Breadboard Demo

Description

The Breadboard Demo is an informal but mandatory event. Its purpose is to show your instructor and TA a circuit that you have been working on in the lab for your project. It is expected that the circuit will include the microprocessor you will be using in your project (it can be mounted on a development board) and it will be connected to a project subsystem. The microprocessor should have a program downloaded onto it that allows it to communicate with the subsystem, i.e., control the subsystem or receive data from it. It is expected that the power source for the circuit will be a laboratory power supply. The function of the subsystem should be demonstrated. The commands or data should be displayed on a pc or other display means. You should be able to explain how the circuit is used in the project and be able to justify design choices. A Breadboard Checklist will be provided and filled out.). Use the following format:

    See the Breadboard Demo Rubric for specific details.

Grading

Full Credit (10 points) will be given if the circuit works, is of adequate complexity, and a good explanation of its features is given by the team. Point reductions will be given if the circuit fails to work (-1), lacks complexity (-1), or seems inappropriate for your project (-1). The Breadboard Demo is a team activity and results in a team score.

Breadboard Demo I and Breadboard Demo II (Progress Demo) are each worth 10 points. The linked PDF rubrics use a 20-point scale; divide all scores and deductions by two. The Canvas rubrics use the 10-point scale.

Recovery-Monitoring Knee Brace

Dong Hyun Lee, Jong Yoon Lee, Dennis Ryu

Featured Project

Problem:

Thanks to modern technology, it is easy to encounter a wide variety of wearable fitness devices such as Fitbit and Apple Watch in the market. Such devices are designed for average consumers who wish to track their lifestyle by counting steps or measuring heartbeats. However, it is rare to find a product for the actual patients who require both the real-time monitoring of a wearable device and the hard protection of a brace.

Personally, one of our teammates ruptured his front knee ACL and received reconstruction surgery a few years ago. After ACL surgery, it is common to wear a knee brace for about two to three months for protection from outside impacts, fast recovery, and restriction of movement. For a patient who is situated in rehabilitation after surgery, knee protection is an imperative recovery stage, but is often overlooked. One cannot deny that such a brace is also cumbersome to put on in the first place.

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Solution:

Our group aims to make a wearable device for people who require a knee brace by adding a health monitoring system onto an existing knee brace. The fundamental purpose is to protect the knee, but by adding a monitoring system we want to provide data and a platform for both doctor and patients so they can easily check the current status/progress of the injury.

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Audience:

1) Average person with leg problems

2) Athletes with leg injuries

3) Elderly people with discomforts

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Equipment:

Temperature sensors : perhaps in the form of electrodes, they will be used to measure the temperature of the swelling of the knee, which will indicate if recovery is going smoothly.

Pressure sensors : they will be calibrated such that a certain threshold of force must be applied by the brace to the leg. A snug fit is required for the brace to fulfill its job.

EMG circuit : we plan on constructing an EMG circuit based on op-amps, resistors, and capacitors. This will be the circuit that is intended for doctors, as it will detect muscle movement.

Development board: our main board will transmit the data from each of the sensors to a mobile interface via. Bluetooth. The user will be notified when the pressure sensors are not tight enough. For our purposes, the battery on the development will suffice, and we will not need additional dry cells.

The data will be transmitted to a mobile system, where it would also remind the user to wear the brace if taken off. To make sure the brace has a secure enough fit, pressure sensors will be calibrated to determine accordingly. We want to emphasize the hardware circuits that will be supplemented onto the leg brace.

We want to emphasize on the hardware circuit portion this brace contains. We have tested the temperature and pressure resistors on a breadboard by soldering them to resistors, and confirmed they work as intended by checking with a multimeter.

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