end of Friday class)
•   4b. Analyze your field test data, generating the plots and calculations that you expect to appear in your ultimate report. (Week 4, by end of Friday class)
•   4c. Install breakout boards on your PCB and test it. (Week 5, by midweek group conference with course staff)
•   5a. Perform a longer set of field tests and run them through your analysis. (Week 5, by beginning of Friday class)
•   5b. In consultation with course staff, refine your offline analysis. (Week 5, by end of Friday class)
•   5c. Finish PCB and transition to using it for more field test data; verify that PCBs function as expected. (Week 5, by end of Friday class)
•   5d. Use TinkerCad to design personalized covers for your PCB cases. (Week 5, by end of Friday class)
•   6a. Take all the data that you think you’ll need for your project. (Week 6, by end of Friday class)
•   6b. Verify that your data are valid: analyze them. (Week 6, by end of Friday class)
•   7a. Analyze production data and discuss your conclusions with course staff. (Week 7, by end of Friday class)
•   7b. Draft a modified run plan if appropriate, take more production data. (Week 8, by midweek group conference with course staff)
•   8a. Develop a detailed data analysis including cross calibration techniques, and run all your data through it. (Week 8, by end of Friday class)
•   8b. Write brief outline of a possible project report, discuss with course staff. (Week 8, by end of Friday class)
•   9-10. Write and submit “nearly final” draft of project report. (Week 10, by start of Friday class)
•   11-12. Rewrite and submit “final” project report. (Week 12, by start of Friday class)
•   13-14a. Prepare PowerPoint (or Keynote) project presentation. (Week 14, by start of Friday class)
•   13-14b. Prepare and submit final project report. (Week 14, by start of Friday class)