Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
99 Predictive Indoor Ventilation Control Using Air Quality Estimation
 Arka Kolay
Gulnaaz Sayyad
Noah Rockoff
 Hossein Ataee proposal1.pdf
Team Members:
Gulnaaz Sayyad (gsayy2),
Noah Rockoff (noahlr2),
Arkaprabha Kolay (akolay2)

Problem:
Indoor air quality is often poorly managed in homes, classrooms, and office spaces because harmful conditions such as elevated CO2, PM2.5, and humidity are not immediately noticeable to occupants. Poor ventilation can lead to fatigue, reduced concentration, and health issues. Most existing ventilation systems operate on fixed schedules or require manual control, which means they do not respond dynamically to changing air quality conditions. This results in either insufficient ventilation that harms occupant health or excessive ventilation that wastes energy.

Solution:
This project proposes an indoor air quality monitoring and ventilation control system that continuously measures CO2, PM2.5, temperature, and humidity. Based on real-time sensor data, control algorithms automatically activate ventilation mechanisms such as fans using predictive, model-based control algorithms to proactively regulate ventilation before air quality thresholds are exceeded. The system will incorporate a simplified physical model of indoor CO2 dynamics to estimate future air quality trends and inform ventilation decisions. The system also includes a software dashboard that displays current conditions and stores air quality data. These will allow users to track trends over time while maintaining a healthier indoor environment.

Solution Components:

Air Quality Sensor
Sensors to continuously monitor indoor environmental quality
CO₂, temperature, and humidity sensor (Sensirion SCD40, I²C)
PM1006K Low Cost PM2.5 Sensor
Microcontroller
Processes sensor data
Executes predictive ventilation control algorithms
Logs air quality data for analysis
Ventilation Subsystem
Fan controlled using PWM
MOSFET driver circuit implemented on custom PCB
Will run based on the data collected from the sensors
Software dashboard
Displays live air quality data
Potentially send alerts
Used for system validation and performance evaluation

Buy SCD40 CO2, Temperature and Humidity Sensor Breakout I2C at Best Price | 7semi

Criterion for Success:

To validate system performance, controlled experiments will be conducted to create repeatable indoor air quality disturbances. For example, candles or small flames will be used near the CO₂ sensor to artificially increase CO₂ concentration, allowing verification of sensor response and system behavior. These disturbances will be used to evaluate both a baseline threshold-based controller and the proposed predictive control strategy. Ventilation activation and system response will be observed and logged to compare control approaches under identical conditions.
The project will be considered successful if the following measurable performance criteria are met: The system predicts CO₂ threshold crossings within ±X minutes using the internal air quality model. Indoor CO₂ concentration is maintained below a specified ppm value for at least a majority of occupied operation time. Compared to a baseline threshold-based controller, the predictive control strategy reduces ventilation fan runtime or estimated energy usage by at least a baseline percentage. The system operates continuously without unintended resets or sensor failures during fan actuation and environmental changes. Controlled experiments (e.g., candle-based CO₂ disturbances) demonstrate repeatable and observable differences between predictive and threshold-based control behavior.

Prosthetic Control Board

Caleb Albers, Daniel Lee

Prosthetic Control Board

Featured Project

Psyonic is a local start-up that has been working on a prosthetic arm with an impressive set of features as well as being affordable. The current iteration of the main hand board is functional, but has limitations in computational power as well as scalability. In lieu of this, Psyonic wishes to switch to a production-ready chip that is an improvement on the current micro controller by utilizing a more modern architecture. During this change a few new features would be added that would improve safety, allow for easier debugging, and fix some issues present in the current implementation. The board is also slated to communicate with several other boards found in the hand. Additionally we are looking at the possibility of improving the longevity of the product with methods such as conformal coating and potting.

Core Functionality:

Replace microcontroller, change connectors, and code software to send control signals to the motor drivers

Tier 1 functions:

Add additional communication interfaces (I2C), and add temperature sensor.

Tier 2 functions:

Setup framework for communication between other boards, and improve board longevity.

Overview of proposed changes by affected area:

Microcontroller/Architecture Change:

Teensy -> Production-ready chip (most likely ARM based, i.e. STM32 family of processors)

Board:

support new microcontroller, adding additional communication interfaces (I2C), change to more robust connector. (will need to design pcb for both main control as well as finger sensors)

Sensor:

Addition of a temperature sensor to provide temperature feedback to the microcontroller.

Software:

change from Arduino IDE to new toolchain. (ARM has various base libraries such as mbed and can be configured for use with eclipse to act as IDE) Lay out framework to allow communication from other boards found in other parts of the arm.