Purdue ECE Senior Design Semester Report
Course Number and Title
Semester / Year
Advisors
Team Number
Project Title
ECE 477 Digital Systems Senior Design Project
Fall 2004
Prof. Meyer and Prof. Johnson
1
Infrared Tracking Camera Platform
Senior Design Students – Team Composition
Area(s) of Expertise
Name
Major
Utilized in Project
Martin Roeder
CmpE
Software Design
David Recktenwald
CmpE
Hardware Design
Ananth Mohan
CmpE
Software Design
Mirko Acamovich
CmpE
Hardware Design
Expected
Graduation Date
12/19/04
12/19/04
12/19/04
05/04
Project Description: Provide a brief (one or two page) technical description of the
design project, as outlined below:
(a) Summary of the project, including customer, purpose, specifications, and a
summary of the approach.
Our project was an infrared tracking camera platform. The platform has an NTSC
feed camera mounted to the top which is sampled by an image grabber. As the images
are sampled, the processor detects differences in the images and adjusts the platform
to re-center upon them via servo motors. The unit is able to send IR start/stop record
signals to a VCR to save footage of movement. The camera would be useful in medium
level security applications to monitor a small room and would be reasonably priced;
therefore it would be suitable for home usage. All video connections have RCA
connectors and the product is easy to interface with most TVs and VCRs.
(b) Description of how the project built upon the knowledge and skills acquired in earlier
ECE coursework.
The product we designed this semester did an excellent job in incorporating almost
all of the various skills we have learned in the ECE field over the past few years. The
microprocessor was programmed in the Dynamic C language, utilizing the C
programming knowledge gained in several courses such as 264 and 368. For circuits
such as our power supply, we used the electrical engineering knowledge gained in our
core curriculum like 201, 202, and 255. We were able to use Interrupts and I/O for the
microprocessor with our skills from the digital classes we have taken such as 362 and
270. By the time our project was finished we had pooled all these skills and knowledge
together and were successful in accomplishing all of our goals for the semester.
(c) Description of what new technical knowledge and skills, if any, were acquired in
doing the project.
The new technical knowledge and skills acquired during the design of this project
dealt mainly with the printed circuit board and its population. As a team we learned how
to master the OrCad software tools and create a unique PCB. Everyone in our group
was relatively new to soldering at the beginning of the semester, but now we can call
ourselves pros. With the constant changing of parts in our power supply, soldering and
desoldering became routine.
(d) Description of how the engineering design process was incorporated into the
project. Reference must be made to the following fundamental steps of the design
process: establishment of objectives and criteria, analysis, synthesis, construction,
testing, and evaluation.
From the beginning of the semester, the progression of our project followed a strict
design process. The majority of this process was documented by various reports and
presentations. An initial project proposal was submitted at the beginning of the semester
and was revised into a final proposal which stated specific design goals we were out to
achieve. Numerous parts were analyzed for the incorporation into our project and the
most fitting parts were ordered and prototyped. A midterm design presentation was
given to allow our peers to evaluate our design and constructively criticize some of the
design choices we had made. We gained valuable insight from this presentation and
were able to work out any major design flaws. The project was then constructed
modularly with extensive testing of each block. After all of the individual blocks were
complete the final product was constructed by joining all blocks. More testing and
tweaking were done on the final product until acceptable results were obtained. A final
report was given to evaluate the semesters work on the project and gain feedback on
the design. After giving the final presentation successfully a final report was produced
documenting the entire design process that took place.
(e) Summary of how realistic design constraints were incorporated into the project
(consideration of most of the following is required: economic, environmental, ethical,
health & safety, social, political, sustainability, and manufacturability constraints).
As we designed our project, many different constraints were taken into account. We
needed to design our camera mount to be small and concealable for security
applications. The actual circuitry for the product is all stored in a box separate from the
mount. We needed to keep costs down as well, not only for ourselves as students, but
from a consumer point of view. The camera mount is designed to be used in the home;
therefore the average home must be able to afford it for it to be a success.
We completed many different reports that analyzed the safety of our project as
well as its impact on the environment. The product is very safe to the user, posing no
risk of injury at all. The product is also friendly to the environment. The power consumed
by the product is relatively low, and it doesn’t emit any harmful substances or radiation.
The product’s reliability was also analyzed, and it appears to be very durable. The
component most likely to fail in our product are the servo motors, but with an average
life span of about 13 years we can rest assured that the consumer will get their money’s
worth.
When all of the constraints are taken into account it appears that our project was
a success. We analyzed what our product had to do and built it in such a way that there
were no negative side effects.
(f) Description of the multidisciplinary nature of the project.
While our project was for Computer Engineering Senior Design, we used skills from
many different disciplines of study. The camera mount was a perfect example of using
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mechanical engineering and design. The mount had to be designed to have a full range
of motion and yet be sturdy enough to support the camera. The power supply design
and build utilized many Electrical Engineering concepts. Communication skills were
essential to the construction of our project. Team members had to effectively
communicate with each other to ensure that the design would be a success. Being able
to effectively give presentations gave us the ability to demonstrate our project, as well
as receive feedback that would become useful in the future.
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