Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
14 Bird-Watching Telescope with Real-Time Bird Identification
Haoxuan Du
Junhao Zhu
Tiancheng Lyu
Yuhao Wang
design_document1.pdf
design_document2.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
final_paper2.pdf
final_paper3.pdf
proposal1.pdf
Huan Hu
# **FEATURED PROJECT**

## **Bird-Watching Telescope with Real-Time Bird Identification**

### **PROBLEM:**

When observing wild birds at a distance with a handheld telescope, due to the agility of the birds, before one can carefully identify or record the characteristics of the birds (appearance and call), they often fly away, making it difficult to determine the species. A smart telescope is needed to greatly assist bird watchers, especially beginners, and provide real-time identification of birds.



### **SOLUTION OVERVIEW:**

The Bird-Watching Telescope is designed to help birdwatchers record the characteristics and identify the species of the bird immediately. The Bird-Watching Telescope integrates a camera, telescope, laser ranger, bird identification software on mobile phones developed by our team, and other functional circuits. Users can deploy the telescope wherever they want, and wait until a bird appears. After manual aiming and autofocus, the bird identification software will automatically identify the species of the bird.



### **SOLUTION COMPONENTS:**

#### **Telescope Modules :**

- The primary telescope able to tune the focus by hand, with space assigned for later electrical components beforehand.

#### **Recording, Transmission & Annotation Modules:**

- Real-time video recording through ocular lens, simple preprocessing to make it easier to transmit to mobile phone with Bluetooth.
- LCD part to play the result sent from mobile phone in the oscular lens.

#### **Identification Modules:**

- Bird identification program, including video preprocessing, visual classification, identification result annotation signals.

#### **Red-dot Focus Modules:**

- The mechanical structure that can adjust the lens spacing, and the red-dot device.
- Simple program to adjust the lens spacing with distance of the red-dot, which is put on the telescope.



### **CRITERION FOR SUCCESS:**

- Functionality: This smart telescope can record through ocular lens, transmit recordings to mobile phone to process the identification. Identification results will be displayed via LCD screen on viewfinder and saved on mobile phone for users' convenience. An automated red-dot focus system can fine-tune the focus itself.
- User experience: The user can obtain real-time information of bird species information while keep their eye on the telescope, regardless of their previous knowledge. They may also have the telescope self-finetune the focus onto birds using red-dot.
- Environmental parameter detection: The smart telescope can get the recording of the birds from the ocular lens. For the red-dot finetune function, it can also get the distance between the red-dot and itself.
- Processing stability: The identification processing part will be done on mobile phone offline to ensure speed, while the red-dot finetune will be just process and done on the telescope.
- Program Package Update: The update can be simply done on mobile phone, which is very flexible and convenient, ready for future update when there are better programs or more bird species.



### **DISTRIBUTION OF WORK:**

- ME STUDENT WANG YUHAO:

​ Model the machine housing for the telescope with lens. Design the mechanical structure that can adjust the lens spacing.

​ Manage the cooperation between software and hardware parts through the whole project from view of mechanical engineering.

- ME STUDENT LV TIANCHENG:

​ Model the machine housing for the telescope with lens, and assign the location for electrical components. Design the mechanical structure that can adjust the lens spacing.

​ Assist the parameter adjustment of hardware parts with software parts.

- ECE STUDENT ZHU JUNHAO:

​ Responsible for software part. Struct and code the programs, later adjust parameter in tests for bird identification program & Red-dot focus fine tuning program.

​ Solder the electrical circuits and assemble the physical product.

- ECE STUDENT DU HAOXUAN:

​ Mainly responsible for software part. Struct and code the bird identification program & Red-dot focus fine tuning program.

​ Manage the cooperation between software and hardware part through the whole project from view of computer engineering.

Control System and User Interface for Hydraulic Bike

Featured Project

Parker-Hannifin, a fluid power systems company, hosts an annual competition for the design of a chainless bicycle. A MechSE senior design team of mechanical engineers have created a hydraulic circuit with electromechanical valves, but need a control system, user interface, and electrical power for their system. The user would be able to choose between several operating modes (fluid paths), listed at the end.

My solution to this problem is a custom-designed control system and user interface. Based on sensor feedback and user inputs, the system would change operating modes (fluid paths). Additionally, the system could be improved to suggest the best operating mode by implementing a PI or PID controller. The system would not change modes without user interaction due to safety - previous years' bicycles have gone faster than 20mph.

Previous approaches to this problem have usually not included an electrical engineer. As a result, several teams have historically used commercially-available systems such as Parker's IQAN system (link below) or discrete logic due to a lack of technical knowledge (link below). Apart from these two examples, very little public documentation exists on the electrical control systems used by previous competitors, but I believe that designing a control system and user interface from scratch will be a unique and new approach to controlling the hydraulic system.

I am aiming for a 1-person team as there are 6 MechSE counterparts. I emailed Professor Carney on 10/3/14 and he thought the general concept was acceptable.

Operating modes, simplified:

Direct drive (rider's pedaling power goes directly to hydraulic motor)

Coasting (no power input, motor input and output "shorted")

Charge accumulators (store energy in expanding rubber balloons)

Discharge accumulators (use stored energy to supply power to motor)

Regenerative braking (use motor energy to charge accumulators)

Download Competition Specs: https://uofi.box.com/shared/static/gst4s78tcdmfnwpjmf9hkvuzlu8jf771.pdf

Team using IQAN system (top right corner): https://engineering.purdue.edu/ABE/InfoFor/CurrentStudents/SeniorProjects/2012/GeskeLamneckSparenbergEtAl

Team using discrete logic (page 19): http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/86206/ME450?sequence=1