Integrated Living 
Anthony Raines, Jasmine Brown, Drew Robinson, Justin Northrop

People who live in a house that far from their mailbox have trouble knowing when their mail has arrived. Also those who are elderly and have trouble moving around might harm themselves accidentally on their way to check their mail only to find that it has not arrived. It would be much simpler and safer if a system could be used that would notify the owner if he or she has mail. The system we have proposed is a simple addition to the mailbox that contains a few circuits. This addition would be shaped like a wedge so that the mail would fall onto it and tilt. Once the mail falls on the wedge, infrared sensors send a signal to the house via a RF module that turns on a light or buzzer that notifies the owner that they have mail. Two contact switches, three infrared sensors, 433 RF module, and two LEDs

Self-Leveling System for Trailers
Brady Bascle, Nicholas Beard, Colin Karamales, Lucas Oakley

RV camping often requires the leveling of a trailer system on a plot of land In most cases, this plot of land is not level and requires a process of cranking jacks to level out the system. Our project’s main purpose is to provide a system that controls automatic jack stands that will, in conjunction with an accelerometer, level the trailer. The trailer is equipped with four jack stands that are controlled by the motion of servos. When the accelerometer senses the surface is uneven, the Board of Education instructs the stands to level the system. When the accelerometer senses that the surface is finally even, the program is done. One Board of Education module with a BASIC Stamp 2 microcontroller, 2 dual-axis accelerometers, 4 flexi-force sensors

Beta Cruiser
Peyton Card, Stephen Mire, Tamara Herndon, Terence Young, Richard Sugg

Most of today’s cars and trucks come equipped with a cruise control feature. Sometimes we want to cruise on the highway but can’t because someone in front of us keeps moving too slow or stopping. Our concept utilizes ultrasonic waves to detect and maintain the distance between vehicles. Instead of maintaining a constant speed, our concept maintains a constant distance. The prototype is a RC car equipped with a PING))) sensor. The sensor sends out an ultrasonic pulse to detect and measure the distance between it and the vehicle ahead of it. You can set the distance you want to maintain. Based on that distance, a limited-rotation servo will adjust the throttle to make the car speed up or slow down, keeping up that distance. One Board of Education module with BASIC Stamp 2 micro-controller, one PING))) ultrasonic sensor, one limited-rotation servo, one RC car

Coin Bundle Vending Machine
Jacob Ambrose, Justin Bounds, Brad Anders, Kyle Williams

When purchasing items from a vending machine, it is often a hassle to put in coins one-by-one. Our design will allow for multiple coins to be inserted at one time, allowing for a much faster vend time. A small-hinged drawer will be implemented on to the vending machine that will lead down to an inclined slide. Before reaching the slide, the coins will pass through a funnel that vibrates and has a small slot ensuring that no coins are stacked upon another. The inclined slide with also be tilted slightly so the coins are all laying flat on one side. Once on the slide, the coins will pass over a series of precisely cut slots. Each slot is cut according to the different coin diameters. The slots are in order according to size; smallest to largest. Once each coin falls into their appropriate hole, there will be a separate whisker implemented inside each slot to count the coins. The sorted coins will then go into vertical tubes slightly larger than the coin diameter. The coins will stack up at the bottom of the tube. When the final count of the coins is computed, it will be displayed on the LCD display outside the machine. If the count is more than the necessary value of the product, then the coins will be returned accordingly. There will be a small slot at the bottom of each tube with a servo wheel and motor places perpendicular to the coins. When the change needs to be returned the appropriate servos will be turned on to dispense the coins. Board of education with BASIC Stamp 2 microcontroller, four whisker circuits, four servos with wheels, one videogame controller vibrator

Remote Car Jack
George Baldwin, Frank Sebring, Ethan Bryan, and Bernard Cazenave

Changing a flat tire on your automobile can be very annoying especially in bad weather or when you have a physical handicap. Because of the hardships this chore causes on people we plan to develop a device that can help make performing this task easier. Our project will implement a bottle jack that remotely lifts the automobile for the user. To make this device we will use a radio frequency transmitter for easy push of a button operation, accelerometer for leveling control, Emic Text-to-Speech SIP Module(Female) for voice prompts, and a Hall effect sensor for easy locating of the proper lift point. Emic text-to-speech SIP module (Female), Hall effect sensor, radio frequency transmitter, accelerometer, electric motor, and electric drill motor

Modernized Home Security System
Matthew D. Elliott, Oliver S. Neal, Chris A. Clark

The majority of Americans have a home security system, and many of them have experienced complications from it at the most inopportune times. Therefore, we are creating a prototype of a home security system that calls all residences of the intruder to prevent false police calls and to prevent families from paying service fees. The person entering the home will be identified by RFID tag, weight, and height. Two Board of Education modules with a Basic stamp micro-controller, two piezo vibra tabs, two RFID tags, a RFID module, a touch sensor, IR sensors, an LED, and a piezo speaker

Smart Backpack
Wesley Henderson, Josh Slocum

Often times, when going from place to place, students leave things lying around. The concept of our project is to design a backpack that will help the wearer keep track of his/ her stuff. Using an RFID reader located conveniently in a small pocket of the backpack, the student will check their items in and out of the backpack. An LCD screen on the backpack will display the status of the items in the backpack (either IN or OUT). Using an accelerometer, the backpack will be able to tell if the user is leaving the area and will notify the user if there are any items that aren’t checked back in to the backpack. One Board of education module with Basic Stamp 2 micro-controller, one RFID reader module, two 50mm round tags, one 4x20 LCD screen

Industrial Safety Crosswalk
Chris Warshaw, Jake Carpenter, Andrew Jones, Clint Beaird

In many plants and mills around the world, workers frequently have to cross high traffic areas at the risk of being hit by an unaware truck driver. Many of these crosswalks, though clearly marked, are in dark areas where workers are entering and leaving warehouses, making it very difficult for the drivers to see them and safely stop. A motion senor mounted in the ground or under a stair case would detect the person approaching the crosswalk and engage a flashing light on a sign on the road, alerting the driver. This application could be paired with RFID sensors to read which, if any, trucks fail to yield to the light. This could also be applied where forklifts or other heavy machinery cross to speed up productivity and eliminate the operators from having to wait on trucks to cross. Two Board of Education modules with Basic Stamp 2 micro-controllers, two RFID card readers and round 50mm tags, 4 PIR motion sensors

Electronically Assisted Trailer Hitching
Rachel Lee, Destanee Hughes, Hillary Garner, M'Liss Jeansonne

Most people encounter problems when hitching a trailer to a vehicle. Some common problems that people encounter are having trouble lining up the ball and hitch, needing a partner to give directions, or even hitting the trailer with the vehicle's bumper. Our concept would use IR pairs to detect when the ball and hitch are aligned. It would also implement a speaker to notify the driver when the components are aligned. Board of Education module with 1 micro-controller, IR pairs, speaker

SPOTBOT
Colin Hosli, David Richard, Mary Ann Vu, Mark McKee

For a single person going to the gym, finding a spot, keeping track of reps, etc. is quite a difficult task. While having extreme amounts of weight suspended above you, it’s hard to concentrate on your target
number of reps, the actual number you’re on, and what set you are performing. Additionally, it’s difficult to consistently find another person to spot you. This can sometimes limit your workout schedule because you have to match someone else's schedule or, if you can't find a spot, it limits the amount of weight you can safely workout with. Our idea to solve this dilemma is to provide the consumer with an interactive automatic spot/rep counting system. We utilize an RFID sensor to recognize the user via a personalized 50mm round tag and after a few preliminary numbers are entered, we will then use an IR sensor to count the reps of the machine and to recognize if the user needs help raising the weights off of him/her. To raise the weights a power window motor will be engaged on each side on an individual track to help him/her. The weight will not be lifted on its own, the servo will provide a small amount of help, say 50 lbs, just enough to get the bar up. Four IR sensors, 1 RFID module Reader, 3 - 50 mm round tags, 2 - 12 volt, 3 amp power window lift motors on pulley system

Escalator
Zach Crooks, Josh Bedgood, Will Hall

For nearly 150 years the escalator has been unchanged, first invented by
Nathan Ames and later patented by Jesse Reno in 1892. The escalator’s wooden design is much the same. A series of steps aligned on a track that rotates using a motor. With technology where it is today, it seems as though the escalator is behind the times. A constantly running energy hogs, escalators of today are unsafe and inefficient. We have implemented changes to better serve today’s society. The escalator will no longer run constantly with the exception of rush hour. A sensor at the bottom/top of the escalator will activate it similar to the automatic doors of compartment stores. Also, the steps are sharp and dangerous for children. With our design children will have difficulty playing on the escalator because it will not be in continuous rotation. Not only will this save stores money, but it will lessen the impression on the world’s power consumption. Board of Education module with BASIC Stamp 2 micro-controllers, 1 flexi-force pressure sensor, 12V DC motor

Wallet protection
Anil Patel and Sajin Killa

Wallets are the most important things for every individual. They are required to store money, credit cards as well as identification cards for an individual. It is found that many people suffer from pick pocketing and hence lose considerable amount of money along with several important documents. Our concept utilizes touch sensor built over the board of education, which senses any external touch on it and creates certain amount of sound through a buzzer in order to notify the person. The wallet is surrounded over by thin aluminum foil, which acts as a conductor and is connected along with the circuit of the sensor. One Board of Education modules with BASIC Stamp 2 micro-controllers, one QT113ıD touch sensor, a 10 nF capacitor