Request for Approval

Description

The request for approval (RFA) is the very first step in successfully completing a senior design project. Before submitting your RFA, you must post your project idea to the Web Board using the "Idea" post type. Once your idea has been fleshed out through the Web Board, you can move on request for approval through PACE under the My Project page. Once submitted, your project will be cloned to the Web Board as "Project Request" post. You can edit the project on the My Project page, add your teammates and see comments from the instructors. The course staff may provide feedback on your idea (which will appear at the bottom of your project's page), or suggest changes in the scope of the project and ask you to re-submit an RFA. Based on your incorporation of feedback your project will be approved or rejected. If it is rejected, the My Project page will revert back to it's original format and your project will disappear.

Once the course staff has approved the project idea, you will receive instructions on how to submit your project through PACE, at which time you will be assigned a project number in the Projects list, a TA, and a locker in the lab. Once your project is approved, please go to the Projects page, log into the PACE system, and make sure all of the information is correct.

Video Lecture

Video, Slides

Requirements and Grading

The RFA is graded credit/no credit based on whether your project is approved before the deadline. Note that submitting an RFA before the deadline does not guarantee approval before the deadline. The RFA is submitted through PACE under the My Project page, and should be Markdown-formatted with the following information:

# Title

Team Members:
- Student 1 (netid)
- Student 2 (netid)
- Student 3 (netid)

# Problem

Describe the problem you want to solve and motivate the need.

# Solution

Describe your design at a high-level, how it solves the problem, and introduce the subsystems of your project.

# Solution Components

## Subsystem 1

Explain what the subsystem does.  Explicitly list what sensors/components you will use in this subsystem.  Include part numbers.

## Subsystem 2

## ...

# Criterion For Success

Describe high-level goals that your project needs to achieve to be effective.  These goals need to be clearly testable and not subjective.

Projects must be legal and ethical. They must have significant scope and complexity commensurate with the size of the team. This is, of course, a subjective assessment of the course staff. To gain some insight into this judgment, please browse projects from previous semesters. The project must involve the design of a significant hardware component at the circuit level. In exceptional cases, projects not meeting this criteria may be acceptable when augmented by a Special Circuit assignment (however this is typically a last resort).

Beyond these basic requirements, you have total discretion in proposing a project. This is a great opportunity for you to pursue your own interests. Since you choose your own projects, we expect a high level of enthusiasm from you and your team.

Submission and Deadlines

The RFA submission deadline may be found on the Course Calendar. Typically, approval of the RFA is due during the afternoon of the third Thursday of the semester.

Quick Tips and Helpful Hints

Posting: Choosing a project: Choosing partners: Some general project ideas that are fraught with pitfalls:

Electronic Replacement for COVID-19 Building Monitors @ UIUC

Patrick McBrayer, Zewen Rao, Yijie Zhang

Featured Project

Team Members: Patrick McBrayer, Yijie Zhang, Zewen Rao

Problem Statement:

Students who volunteer to monitor buildings at UIUC are at increased risk of contracting COVID-19 itself, and passing it on to others before they are aware of the infection. Due to this, I propose a project that would create a technological solution to this issue using physical 2-factor authentication through the “airlock” style doorways we have at ECEB and across campus.

Solution Overview:

As we do not have access to the backend of the Safer Illinois application, or the ability to use campus buildings as a workspace for our project, we will be designing a proof of concept 2FA system for UIUC building access. Our solution would be composed of two main subsystems, one that allows initial entry into the “airlock” portion of the building using a scannable QR code, and the other that detects the number of people that entered the space, to determine whether or not the user will be granted access to the interior of the building.

Solution Components:

Subsystem #1: Initial Detection of Building Access

- QR/barcode scanner capable of reading the code presented by the user, that tells the system whether that person has been granted or denied building access. (An example of this type of sensor: (https://www.amazon.com/Barcode-Reading-Scanner-Electronic-Connector/dp/B082B8SVB2/ref=sr_1_11?dchild=1&keywords=gm65+scanner&qid=1595651995&sr=8-11)

- QR code generator using C++/Python to support the QR code scanner.

- Microcontroller to receive the information from the QR code reader and decode the information, then decide whether to unlock the door, or keep it shut. (The microcontroller would also need an internal timer, as we plan on encoding a lifespan into the QR code, therefore making them unusable after 4 days).

- LED Light to indicate to the user whether or not access was granted.

- Electronic locking mechanism to open both sets of doors.

Subsystem #2: Airlock Authentication of a Single User

- 2 aligned sensors ( one tx and other is rx) on the bottom of the door that counts the number of people crossing a certain line. (possibly considering two sets of these, so the person could not jump over, or move under the sensors. Most likely having the second set around the middle of the door frame.

- Microcontroller to decode the information provided by the door sensors, and then determine the number of people who have entered the space. Based on this information we can either grant or deny access to the interior building.

- LED Light to indicate to the user if they have been granted access.

- Possibly a speaker at this stage as well, to tell the user the reason they have not been granted access, and letting them know the

incident has been reported if they attempted to let someone into the building.

Criterion of Success:

- Our system generates valid QR codes that can be read by our scanner, and the data encoded such as lifespan of the code and building access is transmitted to the microcontroller.

- Our 2FA detection of multiple entries into the space works across a wide range of users. This includes users bound to wheelchairs, and a wide range of heights and body sizes.