Published: June 24, 2008 10:41 pm            

Rose projects help museums, blind, card collectors

Students meet clients, companies, agencies expectations in designs

TERRE HAUTE — Inventiveness, technical expertise, professionalism and enthusiasm were qualities that helped Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology senior electrical and computer engineering students meet client expectations in a variety of design projects that were completed the 2007-08 academic year.

Devices that will help blind and visually impaired persons play cards, a personalized audio-visual tour guide system for Terre Haute’s Swope Art Museum, an electronic controller system for a proposed seashell discovery exhibit at the Terre Haute Children’s Museum and a glimpse into the future of sports card collecting were displayed during the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering’s Senior Symposium.

Professional clients, local companies and community service agencies were delighted and dazzled with the students’ final results.

“The students hit a home run,” stated Steve Mannheimer of the School of Informatics at Indiana University Purdue University-Indianapolis about the Nex-Gen Collector Cards project. “I’m always delighted and tremendously impressed with the quality of work completed by Rose-Hulman students.”

The project moves the classic American pastime of collecting sports cards and integrating it with modern personal computers. The system uses radio-frequency identification technology to allow a computer to recognize a nearby sports card. The software then opens media and statistics related to the specific cards from an online data base. A collector will also have a virtual, online collection of sports cards and could interact with other collectors and their virtual cards over the Internet.

“It’s the future of playing cards,” acknowledged team member Kenny Hurst, an electrical and mechanical engineering double major from Louisville, Ky.

The project consists of three parts: high-tech sports cards, the radio-frequency identification technology reader that interfaces with a computer and a custom-built CardConnect program which has an interactive, intuitive graphical user interface suitable for sports cards enthusiasts of all ages.

“Really, it's the best of both worlds — the conventional sports card and online technology," states Alex Clerc, an electrical engineering major from Columbus, Ind. “The project allows sports collectors to enjoy a virtual experience while also being able to swap cards.”

Other team members included computer engineering majors David Berdy of Georgetown and Burke Davison of Little Rock, Ark. The team received the Best Presentation Award at the Senior Symposium.

Mannheimer, who has had Rose-Hulman students complete several projects, stated: “These have been such positive experiences that I keep coming back challenging the students to do more. The students surpass whatever bar I set as their goal. Personally, they keep me invigorated, refreshed and enthusiastic about the future.”

Another satisfied client was Bob French, exhibits coordinator for the Terre Haute Children’s Museum. A controlling mechanism was designed and constructed for a complex lighting system for a Seashell Discovery Exhibit, currently under development at the museum. The exhibit will consist of two walls with a touch screen interface between them. The interior faces of the walls each will have 25 display cases, and the exterior faces will be fashioned to look like a seashell decorated with rope lights. The controller will control all 60 lights independently or in pre-programmed patterns.

“The students’ work is one of the most complicated pieces of a complex exhibit puzzle,” French admitted. “It makes the vision come together.”

Working on the project were electrical engineering majors Casey Boley of Nashville, Ind., and Levin Browne of Silver Spring, Md., along with computer engineering majors Brian Green of North Royalton, Ohio, and Adam Helmerich of Huntingburg.

When there are no children inside the exhibit, the team’s controller will use pre-programmed moving patterns to attract children to the exhibit. These patterns will continue until a motion sensor indicates to the controller that a child has entered the exhibit. At this point, the controller is fully functional, able to control all 60 lights independently or in pre-programmed patterns. The motion sensor is also functional, successfully communicating with the controller when it is active.

A Card Reader for the Blind was adapted for students at the Indiana School for the Blind (Indianapolis). The device gives blind and visually impaired persons the ability to read playing cards for recreational and leisure activities. The person inserts the playing card into the device and within seconds can see an enlarged image of the card (for visually impaired) or receive an audio signal about the card’s value (for blind persons). The image recognition software runs on a computer using MATLAB developed code.

Members of the project development team were computer engineering majors Adam Effinger of Plainfield, Doug Howell of Crawfordsville and Ryan Pepmeier of Vincennes; and electrical engineering major Casey Boley of Nashville, Ind.

A Personalized Audio/Visual Tour was developed for Terre Haute’s Swope Art Museum. The handheld device uses programmable personal identification tags to provide audio and visual descriptions on paintings and other artworks throughout the exhibit area. The device could mean that staff no longer will have to give guided tours for individual or group museum visitors — saving valuable staff time. The identity tags can be changed to highlight future art exhibits. The system already has had successful trial tests at the museum.

Team members were electrical engineering majors Joseph Dunn of Indianapolis and Shawn Hunt of Arden, N.C., and computer engineering majors David Schamber of Lafayette and Kyle Vetters of Ponca City, Okla.

An embedded system security project for the Southwest Research Institute earned second place in the symposium’s Best Presentation Competition. Members of the team were computer engineering majors Caleb LeNoir of Bolivar, Tenn.; Wesley Lindauer of Dale; Terry Roberts of Pegilly, Minn.; and electrical engineering major Scott Russo of Robbinsville, N.J.

Earning third place for best presentation was a team that provided an upgrade for a Tenter 3 Slitter Instrumentation device at AET Films’ Terre Haute manufacturing plant. The team incorporated a suite of sensors to collect data for quantifying variations in force exerted by the contact roller during the product of films — improving performance and quality control. Members of the team were electrical engineering majors Cody Christian of Hartsburg, Ill.; Nathaniel Doy of Geneseo, Ill.; and Tim Hachfeld of Detroit Lakes, Minn.; and computer engineering major Chris Achard of Troy, Mich.

Other projects included a camera system that will allow Indiana State University students to view and learn from dissections in a Gross Anatomy Laboratory; a swimming aid device for blind or visually impaired persons; a preliminary model for NASA's Deep Space Network; an industrial wireless communications system; and a traffic lane change detector.

The Senior Symposium was coordinated by Mark Yoder with assistance from department chairman Fred Berry and professors Jim Baker, Bruce Black and Robert Throne. Sue Dayhuff, department secretary, assisted with symposium logistics.

        

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