Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
26 Orion Med
 wenhao Zhang
XiangYi Kong
Yuxin Zhang
 Zhuoer Zhang proposal1.pdf
# ORION MED

Team Members :
- Xiangyi Kong (xkong13)
- Yuxin Zhang (yuxinz11)
- Wenhao Zhang (wenhaoz5)

# Problem

As the global population continues to age, the demand for elder care is rising faster than the number of available care workers. Care workers often spend much of their time on routine but necessary tasks, such as fetching medicine or preparing basic tools. These simple tasks leave them with less time to focus on what really matters: providing personal attention, comfort, and medical care to the elderly. This imbalance not only increases stress and workload for care workers but also makes it harder to ensure that the elderly receive the level of care they deserve
# Solution
We propose to design a line-following autonomous medicine cart that can navigate between a nurse station (HOME) and five fixed pharmacy locations along a predefined track.
The nurse will input a target pharmacy number (1–5) and a specific medicine type through a GUI. The cart will follow the track, detect the correct station using ground markers, and stop to wait. Once a medicine package is placed on the tray (detected by onboard sensors), the cart will first verify whether the correct pill bottle has been selected. If so, immediately return to the HOME position.
The system is divided into the following subsystems:
1. Locomotion & Navigation
2. Station Recognition
3. Load Detection
4. Medicine Verification
5. Control & Communication
6. Power Supply & Safety

# Solution Components
## Subsystem 1: Locomotion & Navigation
- Purpose: Drive the cart along the predefined track and keep it centered on the black line.
- Components:
- 2 × DC gear motors with encoders
- Motor driver: TB6612FNG (or L298N as alternative)
- QTR-8A IR reflectance sensor array for line tracking
- Functionality: Uses PID control with encoder feedback to follow the black line smoothly and reliably.
## Subsystem 2: Station Recognition
- Purpose: Detect when the cart has arrived at one of the five fixed pharmacy stations or the HOME position.
- Components:
- Ground marker system (unique tape patterns or RFID tags)
- Functionality: Each station has a unique marker or tag; the sensor detects it and signals arrival to the controller.

## Subsystem 3: Load Detection
- Purpose: Detect whether an object (medicine package) has been placed on the tray.
- Components:
- HX711 load cell amplifier + load cell sensor
- Functionality: Confirms stable load placement before triggering the RETURN sequence.

## Subsystem 4: Medicine Verification
- Purpose: Confirm that the medicine placed matches the nurse’s request before returning to HOME.
- Components:
- Color sensor module (e.g., TCS34725 RGB sensor)
- Functionality:
- The nurse specifies a medicine type (e.g., Red, Green, Blue pill).
- After load detection, the color sensor scans the deposited item.
- If the detected color matches the requested medicine → RETURN sequence is triggered. If not, the cart remains at the station, and an error/status is sent to the GUI.

## Subsystem 5: Control & Communication
- Purpose: Serve as the “brain” of the system, executing navigation logic and communicating with the user interface.
- Components:
- ESP32 microcontroller (Wi-Fi + control)
- Python Tkinter GUI or ESP32-hosted web interface
- Functionality:
- Receives target station input from GUI
- Executes finite state machine: IDLE → TO_STATION → WAIT → RETURN → HOME
- Sends status updates (Idle, Moving, Waiting, Returning, Done) back to GUI
## Subsystem 6: Power Supply & Safety
- Purpose: Provide stable power to motors, sensors, and controller while ensuring user safety.
- Components:
- lithium-ion battery pack
- Step-down voltage regulators (5V for motors/sensors, 3.3V for ESP32)
- Ultrasonic distance sensor (HC-SR04 or VL53L0X) for obstacle avoidance
- Emergency stop button with hardware cutoff
- Functionality: Supplies regulated voltages, ensures safe shutdown in emergencies, and prevents collisions.
# Criterion For Success
1. Navigation:
- The cart can travel from HOME to any of the five stations with high reliability.
- The cart stays centered on the line with little deviation.
2. Station Recognition:
- Correctly identify each of the five stations and HOME.
3. Load Detection & Return:
- Correctly detect object placement.
- Only allow RETURN if the correct medicine is placed.
- Trigger return-to-home sequence correctly after placement.
4. Task Completion
- Accept user input, reach target station, wait, detect load, and return to HOME.
5. Safety
- Stop within 20 cm of unexpected obstacles.
- Stable and safe operation with no exposed wires or hazards.

Tesla Coil Guitar Amp

David Mengel, Griffin Rzonca

Featured Project

# Tesla Coil Guitar Amp

Team Members:

* Griffin Rzonca (grzonca2)

* David Mengel (dmengel3)

# Problem:

Musicians are known for their affinity for flashy and creative displays and playing styles, especially during their live performances. One of the best ways to foster this creativity and allow artists to express themselves is a new type of amp that is both visually stunning and sonically interesting.

# Solution:

We propose a guitar amp that uses a Tesla coil to create a unique tone and dazzling visuals to go along with it. The amp will take the input from an electric guitar and use this to change the frequency of a tesla coil's sparks onto a grounding rod, creating a tone that matches that of the guitar.

# Solution Components:

## Audio Input and Frequency Processing -

This will convert the output of the guitar into a square wave to be fed as a driver for the tesla coil. This can be done using a network of op-amps. We will also use an LED and phototransistor to separate the user from the rest of the circuit, so that they have no direct connection to any high voltage circuitry. In order to operate our tesla coil, we need to drive it at its resonant frequency. Initial calculations and research have this value somewhere around 100kHz. The ESP32 microcontroller can create up to 40MHz, so we will use this to drive our circuit. In order to output different notes, we will use pulses of the resonant frequency, with the pulses at the frequency of the desired note.

## Solid-state switching -

We will use semiconductor switching rather than the comparably popular air-gap switching, as this poses less of a safety issue and is more reliable and modifiable. We will use a microcontroller, an ESP 32, to control an IR2110 gate driver IC and two to four IGBTs held high or low in order to complete the circuit as the coil triggers, acting in place of the air gap switch. These can all be included on our PCB.

## Power Supply -

We will use a 120V AC input to power the tesla coil and most likely a neon sign transformer if needed to step up the voltage to power our coil.

## Tesla Coil -

Consists of a few wire loops on the primary side and a 100-turn coil of copper wire in order to step up voltage for spark generation. Will also require a toroidal loop of PVC wrapped in aluminum foil in order to properly shape the electric field for optimal arcing. These pieces can be modular for easy storage and transport.

## Grounding rod -

All sparks will be directed onto a grounded metal rod 3-5cm from the coil. The rest of the circuit will use a separate neutral to further protect against damage. If underground cable concerns exist, we can call an Ameren inspector when we test the coil to mark any buried cables to ensure our grounding rod is placed in a safe location.

## Safety -

Tesla coils have been built for senior design in the past, and as noted by TAs, there are several safety precautions needed for this project to work. We reviewed guidelines from dozens of recorded tesla coil builds and determined the following precautions:

* The tesla coil will never be turned on indoors, it will be tested outside with multiple group members present using an outdoor wall outlet, with cones to create a circle of safety to keep bystanders away.

* We will keep everyone at least 10ft away while the coil is active.

* The voltage can reach up to 100kV (albeit low current) so all sparks will be directed onto a grounding rod 3-5cm away, as a general rule of thumb is each 30kV can bridge a 1cm gap.

* The power supply (120-240V) components will be built and tested in the power electronics lab.

* The coil will have an emergency stop button and a fuse at the power supply.

* The cable from the guitar will use a phototransistor so that the user is not connected to a circuit with any power electronics.

# Criterion for Success:

To consider this project successful, we would like to see:

* No safety violations or injuries.

* A tesla coil that produces small visible and audible 3-5cm sparks to our ground rod.

* The coil can play several different notes and tones.

* The coil can take input from the guitar and will play the corresponding notes.

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