3d Iris Modler

The 3D Iris Modeler is based on the problem of biometrics. A biometric is a biological measurement of a person’s physiological or behavioral traits. Some examples of commonly measured physiological traits are fingerprints and iris patterns. These measurements are used to uniquely identify humans.

Fingerprints are a well-known biometric and are commonly used in forensics through fingerprint dusting. However, fingerprints and handprints are susceptible to change as the human hand does grow and shrink as a person ages, gains or loses weight, etc. A more reliable biometric is iris recognition. Iris recognition has long term stability, is much more accurate, and is very accessible. From the first year of age until death, the iris of a human being remains stable. In terms of accuracy, the probability of two people having the same iris pattern is 1 in 10 to the power of 78. To put it into perspective, the total population of people to ever live is 10 to the power of 11. Iris images are much more accessible than fingerprints as they do not require the use of physical touch and are therefore much more hygienic and can be obtained from a distance.

Typically, iris recognition is performed with subjects staring into a camera and capturing an orthogonal iris image. This allows for maximum information of the iris as it is in full view. One challenge in iris recognition algorithm development is performing recognition for irises that are not orthogonal to the camera. Questions 4

arise such as, "Can we identify a person looking 40 degrees to the left or right if we possess an image of their iris at 0 degrees (orthogonal)?"

A major application for off axis recognition is for the identification of noncompliant subjects. For example, if at an airport a person refused to have their eyes photographed and did want not look into the iris recognition camera, their lack of cooperation would not prevent their identification. With off axis recognition, an image could be captured of the subject’s eyes. The subject could be identified regardless of what angle they are looking at in relation to the camera.

To better promote the research of off axis iris recognition, a robust and reliable data collection system must be developed. With this, images of the same eye from different angles may be utilized to create 3D models of irises.

 

Corbin Swagerty <corbinswagerty@gmail.com>

 All Terain Crawler

Currently, wheelchair bound individuals have limited mobility when it comes to outdoor

activities. A form of mobility independence in the outdoors comes from powered

scooters. However, these devices have very strict limitations and are not able to

overcome many (if any) obstacles. Powered scooters are also heavily reliant on a nearby

power supply to not strand the user. Due to issues such as these, the mobility of

wheelchair bound individuals is severely restricted. Hence, also restricting their freedom

to transverse and enjoy outdoor spots that non-mobility impaired individuals get the

pleasure to enjoy at leisure. To overcome this problem, the following preliminary design

of an All Terrain Crawler has been constructed to address limited outdoor mobility.

The designed system allows the user to independently, safely enter and operate at their

leisure without requiring additional assistance. The vehicle consists of a multitude of subassemblies

that are designed to protect the user while providing a quality experience in an

outdoor environment. The entire assembled system results in the user entering the system

through a powered lift chair which is then secured in place, the user then starts the

hydraulic power train, which drives the tread systems. This allows the user to actively

navigate and traverse, through the controller, terrain that was previously an obstacle.

When the user is finished using the system it can be shutoff and then lower the user

safely back to another mobility device.

In the design report, the preliminary design is outlined and explained in detail. Upon

acceptance of this design, the design team will actively pursue detailed design analysis

and completion of a working prototype.

Reiner, Braden W <breiner@mail.smu.edu>

Bomb Calorimeter

Energy content is a very important piece of information in planning and calculating costs, effects,

and how to account for those effects. One implication of energy content is caloric content which is

listed on the federally required Nutrition Facts factsheet for all prepared foods sold on the market

today. Energy content however cannot be directly measured like measurements such as length and

weight. By measuring changes in energy states, the energy content of a particular quantity of matter

can be determined. This procedure is an invaluable tool that has many practical applications beyond

that of food energy content. However, most people do not make the measurements themselves

because of cost or expense, and instead they rely on others to do it such as laboratory testing of

foodstuffs for nutritional content.

While calorie content measurements are not necessarily performed on an every-day basis, it is

important to understand how it is done. A device called a bomb calorimeter is one of the most

commonly used tools to measure changes in energy states, and therefore energy content of various

materials. In order to perform this calculation, the material in question is combusted in an oxygen

rich environment. The heat energy released by the combustion process is absorbed into another

substance that has well-studied material properties. The most common material used for energy

absorption in bomb calorimeters is water. Water is particularly useful because of its high specific

heat. It can absorb a high amount of energy without significantly changing the water’s temperature,

and therefore changing properties. Because the properties of water have been well studied and

documented to a high degree of precision, water is an excellent substance for reliable measurements

of energy content.

Because of the importance of energy and its implications to non-engineering roles such as business

and business administration, the Bobby B. Lyle School of Engineering at Southern Methodist

University has been preparing a course targeted at students with non-engineering majors that

introduces them to engineering concepts and applications. The purpose of this class is to provide a

basic understanding to the types of problems and methods that engineers work on. The ultimate

goal of the class is to better prepare non-engineering students to communicate with engineering coworkers

and engineering departments that are in a large number of varying organizations.

As requested by Dr. Volkan Otugen, Professor and Chair of the Southern Methodist University

Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Dr. Dona Mularkey, Professor at Southern Methodist

University, plans for a functioning bomb calorimeter with relatively low cost have been created. The

bomb calorimeter is intended to be used as a laboratory experiment tool for students of the

Introduction to Engineering for Non-Engineering Majors course. As such, with its intended

purpose, the accuracy of the measurements is secondary to explaining the thermodynamic concept

that the bomb calorimeter is an application of. Therefore tradeoffs were made for simplicity and

cost at the sacrifice of accuracy. The final cost of the device is expected to be around $1500. Dr.

Otugen, Dr. Mularkey, the laboratory students, and the laboratory instructor will be users of this

device.

The design outlined here consists of multiple components starting with the inner container, the

bomb. The bomb is not a bomb in the traditional sense that the bomb itself explodes. However it

is a small closed container that is put under pressure and a fuel is combusted inside it. The bomb is

to be made out of a solid piece of steel bar, with the center bored out. In addition, a lid piece cut

and threaded from the same steel bar. The purpose of manufacturing the bomb in this fashion,

from one piece, is to minimize forum changes and joint flaws which will ensure under pressure the

device does not explode. On the lid of the bomb are several inputs. First, there is a tube for

pressurized oxygen that will be fed into the bomb, and sealed before the ignition of the fuel.

Second, in order to ignite fuel, we are going to use a combination of spark plugs, wire, and resistance

fuse wire.

Because the bomb is pressurized with oxygen, drilling holes in the lid and threading wires to the

ends of the fuse wire is not entirely an option. In order to carry the electrical power into the bomb,

at pressure, without dissipating the power into the container itself we are going to utilize traditional

gas engine spark plugs. The gaps in the spark plugs are going to be opened to disable the arcing

function of the spark plugs. Instead insulated lead wires will be attached to the ends of the spark

plugs and then attached to the resistance fuse wire. The reason for this is spark plugs are designed

to ignite gasoline vapors, and not particles of food. The spark plugs will only be used to carry

current through a large pressure gradient. The bomb is then to be attached to the outer container lid

by two bolts. The bolts will be threaded into the lid of the bomb and will securely suspend the

bomb from the outer container lid.

The outer container lid will rest upon the outer container. The outer container lid will have a

manual mechanical stirrer used to make the water properties more uniform during the duration of

the experiment. The lid will have a small hole for a thermocouple probe manufactured by National

Instruments. This will be attached to a computer with a National Instruments LabVIEW program

that will output graphs and display energy content calculations. The outer container will have a

drainage system to allow for drainage of the water into a sink. The entire unit can be fully

disassembled with relative ease for cleaning and storage purposes which will be carried out by the

lab instructor.

Safety is the main priority. The bomb is designed to carry significantly greater pressures than what

will be produced by the laboratory experiment procedures. Operator safety has been kept in mind

in concerns to fire and electrical hazards. Procedures and requirements for safety have been

specified.

U-Kiu, Saira Tul-Fasiha <sukiu@mail.smu.edu>

Laser Doppler Velocimeter

The original problem statement given for this project was as follows:

"The team will design an experimental laser-Doppler apparatus to be used by undergraduate non-engineering students to measure vibrations and the speed of aerosols. The system must be simple, rugged, portable, and inexpensive."

After meeting with our customers, the project was simplified to only measure the velocity of aerosols. When researching laser-Doppler velocimetry, it was soon found laser-Doppler velocimetry, or LDV, was an already well-studied technique for measuring flow speeds. The basic principles of LDV revolve around properties of lasers, optics, and physics principles. First, the laser-source sends out a beam which is split into two beams by a beam splitter. Using mirrors, these two beams are then directed parallel to each other and passed through a biconvex lens at equal distances from the center of the lens. After passing through the lens, the two beams then cross at the focal point of the lens. From physics II, it is known that when two monochromatic beams of collimated light cross, an interference pattern made up of light and dark fringes is created. The space in which this interference pattern is created is known as the probe volume. Using the angle of intersection between the two beams, beam width, and the wave length of the beams, it is also possible to calculate the distance between each of the fringes, as well as the number of fringes in the probe volume from well-known and scientifically proven equations. While this information provides the distance portion of velocity, it is still necessary to calculate the time it takes for a particle to cross each fringe.

When a particle is passed through the probe volume, it will reflect light when crossing a light fringe and will not in the dark fringes. The constant reflecting and not reflecting of light which the particle exhibits while in the probe volume will create a pulsating light which can be measured using a photodiode. The data gathered by this photodiode can then be converted into digital information and the frequency of the pulsating light can be determined. When this information is combined with the

calculation of the distance between each fringe, the velocity of the particle passing through the probe volume can be calculated.

Dale, Richard Patrick <rdale@mail.smu.edu>

Blood Plasma Transportation Backpack (Team 1)

Our customers for this design project are Professor Huntoon and Heather Hankamer of the Hunt

Institute for Engineering and Humanity. Professor Huntoon is an Electrical Engineering

Professor here at SMU and is also heavily involved with the Innovation Gymnasium and the

Hunt Institute. Heather Hankamer works at the Hunt Institute here on campus as well. The Hunt

Institute spearheads different engineering and business programs that seek to improve the living

conditions of impoverished communities around the globe. One area that the Hunt Institute is

currently focusing on is the difficulties in transporting temperature sensitive medical supplies

from major cities to small rural communities in developing countries. An example of this

problem is the transportation of life-saving blood plasma donations to those in need outside

major cities. These donations need to be kept cold at all times, which is a problem in developing

countries where there are no major roads or means of transportation to small outlying

communities. The trip to one of these communities takes an average of one to three days walk.

There is currently no efficient way to keep blood plasma cold for this amount of time, especially

without access to an external power source. Therefore, our customers want us to design a

portable backpack that can be used on one of these trips. The backpack will hold five liters of

blood plasma and keep it cold the entire three days. Our final backpack design will be tested

against another group’s design in early April for Engineering and Humanity Week here at SMU.

The group that meets our customer’s requirements the best will win.

During the semester we met with our customers several times and discussed their

expectations for the design and possible issues that we might face. Their main requirements were

that the blood plasma should stay at an acceptable storage temperature for the three days, that the

backpack is portable, and that we were not to exceed a $1500 budget. The backpack should not

be too heavy because it may cause an injury or greatly fatigue the wearer. The blood plasma will

be provided for testing in ten 500cc bags, all cooled to the appropriate storage temperature. Our

research showed that this temperature was -20 °C. Our task will then be to maintain this

temperature for three days while the backpack and wearer travel through hot weather. We

assume that the worst case scenario for weather will be temperatures in the 90-100° F range. The

reason blood plasma should be stored at below freezing is so that it can keep its clotting

capacities. If improperly stored, the clotting components in blood plasma begin to breakdown

and the donation becomes useless.

The current summarized design we have for this project consists of an insulated cooler

containing the blood plasma, a temperature sensor system, and the backpack itself that will carry

these components. The blood plasma bags will be placed inside a freezer bag lined with a new

type of dry ice packs that reach temperatures of below -20°C. The freezer bag will then be placed

inside a small, highly insulated cooler. The cooler will then go inside the backpack. We will not

build our own backpack, but buy an internal frame hiking backpack instead. We chose the

internal frame hiking backpack because it is the most rugged and rated as the most comfortable

to wear by many sources. Furthermore, these backpacks are waterproof and lightweight. We also

plan on interfacing a temperature detection system in the backpack for the convenience of the

wearer. The system will consist of a temperature sensor, a microprocessor, and a display. The

temperature sensor will be placed inside the freezer bag through small holes drilled in the cooler

and punched in the bag. Wires will connect the temperature sensor to the microprocessor, which

will be kept inside the backpack to prevent it from getting damaged. A temperature display

system will be connected to the microprocessor and output the current temperature for the blood

plasma. The display will be located in an outside pocket in the backpack for easy access and

reference. The forecasted final cost for the design is currently $657, which is well below our

suggested budget.

Our biggest design risk at this point is the possibility that our backpack system will not

keep the blood plasma at -20ºC for the duration of the three day trip. Despite extensive research,

we have been unable to find any other means to achieve this extreme temperature by any other

reasonable method than the new dry ice packs. Therefore we propose that if we are unable to

consistently reach -20ºC, the design not be totally scratched. Instead, the blood plasma being

transported should be designated for immediate transfusion.

Arrieta, Luz Stephany <larrieta@mail.smu.edu>

Blood Plasma Transportation Backpack (Team 1)

The objective for this project, as stated in the problem description, is to design a backpack-like

device, capable of transporting up to five (5) liters of blood plasma across a distance of approximately

fifty (50) miles over a period of three (3) days. The customers for this project are Heather Hankamer,

from the Hunt Institute, and Dr. Huntoon, who seek a device which is able to safely transport blood

plasma from large cities or airports to remote villages within the underdeveloped world. In order to

solve this problem, any design solution may be considered, however the final design must be able to be

carried by a single person of average stature – meaning weight limits must be taken into consideration –

and the blood plasma to be transported must remain sterile so that it is biologically safe for use in

humans. In this project, one major constraint is that of the temperature requirement for the safe

transportation of blood plasma, as it may not rise above a temperature of twenty (20) degrees below

zero (0) Celsius. Additionally, there will be no access to advanced technologies for the duration of the

journey, so any design solution to be considered must be entirely self-sustaining. As the backpack-like

solution will be used in areas lacking paved roadways, the design solution must be robust in order to

withstand any impact to be encountered during the journey.

When considering design solutions to this problem, we began by researching passive cooling

methods in an attempt to forego complexity, which would introduce potential points for failure during

implementation. From the start, we fancied the idea of implementing a Dewar flask as the cooling

container for a variety of reasons; these include the fact that the system is entirely passive and nearly

entirely thermally insulating, meaning there would be no need for an electrically powered cooling

mechanism. One perceived problem with the Dewar flask, however, is durability; in an attempt to

improve the flask’s resistance to impact, we immediately considered the use of closed-cell PVC as a

cushion to surround the device. Another key aspect to our design is the manner by which the materials

would be carried by the user. Though we at first considered using a SCUBA BCD to strap the filled Dewar

flask to the carrier’s back, after further research, we decided that using a camping backpack may be a

more reasonable solution, simply for the reason that the weight load would be better distributed across

the carrier’s torso, as the designers of camping backpacks take weight distribution into careful

consideration during their design. Also convenient about the camping backpack design is the existence

of inner-padding and an inner-skeleton within the frame of the backpack, which would aid further in

impact resistance.

One aspect of our design that remains uncertain at this point is that of the mechanism by which

we will read the temperature within the Dewar flask. Initially, we wanted to design a solution that would

allow the carrier to know, in real time, the temperature within the Dewar flask; however, such a design

solution would require a wire to run through the seal of the flask, thus jeopardizing its integrity, and

subsequently, the thermal properties of the flask. In the event that we cannot determine a suitable

design for real-time heat measurement, we may simply mount an analog thermometer on the interior of

the flask at the time of loading, which would enable the village doctor to read the temperature of the

blood plasma once the blood has arrived, before it is to be used for humans.

Implementing the guidelines as set forth by the acceptance test plan, our team will test various

components of our preliminary design in order to ensure that it suitably solves the problem at hand. As

mentioned before, one significant concern with our current design is that of the durability of the Dewar

flask; due to lack of published research of this nature, we are unable to determine whether or not the

Dewar flask will be able to withstand substantial physical impact, and if so, to what magnitude of force.

Specifically, the top of the Dewar flask, which is made of hard plastic, is a point of concern, as it,

intuitively, is the aspect of the design that is most likely to break if dropped. In order to determine the

durability of such design solutions, our team will have to act intelligently in order to avoid exceeding our

requested budget, as our current budget would not allow us to order a second Dewar flask should the

first one break. Should any aspect of the backpack not function as expected or to a suitable level, we will

consider alternate design options in order to better serve our client.

Finally, we have constructed a proposed budget for our design which reflects the expected costs

of the design based on anticipated time and material needs. The cost of labor includes the total salary

(on a per-hour basis) for everyone to be involved with the design team, including engineers, consultants,

and administrators. Following advice from Professor Huntoon, we have deduced our expected labor

costs, including employee benefits, to be approximately $73,344.00. The total of the materials costs and

direct costs, including a 20% contingency fund, comes to be approximately $2,235.00. The latter value

will be that which we request from our customer in order to complete the design.

Among the most critical of our project constraints is that of time; given we have just one

semester to order supplies, build a prototype, test said prototype thoroughly, and document all

procedures and findings, our team must schedule effectively so as to not waste precious time on

frivolous tasks. In order to stay within our time constraint, we have carefully crafted a schedule by which

we will be able to hold ourselves accountable for work that we must do in order to complete our

backpack design.

Alex Gupta alexgupta1@gmail.com

 

Kinesiology Motion Capture Lab

Physical Data Capture Lab Promo by DirSkunkWorks

The 96? by 96? marley dance floor will mimic the bounce capability of a sprung floor that is commonly used in gymnastics. It will be integrated around a 42?x 26? TekScan® pressure mapping mat. This mat will be able to withstand a maximum force of 1600 lbs, equivalent to a 250-300 lb. subject landing from a 4 ft. vertical height. The mat will also be durable, so that it will not break after extended use. Force is measured using load cells (a transducer used to convert a force into an electrical signal), which are most commonly found in digital and analog scales. These load cells use force changes to deflect a piezoelectric material. The piezoelectric material acts as a strain gauge when it deflects, causing the resistivity of the material to change. From the resistivity change, the resistance changes across one voltage drop. The change in the voltage drop is compared to the previous drop. The difference is input into a Wheatstone bridge circuit or directly into an analog to digital converter to be output to a computer processor. The voltage change is assigned a binary value that can be sent to a computer. Processing this data yields the pressure applied to the load cell. Although there are many different kinds of load cells, e.g. compression, tension, and piezoelectric etc, the kind that we are planning on utilizing are compression ones that will make the most of the vertical force that will be applied onto the mat itself. By reading the sensors with non-zero values, the system can extrapolate the user‟ position.

 Lafond, Arielle Patricia <alafond@mail.smu.edu>

Spherical Touch Screen

The current technology for touch interface has been almost entirely dominated by flat panel touch screen input. Such an interface has been popularized in the current generation of smart phones like the iPhone and the Android series. While this interface works for simple web browsing (e.g. zoom and pan), moving around in a 3D space can be cumbersome and non-intuitive.

To typify this, moving a camera in a three-dimensional space can be extremely difficult and time consuming on a flat input device. In two-dimensional spaces, a user typically would have to press and hold one finger down as an anchor, while multiple finger swipes from the other hand would be required. This would allow the user to shift the camera around a fixed point. With a 3D input device, it would be possible to direct a camera in the X-, Y-, and Z-axis with simpler gestures.

Other conventional input devices, like the mouse, deal in a two dimensional space. While it is able to give information for the movement of depth and width items have, it is not able to show the movement of height. In a simple case, it is easy to have a cursor scroll up and down, left and right on a computer desktop, but directing the cursor to go forward or backward with the same input device is not possible. Other input devices are needed, like keyboard keys or the scroll wheel on a mouse.

With these examples, a problem arises that needs to be solved. A new input device is needed that can allow a user to input intuitive gestures in three dimensions. This would solve the issue of the complicated method of traversing 3D space that current touch input devices provide.

Raven Sanders is the customer for this project. She is a college student at SMU double majoring in Electrical Engineering and Audio with interest in merging engineering and art. Her primary focus for this project at first was to add intuition to surround sound mixing. Over time her focus expanded to include other potential applications, including but not limited to controls for three-dimensional modeling and video games.

Her goal for the project is for it to become an industry tool usable by various business facets. Potential industries include post-audio, live show controls, engineering design, and video gaming.

The current solution design utilizes the technology of frustrated total internal reflection (FTIR) to sense human touch and is the fundamental mechanism for the human interface of the design. The use of FTIR as a touch sensitive surface is based on the use of the disruption of total internally reflected (TIR) light within a medium. When the user makes contact with the medium in which the light is being reflected it will break the TIR condition and cause light to be observable on the opposite side of the medium at the contact point.

To use this technology to create a three-dimensional touch surface, the actual light propagating medium will be made of acrylic and be shaped as a spherical shell. Light will be projected into the medium through an interface at the bottom of the spherical shell. This interface will be the edge of a hole cut out of the shell. The design will use short wave infrared light (SWIR) for the TIR in the medium. SWIR LEDs will be attached to the edge of the bottom hole of the spherical shell to project this light into the medium. Based on conditions of LED 4

parameters and spherical shell dimensions, the light will reflect up along the edge of the shell, achieving FTIR.

As a user makes contact with this shell (from the outside) the light reflected from the breaking of the TIR condition will be directed towards the center of the shell. To observe and localize where this distortion of FTIR happened on the shell a collection of SWIR sensitive cameras will be located at the center of the sphere and be pointed in a radial outward direction. Due to the placement of these cameras the entire surface of the spherical shell will be observable and able to sense where it is contacted.

Since the SWIR sensitive cameras used in this design are also sensitive to visible light as well, an infrared (IR) pass filter will be included with the cameras and be located in front of the lens to block background visible light sources in an environment and to ensure only IR light is being detected by the camera.

The cameras being used to capture the blobs formed by the finger(s) currently touching the sphere will need to interface with a microprocessor, which will be located in the chassis of the sphere. The microprocessor will be the main intermediary with which all components of the sphere and computer will interface. The microprocessor be powered from a wall outlet. The interface between the microprocessor and the cameras will be via USB connection, allowing them to draw their power from the board.

Once each camera has captured an image, the microprocessor itself will take the images from the four cameras and stitch them together to form one giant image in which all blobs will be visible. Once this image has been generated, a background subtraction will be applied to eliminate any noise in the image, so that the only blobs that are visible came from user input. Finally, using various image processing techniques, the blobs will all be located in the 2-dimensional image, and translated back to a 3-dimensional rendering of the sphere. This will allow the application on the computer to recognize 3-dimensional gestures even though they are detected in a 2-dimensional fashion.

At this point, the microprocessor will create a data protocol, which will contain the 3-dimensional coordinates of all relevant blobs that were detected by the cameras. This data protocol will then be output to the computer via an Ethernet connection. This completes the functionality of the sphere. The computer will then be free to use these coordinates to perform whatever function the user would like for it to perform. For our current application, the coordinates will be converted into gestures, which will be recognized and displayed on a GUI.

 Sanders, Raven Alexandra <rsanders@mail.smu.edu>