Spring 2007 Projects

The last half of Microcontroller Systems Lab, five weeks, is devoted to an individual project of the student's choosing and design. The only requirements are that it be stand-alone (code in EEPROM), have both an input and output device, and involve hardware beyond that which is on the DRAGON12 board used in the class.

Other year's projects for Winter 2014 are here, Winter 2013 are here,Winter 2012 are here, Winter 2011 are here, Winter 2010 are here, Spring 2009 are here, Spring 2008 are here, Spring 2006 are here, Spring 2005 are here, and those for Spring 2004 are here.

Here are the projects in the (arbitrary) order they were presented.



Motorized Alarm Clock by David Allen.

"The main purpose for this project was to build an alarm clock, but not just an ordinary alarm clock. This alarm clock was to be designed such that when the alarm actually goes off, the entire unit begins to move away from the user. Not only will the alarm clock unit move away while sounding, but the user will have to be alert enough to enter a password into the keypad attached to the alarm clock to de-activate the motor and sounding alarm. Thus with this design the user will surely have to be alert enough to be able to remember the password, or wait long enough through the alarm sound to be alert and upset enough to shut the unit off. This would prove a useful device provided there was a person who had a hard time getting up and starting their day."


FPGA and Microcontroller Oscilloscope by Daniel Loranger

"The objective for this project was to develop an oscilloscope using FPGA and microcontroller technology. The primary function for the FPGA is to generate and display video signals corresponding to data acquired through the microcontroller's Analog to Digital COnverters. The signals included in this data array include the desired signal, vertical offset, trigger level, phase shift, display markers 1 & 2, sampling frequency, and all power supply lines, and a status bit fore each of the supply values for display purposes."

Daniel intends to continue with this project for his Senior Project next year.


Design, Development, and Implementation of a Microcontroller Based Electronic Barometer by David E. Davis

"For this project a barometric pressure sensor made by Freescale Corporation is interfaced to the Dragon12 board's 68HCS12 microcontroller to create an electronic barometer. A special low noise and drift Analog Scaling and Offset Circuit conditions the sensor voltage and a DAC offset control voltage so that the microcontroller's Analog-to-Digital Converter can read a normal barometer pressure range from 31.58 to 27.32 inches Hg across the ATD’s 0 to 5V input range. Noise effects are minimized with power supply decoupling and low pass filters on the sensor and DAC outputs so that the least significant digit of the barometer readout is stable in its display. An SCI port permits polling of barometer readings from a terminal. Decrement and increment keys control the output voltage of the DAC through an SPI port so that the barometer may be adjusted to local pressure conditions."

(Sorry about the poor quality portait, David.)
Digital Thermometer by Corneliu Boghean

"The digital thermometer consists of a National Semiconductor LM34 temperature sensor connected to an analog port pin on the microcontroller. The output of the temperature sensor is an analog voltage proportional to the temperature, which is read by the microcontroller and converted to a digital format and displayed on the on-board LCD."

(It appears that I forgot to take the portrait shot.)



Using the 68HCS12 Microcontroller Dragon-12 Board in Making Bear by Julia Elligsen

"This project is designed for using in beer making. Using temperature sensor, we read temperature of heating beer, and when boiling beer reaches 200 degrees Fahrenheit, switches on the pump. The Microcontroller also outputs messages BEER and 200 on four 7-segment LED display when the beer is boiling, or the message '----' if beer hasn't reached its boiling point yet."


Infrared Tracking System by Davis Noblin

"Basically this project consists of a sensor array that is mounted onto a stepper motor. The two photo transistors in this array change the amount of voltage over the resistor connected to their emitters. The voltage drop is converted to a digital signal by the ADC. The signals are then compared to each other. Once the signals are compared the microcontroller will either send a 1 or a 0 to pin 7 of the EDE1200 controlling the direction of the stepper motor. Thus the motor will then turn the sensor array in the direction of the IR source. Initially the motor will start scanning right until the signal level on the left sensor is greater."