Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
18 Phone Audio FM Transmitter
Best Project in Instrumentation
Dan Piper
James Wozniak
Madigan Carroll
design_document1.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
photo1.jpg
photo2.jpg
presentation1.pptx
proposal1.pdf
# Phone Audio FM Transmitter

Team Members:
James Wozniak (jamesaw)
Madigan Carroll (mac18)
Dan Piper (depiper2)

# Problem
In cars with older stereo systems, there are no easy ways to play music from your phone as the car lacks Bluetooth or other audio connections. There exist small FM transmitters that circumvent this problem by broadcasting the phone audio on some given FM wavelength. The main issue with these is that they must be manually tuned to find an open wavelength, a process not easily or safely done while driving.

# Solution
Our solution is to build upon these preexisting devices, but add the functionality of automatically switching the transmitter’s frequency, creating a safer and more enjoyable experience. For this to work, several components are needed: a Bluetooth connection to send audio signals from the phone to the device, an FM receiver and processing unit to find the best wavelength to transmit on, and an FM transmitter to send the audio signals to be received by the car stereo.

# Solution Components

## Subsystem 1 - Bluetooth Interface
This system connects the user’s phone, or other bluetooth device to our project. It should be a standalone module that handles all the bluetooth functions, and outputs an audio signal that will be modulated and transmitted by the FM Transmitter. Note: this subsystem may be included in the microcontroller.

## Subsystem 2 - FM Transmitter
This module will transmit the audio signal output by our bluetooth module. It will modulate the signal to FM frequency chosen by the control system. Therefore, the transmitting frequency must be able to be tuned electronically.

## Subsystem 3 - FM Receiver
This module will receive an FM signal. It must be able to be adjusted electronically (not with a mechanical potentiometer) with a signal from the control system. It does not need to fully demodulate the signal, as we only need to measure the power in the signal. Note: if may choose to have a single transceiver, in which case the receiver subsystem and the transmitter subsystem will be combined into a single subsystem.

## Subsystem 4 - Control System
The control system will consist of a microcontroller and surrounding circuitry, capable of reading the power output of the FM receiver, and outputting a signal to adjust the receiving frequency, in order to scan the FM band. We will write and upload a program to determine the most suitable frequency. It will then output a signal to the FM transmitter to adjust the transmitting frequency to the band determined above. We are planning on using the ESP32-S3-WROOM-1 microcontroller given its built-in Bluetooth module and low power usage.

## Subsystem 5 - Power
Our device is designed to be used in a car, so It must be able to be powered by a standard automobile auxiliary power outlet which provides 12-13V DC and usually at least 100W. This should be more than sufficient. We plan to purchase a connector that can be plugged into this port, with leads that we can wire to our circuit.


# Criterion for Success
The device can pair with a phone via bluetooth and receive an audio signal from a phone.
The Device transmits an FM signal capable of being detected by a standard fm radio
The Device can receive FM signals and scan the FM bands.
The digital algorithm is able to compare the strength of different channels and determine the optimal channel.
The device is able to automatically switch the transmitting channel to the predetermined best channel when the user pushes a button.

Assistive Chessboard

Robert Kaufman, Rushi Patel, William Sun

Assistive Chessboard

Featured Project

Problem: It can be difficult for a new player to learn chess, especially if they have no one to play with. They would have to resort to online guides which can be distracting when playing with a real board. If they have no one to play with, they would again have to resort to online games which just don't have the same feel as real boards.

Proposal: We plan to create an assistive chess board. The board will have the following features:

-The board will be able to suggest a move by lighting up the square of the move-to space and square under the piece to move.

-The board will light up valid moves when a piece is picked up and flash the placed square if it is invalid.

-We will include a chess clock for timed play with stop buttons for players to signal the end of their turn.

-The player(s) will be able to select different standard time set-ups and preferences for the help displayed by the board.

Implementation Details: The board lights will be an RGB LED under each square of the board. Each chess piece will have a magnetic base which can be detected by a magnetic field sensor under each square. Each piece will have a different strength magnet inside it to ID which piece is what (ie. 6 different magnet sizes for the 6 different types of pieces). Black and white pieces will be distinguished by the polarity of the magnets. The strength and polarity will be read by the same magnetic field sensor under each square. The lights will have different colors for the different piece that it is representing as well as for different signals (ie. An invalid move will flash red).

The chess clock will consist of a 7-segment display in the form of (h:mm:ss) and there will be 2 stop buttons, one for each side, to signal when a player’s turn is over. A third button will be featured near the clock to act as a reset button. The combination of the two stop switches and reset button will be used to select the time mode for the clock. Each side of the board will also have a two toggle-able buttons or switches to control whether move help or suggested moves should be enabled on that side of the board. The state of the decision will be shown by a lit or unlit LED light near the relevant switch.

Project Videos