Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
74 Bike Theft Lock & Chain Detector
Jonathan Lee
Natasha Sherlock
Zhuoyuan Li
 Tianxiang Zheng design_document2.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
proposal1.pdf
proposal2.docx
# BIKE THEFT LOCK & CHAIN DETECTOR (UPDATED)

Team Members:

- Natasha Sherlock (NNS5)

- Jonathan Lee (JCL4)

- Open Slot

# PROBLEM
In the Champaign-Urbana area, it is estimated that around 856-1070 bikes are stolen each year (bikelab.com), with most perpetrators going unapprehended and missing bikes seldom recovered. Bike theft often goes unnoticed, especially if the crime occurs at night or with few witnesses.

# SOLUTION

The proposed solution is a cable bike lock that detects when the cable is cut by passing current through the cable and building a sensor to detect an open circuit. When the cable is cut, our cameras positioned on the cable and bike will record images that may potentially identify the criminal. The cable will also send out a signal to an alarm, as well as relay all this information to the user via bluetooth/Wifi connection.

# SOLUTION COMPONENTS

## SUBSYSTEM 1: OPEN CIRCUIT DETECTION

This system will pass a small current through the cable, using the cable and analog components to create a circuit. When the cable gets cut, the circuit would open and this would send a signal to the microcontroller indicating that theft is taking place.

## SUBSYSTEM 2: IMAGE CAPTURING VIA CAMERA

Once the microcontroller detects the open circuit, the camera modules connected to the microcontroller will take an image that the user will be able to receive via bluetooth connection, potentially providing key evidence to identify the perpetrator.

## SUBSYSTEM 3: SOUND ALARM

When the inductance is changed, the microcontroller should send out a signal to electronic alarm devices to alert the user or anyone nearby to someone trying to cut through the cable. The user will then receive a notification on their phone with an option to turn off the alarm, or the alarm will sound for a set amount of time.

# CRITERION FOR SUCCESS

Our device will be able to:

- Detect when the cable is cut
- Send a signal to sound an alarm when the cable is cut
- Take a picture as the theft is being attempted
- Relay the images and alarm sounding to the user's phone

El Durazno Wind Turbine Project

Alexander Hardiek, Saanil Joshi, Ganpath Karl

El Durazno Wind Turbine Project

Featured Project

Partners: Alexander Hardiek (ahardi6), Saanil Joshi (stjoshi2), and Ganpath Karl (gkarl2)

Project Description: We have decided to innovate a low cost wind turbine to help the villagers of El Durazno in Guatemala access water from mountains, based on the pitch of Prof. Ann Witmer.

Problem: There is currently no water distribution system in place for the villagers to gain access to water. They have to travel my foot over larger distances on mountainous terrain to fetch water. For this reason, it would be better if water could be pumped to a containment tank closer to the village and hopefully distributed with the help of a gravity flow system.

There is an electrical grid system present, however, it is too expensive for the villagers to use. Therefore, we need a cheap renewable energy solution to the problem. Solar energy is not possible as the mountain does not receive enough solar energy to power a motor. Wind energy is a good alternative as the wind speeds and high and since it is a mountain, there is no hindrance to the wind flow.

Solution Overview: We are solving the power generation challenge created by a mismatch between the speed of the wind and the necessary rotational speed required to produce power by the turbine’s generator. We have access to several used car parts, allowing us to salvage or modify different induction motors and gears to make the system work.

We have two approaches we are taking. One method is converting the induction motor to a generator by removing the need of an initial battery input and using the magnetic field created by the magnets. The other method is to rewire the stator so the motor can spin at the necessary rpm.

Subsystems: Our system components are split into two categories: Mechanical and Electrical. All mechanical components came from a used Toyota car such as the wheel hub cap, serpentine belt, car body blade, wheel hub, torsion rod. These components help us covert wind energy into mechanical energy and are already built and ready. Meanwhile, the electrical components are available in the car such as the alternator (induction motor) and are designed by us such as the power electronics (AC/DC converters). We will use capacitors, diodes, relays, resistors and integrated circuits on our printed circuit boards to develop the power electronics. Our electrical components convert the mechanical energy in the turbine into electrical energy available to the residents.

Criterion for success: Our project will be successful when we can successfully convert the available wind energy from our meteorological data into electricity at a low cost from reusable parts available to the residents of El Durazno. In the future, their residents will prototype several versions of our turbine to pump water from the mountains.