SCINTILLA
We have designed a novel compact contactless medical imaging device that is capable of imaging within the human body. The concept takes advantage of recent technological advances that dramatically reduce the cost, and expand accessibility of a fundamental medical diagnostic tool.
HYBRID MUSCLE CAR ELSD
The University of Waterloo’s Alternative Fuel Team (UWAFT) is currently taking part in the EcoCar3 Competition sponsored by the U.S. DOE and GM. Teams have been challenged to redesign a 2016 Chevrolet Camaro to reduce its environmental impact, while maintaining the muscle and performance expected from this classic American muscle car. To assist with this goal, our team will be designing and integrating an Electronic Limited Slip Differential (eLSD) into the vehicle. This component includes programming torque vectoring vehicle dynamic equations into the eLSD, along with designing and integrating the interfacing mechanical components such as half shafts and the drive shaft.
Group members: Charlie Liu , Hamoon Parsi, Abhishek Derek Ellie, Andy Cao
SPIRAL
Spiral is a fully automated football training system that allows receivers to practice route running without the need for another player or coach to throw them the ball. Spiral tracks the position of the receiver and automatically launches the football according to the selected route. Tracking is achieved with a combination of monocular computer vision with a single laser distance sensor, and the football is thrown from an existing football throwing machine integrated into a custom mechanical panning system. Spiral will increase the efficiency of practice, reduce excessive stress on quarterbacks and allow receivers to practice on their own time with high quality, consistent throws for their desired routes.
Group members: Felicity Yang, Terry Jiang, Yu Mei, Dan Gilpin
CERBERUS
Cerberus is a six-axis controller similar to a mouse that can control rotational axes as well as vertical movement in addition to the horizontal planar movement that consumers are familiar with. Cerberus allows for both free movement and a return to centre mode of operation like a joystick. Cerberus is a very versatile controller, appropriate for machine technicians, robotic hobbyists, or gamers.
Group members: Sean Vanderheyden, Miguel De Arcos, Nikhil Malhotra, Wilson Wai
NUNI
After a knee replacement surgery, patients are often required to undergo a lengthy rehabilitation process. A similar process is also required for athletes who suffer knee related injuries, such as ACL injuries. During this process, patients are required to perform a series of exercises to slowly regain their strength and mobility. However, physiotherapists do not have enough time to supervise the patients through their entire rehabilitation period due to the high number of patients. As a result, patients often perform their recovery exercises incorrectly, resulting in a delayed recovery process. We strive to address this need in the field of physical medicine and rehabilitation and facilitate and accelerate the rehabilitation process of patients. We are Nuni.
Group members: David Juny Yoon, Jisoo Namgung, Bryan Ling, Nan Zhang, Brian Sangryul Jeong
THE GARDEN GUARD
One of the most frustrating and disheartening things that can happen to a gardener is having their garden destroyed by animals. The Garden Guard is an automated animal deterrent system that will keep your garden safe through the use of water, sound, light and motion deterrents.
Group members: Mitchell Hatfield, Shawn Earvin Martinez, Suril Shah, Stephen Carmichael
SHOVIT
Living in Canada and experiencing its winters firsthand, we here at SnowPaw have decided to take the manual out of the manual labour that is shoveling. Shovit, our autonomous snow removal solution will clear up your driveways and parking lots, so you can spend your time actually enjoying winter.
Group members: Keith Tsang, Varun Jacob-John, Jeff Liu, Taseen Jawad
LOOKOUT
The new attainable solution to bike security that focuses on theft recovery instead of theft prevention. Lookout uses its GSM capabilities to send a text message notification to the user upon the detection of a theft, so the user can take immediate action. It then provides subsequent GPS tracking information on the whereabouts of your bike in case the thief cannot be stopped right away. It’s designed to camouflage as an ordinary water-bottle holder that retrofits onto almost any bike, so a thief won’t know of your remote presence. And this is all wrapped up within a tamper-resistant housing that is wary of attacks on the device itself.
Group members: Nikhil Sulay, Benjamin Eckert, Kyle Yu, Joshua Furtado, Kris Misquitta
HARVEST - INTELLIGENT GARDEN ASSISTANT
There exists a need for people to have convenient and affordable access to organic, locally grown produce. Our approach encourages individuals to leverage their backyard space to grow their own edibles. HARVEST helps facilitate this by automating the tedious and time-consuming tasks of regulating water and light provisions, which help reduce user burden and fosters more favorable growing conditions.
Group members: Deborah Pais, Eric Paul, Kevin Westermann
FLIPIT
Flipit is an Automated Page Turner, which assists various users with reading books. This innovative product assists people who are disabled or bedridden with the task of reading, and enables them to turn the pages of a book with a simple button tap. Flipit can also be used to help musicians with music sheet page turning, prompted by a simple step on a pedal. If you are a fan of reading or music, come on and check out our prototype at the Mechatronics Symposium.
Group members: George Tzoganakis, Keegan Fernandes, Weida Li, Krishal Parikh
POWERFLO
Three avid campers merging Mechatronics Engineering and The Wilderness
60% of electricity in Canada is generated using hydroelectric turbines. PowerFlo aims to harness this technology and put it in the palm of your hand.
Have you ever been backwoods canoe camping and have lost all charge in your communications devices in an emergency?
Don’t want to carry heavy battery packs, nor do you want to rely on the inconsistent solar powered charging solutions available today?
What if there was a device that would keep your devices charged by simply canoeing as you normally would?
PowerFlo aims to solve these problems in a reliable, compact, and portable device.
Group members: Colin MacPherson, Ben Morcos, Quinn Camlis
BACKTRACK
Filming a moving target using a handheld camera can be a challenging task. It requires the use of both hands to constantly stabilize and adjust the camera's direction, preventing the user from participating in the activity. backTRACK is a hands-free wearable target-tracking camera that aims to relieve the user from concentrating on the filming so they can be more immersed in their environment.
Group members: Jack Shillinger, Dan Murphy, Wanming Zhang, Aditya Joshi
QDOT
Qdot introduces a completely revolutionary soldering solution for all. Current soldering methods represent using multiple apparatus to get the job done but with Qdot, the solution is as simple as it sounds. With the press of a button on the iron itself, molten solder is placed at the iron tip for soldering which gives the user the privilege of using the tool with just one hand. And not to forget, the aesthetically pleasing design. The solution further incorporates a built-in fume extraction mechanism with precise control of the iron tip temperature. We present Qdot, to be as simple as connecting dots.
Group members: Navpreet Singh Kaloty, Bilal Sabowala, Ridam Kataria, Ryan Habib, Ehsan Sabri Islam, Apooruva Shukla
CARRYIT CART: INTELLIGENT INDUSTRIAL AGV
CarryIt Cart is an autonomous robotic solution for material transportation, assembly line tasks to remove overhead labour and minimize safety risks from manufacturing process. CarryIt Cart can be programmed to travel on multiple paths within the factory. Therefore, it provides flexibility to meet changing material handling requirements as compared to fixed path following robots that require pre-configuration of a path. CarryIt Cart requires a ‘Training’ mode in which it is maneuvered manually to gather data about the path and the environment. In the ‘Operational’ mode, it intelligently uses that data to travel on the desirable path.
Group members: Michael Werezak, Akhil Suri, Anchit Suri, Bhawani Goyal, Shreyans Jain
BUCKLE
As home automation and the rising trend of connected devices becomes more ubiquitous, there is a significantly increased number of digital items to control.
A minimally intrusive input device, taking the form of a modified belt, has been designed to provide a discreet, simple way for users to control their digital world. Using capacitive touch sensing, the user will be able to perform gestures on the surface of their belt to interact with their surrounding Bluetooth-enabled devices. Through construction of initial prototypes, the results of this technology’s implementation are looking highly promising.
Group members: Sami Rahman, Andersen Yang, Yibo (David) Liu, Supreet Singh
RIDEON
The proposed design is a motorized tracked vehicle. It consists of a rectangular chassis structure which is very compact as the continuous tracks and electronics are all housed under the rider. The use of tracks would allow the vehicle to traverse moderately rough terrain such as sand, gravel or grass and provide better traction compare to the existing solutions. The use of force sensors allows for intuitive control.
Group members: Jonathan Tham, Terry Ho, Terry Yang, Avery Ma, Chris Song
EMBER
Ember is an autonomous robot capable of maneuvering, detecting and responding to household fires. It is the zero-th responder with the goal to increase safety and reduce fire damage.
Group members: Kishan Shah, Jaskirt Pooni, Prathik Muppidi, Sam Monga
AIMS
Inventory count can be a tedious process and can often lead to erroneous tallies. AIMS (Automated Inventory Management System) is a system that is designed to replace this process. By acquiring dimensions, colour and object material information, AIMS is able to identify objects on a conveyor and provide an accurate count.
Group members: Siddhant Badam, Nikesh Muthukrishnan, Aniqah Baksh, Richard Bustos
RETAILXP
RetailXP is developing a next generation brick-and-mortar shoe shopping experience to not only increase profits for the retailer but also to make a significant leap in the shopping experience for the customer. The modern shoe store is augmented with tablets on the main floor for customers to easily request shoes to try. In the back room, an inventory management robot automatically retrieves shoes for customers. This system aims to make better use of real estate, lower operating costs, increase sales, improve customer experience, and automate redundant tasks for more efficient employee allocation.
Group members: Daniel Mok, Daniel Choi, Vivek Saini, Jeongwon Choi.
WATERLOO HYBRID-ELECTRIC
Development of a performance electric powertrain for a Formula SAE electric race car.
Group members: Kelvin Tse, Rob Waugh, Jake Kononiuk
JEFF
In a world where time is money, we are seeking to develop a solution to allow users to get the great benefits of a good breakfast, without the hassle and effort of needing to cook one, themselves. The food automation market has been largely untapped, especially in the home and consumer markets, and we feel this is an excellent product for busy professionals. Jeff aims to cook a breakfast meal without the need for user interaction, so users can spend time doing the things they want.
Group members: Project and Electrical - Lead Jason Yee, Mechanical Lead - Sven Wehrmann, Business and Software Lead - Fraser Moore, Controls Lead - David Sami
VAMP
VAMP intends to replace electrical outlets with an integrated power monitoring and safety solution for homes and industries. It implements a data collection network to provide an enhanced user experience and empowers users with energy consciousness, saves them from wasting idle energy and gives control over areas of a building with smarter profiling and scheduling.
Group members: Alvee Alamgir, Chad Plesa-Naden, Kartthik Kumarasamy, Steven Jacob
TALON: VEHICLE-BASED AERIAL DELIVERY SYSTEM
Home delivery is a competitive market that is becoming increasingly popular. Delivery trucks are scattered within almost every region of the world, but with the rapidly increasing demand the only current option is to put more vehicles and people on the roads. Talon is a future delivery system designed to speed up, reduce costs, and safely get packages to customers. As opposed to flying from a warehouse for each delivery, Talon can make short flights and deliver a package from a pre-existing delivery trucks. Launching and returning to the vehicle autonomously, the end goal of our project is to improve the overall efficiency and autonomy of a delivery route.
Group members: Wesley Groom, Craig Vandenberg, Prajna Kandarpa, and Sebastian Mocny
POWERON
When you travel, you don't always have access to electricity. You may not have the time to wait at a charging station or perhaps your devices require a different voltage. Introducing the PowerON, a revolutionary suitcase that generates power as you travel. It provides convenient and clean energy to keep your devices charged wherever the world takes you.
Group members: Shivani Tyagi, Cindie Shanthakumaran, Jiwon Yang, Michael Filiti, Caitlin Vicary
ELEVEN:ELEVEN
One in fifty Americans is affected by some form of physical paralysis. In order to improve the quality of life for patients with afflictions such as hemiplegia post-stroke, eleven:eleven is developing Periphero - a non-invasive wearable device that reinstates real-time motor control of the upper limb. Compared to current solutions, this system does not use external mechanical methods of actuation. Instead, Periphero uses electrical stimulation of pre-existing muscles to elicit desired movements along with positional feedback. The product is seen as a stepping stone to be incorporated into a greater system involving more natural control of upper limb gestures outside of the peripheral nervous system.
Group members: Leia Shum, Genevieve Serafin, Li-Yen Yang, Farzad Niroui, Jakub Dworakowski
AIRSENSE
Cities are tasked with the responsibility of monitoring and analyzing the quality of the air that their citizens breathe. Consequently, collecting air quality data is imperative for the smart cities of the future to better predict and take preventative measures on potential incidents. Our group strives to provide an affordable and effective method for just this purpose. We have developed a platform that can be easily integrated into the urban infrastructure, providing real-time air quality data openly, and to everyone.
Group members: Vedant Chhaya, Bhaveya Dhall, Digvijay Makwana, Harsh Bhatt
PEROS
Peros is an electromechanical solution designed to address to the problem of medical non-adherence, specifically, incorrectly following prescription instructions. Using automation to reduce the amount of human error involved with sorting, counting, and remembering to take pills, we can significantly reduce the chances of non-compliance.
Group members: Martin Fleury, Ye Guan, Kody Orr, Andy Doan, Jonathan Morley
LYTMUS
Lytmus is a wearable device that aims to prevent the user from endangering themselves from alcohol related accidents by monitoring their blood alcohol concentration and providing specific feedback to keep their inebriation at safe levels.
Group members: Kyle-Hai Chau, Hank Shin, Redwan Ahsan, Benjamin Skikos, Yousef Sawires
MEDIUM INDOOR RESEARCH PLATFORM HEX (MIRPH)
The Medium Indoor Research Platform Hex (MIRPH) is an autonomy-ready, medium-duty indoor research platform designed for versatile application in research fields such as mapping and navigation, motion control, vision based motion planning, industrial automation, tele-robotics, inspection, and multi-robot systems. Although capable of carrying a payload of up to 20 kg, and accommodating a wide range of sensors and actuators, the MIRPH is sufficiently light and mobile for operation in an indoor environment, and designed to handle ramps, elevator gaps, and all other ADA-compliant indoor features. The MIRPH product is developed based on the primary design philosophy of creating easy and hassle-free user interactions, by allowing for predictable motion models and simple ROS integration. The product is also portable, intuitive, and customizable. MIRPH is intended to supply robotics researchers with an entry level option that offers the durability and versatility of a top of the line product.
Group members: Pierce McCloskey, Christopher Thompson Allyson Francis, Andrew Choi
AUTOMATIC COLLET CHANGER
While machining parts with a CNC mill, multiple tool changes are necessary. The Automatic Collet Changer is able to automate the process of manually changing the tools without the need of tool holders. Our design is able to save time for hobbyists and start-up businesses, while providing them with industry grade performance.
Group members: Chaitanya Dogra, Allie Fawcett, Christopher Cove
DEXASSIST
Long rehabilitation time and possible debilitating tendon adhesion is a growing concern in patients who have undergone hand surgery in the fast-paced modern world. To combat these issues, the deXassist device is proposed, which will manipulate the proximal interphalangeal and metacarpophalangeal joints of the patient’s fingers to ensure tendons are regularly in movement. Once the device is set-up for the patient, these exercises will require significantly less time and attention from the supervising physiotherapist. The device is actuated through the use of a Shape Memory Alloy (SMA) system, which change their shape and apply force when subjected to temperature changes.
Group members: Mandeep Gill, Blake Cross, Eric Brace, Dan Shaw, Mathew Mendelsohn, Pablo Vásquez, Jin-Beom Choi
WALL_E: THE GREEN ENERGY WALL
With an increasing demand for clean energy there is a great need for renewable energy enabling technology. Used electric vehicle batteries create an opportunity for use in Energy Storage Systems (ESS). Our FYDP demonstrates how an ESS can provide cost savings for home-owners/business by shifting electricity purchases to cheaper off-peak times. For utilities, our system can support renewable energy generation and regulate demand. Our project demonstrates the capacity and overall performance of re-purposed batteries in addition to the development of policy strategies for their use in Canada.
Group members: Julia Kavuma, Marwan Saadeldin, Andrew Andrade, Alen Daniel, Wajeeh Syed