Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
60 FadeX: Automated Nicotine Tapering Device
 Ian Zentner
Justin Leith
Malik Kelly
 Jiaming Xu design_document1.pdf
design_document2.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
final_paper4.pdf
proposal1.pdf
video
 FadeX
**Team Members:**

* Malik Kelly (mkelly61)
* Justin Leith (jleit3)
* Ian Zentner (iwz2)

**Problem:**
Electronic cigarettes were originally marketed as cessation tools, yet they have become a primary source of addiction. Current cessation methods like gum or patches fail to address the "oral fixation" habit, leading to high relapse rates. Alternatively, "manual tapering" (buying bottles with progressively lower nicotine) is logistically difficult and prone to user error; users often relapse when they cannot find the specific lower concentration they need or struggle with the "cold turkey" steps between available concentrations (e.g., jumping from 5% down to 3%). There is currently no device that automates the tapering process while maintaining the user's behavioral routine.

**Solution:**
FadeX is a Bluetooth-enabled vaporization device that automates nicotine reduction. Unlike standard devices, FadeX utilizes a dual-reservoir system: one pod containing high-concentration nicotine and another containing zero-nicotine dilutant.
The device features an active mixing system using micro-peristaltic pumps driven by an ESP32 microcontroller. Based on a schedule set in the companion mobile app, the device calculates and delivers a specific ratio of liquids to the heating element in real-time. This allows for a continuous reduction in nicotine that is harder for the user to perceive (e.g., 5.0% to 4.9% to 4.8%) rather than distinct steps. The system includes pod authentication to ensure safe liquid usage and strict software fail-safes to limit dosage per hour. It would also implement safety protocols in regards to temperature, and have a charge-capability similar to that of current e-cigarettes.

**Solution Components:**

**Subsystem 1: Power & Energy Management**

* **Goal:** Get power in safely, regulate it, and budget it.
* **Power Source:** Samsung SDI INR18650-20S (1-cell Li-ion).
* **Charging:** TP5100 charging module. Premade circuit that powers Microcontroller.
* **User Wake/Enable:** Button to toggle vape back on after idle using watchdog timer.
* **Status/Low-Power Feedback:** RGB LEDs (Battery Low, Puffs Remaining, Error).

**Subsystem 2: Fluid, Mixture, and Sensing (The “Process Plant”)**

* **Goal:** Move liquid, know what’s happening, and control the blend.
* **Liquid Transport:** The Bartels Pump | BP7 × 2. Used to extract liquid from capsules and move into the central chamber to be atomized; isolates the liquid from mechanical parts.
* **Inhalation Detection:** BMP280 barometric pressure sensor or differential pressure sensor for airflow/puff detection.
* **Pump Drive / Ratio Control:** Dual H-Bridge driver (L9110S) used with PWM control to set relative pump rate.

**Subsystem 3: Thermal & Aerosol Generation**

* **Goal:** Turn the commanded dose into vapor consistently and safely.
* **Atomizer:** Standard resistance coil (Kanthal A1, ~1.0 Ω) wrapped in organic cotton.
* **Coil Switching/Drive:** N-channel MOSFET (IRLB3034) to fire the coil.
* **Overheat Protection:** NTC thermistor near coil/atomizer to monitor temperature and prevent overheating.

**Subsystem 4: Tapering Control, Display, and Connectivity Unit**

* **Central Control & Safety Logic:** Handles system state, permissions, and interlocks.
* **Microcontroller:** ESP32 (Wi-Fi/BLE for app connectivity).
* **Waveshare 2inch LCD Display Module:** To display analytics and options to user
* **Buttons:** user control of display and microcontroller logic

**Criterion For Success:**

* **Mixing Accuracy:** The device must produce a target nicotine concentration with a margin of error less than ±20%. 
* **Autonomous Tapering:** The system must successfully alter the concentration of nicotine over a specified amount of time, and use smaller or larger increments of stepping down based on the user’s settings (starting concentration value, time period of cessation) over a simulated timeframe without user intervention.
* **Safety & Limits:** The firmware must enforce a "lockout" if the user exceeds a set nicotine limit (e.g., >2mg in 1 hour) or if the coil temperature exceeds safe limits (>250°C).
* **Pod Security:** The device must refuse to fire if the pods are swapped (e.g., Nicotine pod inserted into the Dilutant slot) or if an unauthorized pod is detected.
* **Power conservation:** despite using power in more ways than the usual e-cigarette, the device should last for around 100 puffs, aiming for close to a full day on one charge.

Healthy Chair

Ryan Chen, Alan Tokarsky, Tod Wang

Healthy Chair

Featured Project

Team Members:

- Wang Qiuyu (qiuyuw2)

- Ryan Chen (ryanc6)

- Alan Torkarsky(alanmt2)

## Problem

The majority of the population sits for most of the day, whether it’s students doing homework or

employees working at a desk. In particular, during the Covid era where many people are either

working at home or quarantining for long periods of time, they tend to work out less and sit

longer, making it more likely for people to result in obesity, hemorrhoids, and even heart

diseases. In addition, sitting too long is detrimental to one’s bottom and urinary tract, and can

result in urinary urgency, and poor sitting posture can lead to reduced blood circulation, joint

and muscle pain, and other health-related issues.

## Solution

Our team is proposing a project to develop a healthy chair that aims at addressing the problems

mentioned above by reminding people if they have been sitting for too long, using a fan to cool

off the chair, and making people aware of their unhealthy leaning posture.

1. It uses thin film pressure sensors under the chair’s seat to detect the presence of a user,

and pressure sensors on the chair’s back to detect the leaning posture of the user.

2. It uses a temperature sensor under the chair’s seat, and if the seat’s temperature goes

beyond a set temperature threshold, a fan below will be turned on by the microcontroller.

3. It utilizes an LCD display with programmable user interface. The user is able to input the

duration of time the chair will alert the user.

4. It uses a voice module to remind the user if he or she has been sitting for too long. The

sitting time is inputted by the user and tracked by the microcontroller.

5. Utilize only a voice chip instead of the existing speech module to construct our own

voice module.

6. The "smart" chair is able to analyze the situation that the chair surface temperature

exceeds a certain temperature within 24 hours and warns the user about it.

## Solution Components

## Signal Acquisition Subsystem

The signal acquisition subsystem is composed of multiple pressure sensors and a temperature

sensor. This subsystem provides all the input signals (pressure exerted on the bottom and the

back of the chair, as well as the chair’s temperature) that go into the microcontroller. We will be

using RP-C18.3-ST thin film pressure sensors and MLX90614-DCC non-contact IR temperature

sensor.

## Microcontroller Subsystem

In order to achieve seamless data transfer and have enough IO for all the sensors we will use

two ATMEGA88A-PU microcontrollers. One microcontroller is used to take the inputs and

serves as the master, and the second one controls the outputs and acts as the slave. We will

use I2C communication to let the two microcontrollers talk to each other. The microcontrollers

will also be programmed with the ch340g usb to ttl converter. They will be programmed outside

the board and placed into it to avoid over cluttering the PCB with extra circuits.

The microcontroller will be in charge of processing the data that it receives from all input

sensors: pressure and temperature. Once it determines that there is a person sitting on it we

can use the internal clock to begin tracking how long they have been sitting. The clock will also

be used to determine if the person has stood up for a break. The microcontroller will also use

the readings from the temperature sensor to determine if the chair has been overheating to turn

on the fans if necessary. A speaker will tell the user to get up and stretch for a while when they

have been sitting for too long. We will use the speech module to create speech through the

speaker to inform the user of their lengthy sitting duration.

The microcontroller will also be able to relay data about the posture to the led screen for the

user. When it’s detected that the user is leaning against the chair improperly for too long from

the thin film pressure sensors on the chair back, we will flash the corresponding LEDs to notify

the user of their unhealthy sitting posture.

## Implementation Subsystem

The implementation subsystem can be further broken down into three modules: the fan module,

the speech module, and the LCD module. This subsystem includes all the outputs controlled by

the microcontroller. We will be using a MF40100V2-1000U-A99 fan for the fan module,

ISD4002-240PY voice record chip for the speech module, and Adafruit 1.54" 240x240 Wide

Angle TFT LCD Display with MicroSD - ST7789 LCD display for the OLED.

## Power Subsystem

The power subsystem converts 120V AC voltage to a lower DC voltage. Since most of the input

and output sensors, as well as the ATMEGA88A-PU microcontroller operate under a DC voltage

of around or less than 5V, we will be implementing the power subsystem that can switch

between a battery and normal power from the wall.

## Criteria for Success

-The thin film pressure sensors on the bottom of the chair are able to detect the pressure of a

human sitting on the chair

-The temperature sensor is able to detect an increase in temperature and turns the fan as

temperature goes beyond our set threshold temperature. After the temperature decreases

below the threshold, the fan is able to be turned off by the microcontroller

-The thin film pressure sensors on the back of the chair are able to detect unhealthy sitting

posture

-The outputs of the implementation subsystem including the speech, fan, and LCD modules are

able to function as described above and inform the user correctly

## Envision of Final Demo

Our final demo of the healthy chair project is an office chair with grids. The office chair’s back

holds several other pressure sensors to detect the person’s leaning posture. The pressure and

temperature sensors are located under the office chair. After receiving input time from the user,

the healthy chair is able to warn the user if he has been sitting for too long by alerting him from

the speech module. The fan below the chair’s seat is able to turn on after the chair seat’s

temperature goes beyond a set threshold temperature. The LCD displays which sensors are

activated and it also receives the user’s time input.

Project Videos