2024 Systems Design Engineering Capstone Designs

Diagnosing cognitive disorders like Alzheimer's is challenging due to the absence of clear physiological symptoms. Existing diagnostics rely on subjective observations and self-reporting. Correlating the brain's physical degradation against cognitive disorders needs to be studied. SynapSync closes this gap. It synchronizes neuroimaging with cognitive test results, correlating brain activity with human behavior. This enables researchers to study cognition and the physiological aspects of cognitive disorders more effectively.

Ventech builds smart vents that enhance Heating Ventilation Air-Conditioning (HVAC) systems. The vents intelligently redirect airflow, ensuring even heating and cooling distribution in homes. Each vent is equipped with a miniature airflow harvester and indoor lighting-optimized solar panels, removing the need for battery replacements. An infrared temperature sensor eliminates the need for room-specific thermostats, reducing setup time and cost. The vents are wirelessly controlled through a simple web interface. This solution significantly decreases energy consumption, improves comfort, and reduces costs for homeowners.

Ocean Agriculture Robotics (OAR) is designing a semi-aquatic robot to harvest rice on an ocean floating farm designed by Alora. Ocean agriculture will minimize the need for freshwater and land to plant and harvest the world's most important crops such as rice. About 3.5 billion people around the world need rice. OAR is building and testing a prototype to verify the analogous system to the floating farm. Robotic traversal of a hexagonal grid is the primary focus of OAR.

Sick of food going bad in your fridge? Fridge Friends revolutionizes how household food inventory is managed. The tool uses computer vision to track the fridge's inventory, and uses gas sensors to alert users prior to food spoilage. These real-time insights are delivered to users via a mobile app. The goal of the project is to empower individuals to take control of their food consumption and reduce the environmental impact associated with wasted groceries.

Individuals with hearing loss often struggle to determine where a sound originated from, which can impact road safety and situational awareness. WHEREable is a wearable device that identifies sudden loud sounds (like a car horn or a siren), determines the origin of the sound, then alerts the user to its direction. It consists of a receiver worn on the head, and a band that can be worn on the arm/leg that is outfitted with small motors which vibrate to indicate the direction of sound.

In earthquake-prone regions, building structural failures often lead to people being trapped under rubble, complicating search and rescue efforts. This project aims to design a system for search-and-rescue teams to streamline the search processes of earthquake victims trapped under collapsed buildings, by allowing them to locate victims with higher confidence and communicate the location details. RubbleRescue is a sensor network system equipped with accelerometers, microphones, and speakers, that employs acoustic triangulation algorithms to swiftly locate survivors, providing real-time feedback for efficient operations.

Braille is a unique tool used by individuals who are visually impaired. Braille increases users' brain stimulation, improves understanding of grammar and spelling, and creates opportunities for employment and education. Only 10% of students who are visually impaired are learning braille, in part due to limited access to trained teaching staff. Braille Buddy is a tablet application powered by computer vision. It offers auditory reinforcement as students trace their fingers along a braille book, enabling independent learning anytime, anywhere.

AerialVision is a scoring solution for trampoline gymnastics. The judging tool automates manual and sensor-based scoring by applying computer vision techniques to videos of competition routines. The annotations of each scored component - execution, difficulty, time of flight, and horizontal displacement - is presented to provide accessible, specific, and unbiased athlete feedback aligning directly with International Federation of Gymnastics judging criteria. Without the constraints of installing sensors or requiring multiple officials, AerialVision lowers financial and material overhead for local competitions and daily training.

During a high-rise residential fire, firefighters have limited information about the situation until they arrive at the scene. Similarly, residents are often unaware of the severity of the fire and hazardous zones, putting them at risk. Flare is a proof-of-concept environmental sensing system designed to monitor and display fire progression information to both emergency response and residents during a fire event. Flare's network of sensors tracks key fire indicators, providing critical information for as long as possible in fire environments.

We are designing an ambient gait monitoring device and accompanying app to be used by older adults and their family members who seek to understand the older adult's evolving functional ability and wellbeing as they age while living independently. The device is placed on the floor and measures clinically relevant gait metrics through vibration data. This serves as a tool for older adults to track changes in their health while allowing their caregivers to know when to check up on them or get additional help.

ErgoGrip VR is a bimodal tabletop Oculus virtual reality controller tailored for Spatial.io applications - a collaborative virtual platform. ErgoGrip VR design is an ergonomic and user-friendly VR controller for elderly individuals experiencing limited finger mobility and muscle degradation. This two-module controller comprises a joystick for navigation within Spatial and a button module for left and right field-of-view rotation, as well as interactions such as waving in the VR application.

Octave, our digital piano practice assistant, is tailored for students aged 5-11 at Royal Conservatory of Music levels 1-3, addressing the common issue of ingrained errors due to repetitive, incorrect practice. This tool enables beginners to identify and correct their mistakes by providing personalized piano practice suggestions; increasing practice efficiency and teaching healthy practice habits.

Injuries to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in the knee pose challenges in rehabilitation attributed to underutilized or inadequate rehabilitation practices. PhysioPal is an affordable at-home monitoring tool that will allow patients and physiotherapists to actively track the progression and efficacy of ACL injury rehabilitation treatments. To achieve this, electromyography (EMG) sensors in combination with a local and web app are used to provide real-time biofeedback and intuitive data visualizations to permit quick access and quantifiable evaluation of performance and progress.

SafeCycling is designed to enhance cyclist safety. Equipped with a camera-based vehicle detection system, it operates by analyzing real-time data. When it identifies an approaching vehicle from the rear, SafeCycling triggers visual and haptic feedback mechanisms to notify the cyclist of potential danger. This device will give the cyclist a heightened awareness of one's surroundings.

Sports are essential for physical and cognitive development, yet concussions in contact sports pose serious health risks. Brain SafeSYDE is developing an athlete-worn device that collects vital data like acceleration and impact location. It alerts players, coaches, and parents to potential traumatic brain injuries, enabling prompt medical attention to reduce further harm and the risk of neurodegenerative diseases. The product features an IMU-integrated skull cap with pressure sensors for data collection and transmission and a dashboard to display the data.

SubwAI automates inventory management at Subway restaurants by utilizing weight sensing and computer vision technologies. The system detects the item and recognizes if a re-supply is needed.

On average, 12% of clothes in closets go unworn annually with a 60% increase in clothing purchases over 15 years, fueling environmental issues like greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution, and textile waste. Reflect is a clothing recognition system that captures a user's outfit with a camera mounted on a personal mirror and catalogs them in an app, creating a virtual wardrobe. The system tracks the usage frequency of each clothing item, highlighting the items that are less used to encourage responsible and sustainable consumer habits.

Cyanobacteria, or blue-green algae, can have the potential to produce cyanotoxins, posing a threat to drinking water safety. Traditional monitoring is often insufficient, as it relies on visual observation of surface scum. Algist uses distributed in-situ sensing, telemetry, and algorithmic change detection to map and characterize algae dynamics in a drinking water reservoir. Our real-time data collection and change detection sentinel system measures chlorophyll-a and phycocyanin, direct biomarkers of algae proliferation, to alert reservoir managers and researchers of high algae presence in an area.
 

Many of Canada's remote communities, burdened by the environmental impact and logistical difficulties of diesel generators, seek a shift to cleaner energy alternatives like nuclear power. However, the challenge lies in matching diesel's flexibility and economic viability.

SMRtGrid hopes to bridge this gap by introducing a controller to allow Small Modular Reactors, a cutting-edge nuclear technology, to more closely meet fluctuating energy demands. In addition, our modelling system simulates SMR integration with microgrids and showcases how this can be a feasible solution for remote communities.