![[Under Construction]](images/undercon.gif){kind=small}
Other Projects
The following pictures and descriptions are kept to a minimum to keep within my allocated webspace. More pictures will be added along the way if there is demand.
ROBOTICS
The robots are designed totally from scratch and finished 4th place in the RoboCup'99 competition held in Stockholm, Sweden. If you want to find out more, our group description is Wisely team, Singapore Polytechnic. Of course I was there, but you have to guess which one is me!
This is a Motorola 6805 based µC I designed to interface with the Intel 80196 Motherboard for each robot. It handles power supply supervisory functions, I/O interfacing via an Intel 8255 multiplexer, electronic compass controller, and interfaces with the camera DSP board. A buck regulator is used to prolong battery life as it has a higher efficiency and very low dropout. It also provides better isolation from the motors' back EMF, which was found to affect many circuits.
PICTURES
Robots and team members at Comex'99, Singapore Polytechnic
PALM BASED HEART MONITORING SYSTEM (ECG)
This project finished 3rd place in NTU's in-house practical training of 5 weeks. It was later also selected for exposure during NTU's open house '01.
The palm PDA interfaces via the serial port with a Microchip PIC16f877 µP. The µP has a 10-bit ADC which is interfaced with the analog circuitry. The front end needs to handle vanishing signal levels from the human body, so specialised parts are carefully chosen for this purpose. The analog circuit utilises a floating ground seperate from the power supply, as this improved noise levels greatly. Every aspect of the hardware is designed to provide a very clean output on the screen of the PDA, comparable to some very expensive ECG monitors.
PRESENTATION SLIDESHOW
PICTURES
FUEL CELL BUGGY
This is a project I had done for my final year project at A*Star Simtech. It had gained pretty good exposure during NTU's open house '05, and much satisfaction to those involved.
The buggy consists of a 1kW NEXA PEM fuel cell from Ballard, to be run in hybrid power sharing with a lead acid pack. The fuel cell alone costs some S$15000, I break out in cold sweat everytime it stalls!
I developed a fully solid-state platform with no moving parts, for greater safety and reliability. A large portion of this project is based on a microcontroller for control and supervisory functions, and is fully loaded with various wonderful sensors to monitor everything(!). A laptop is used as a virtual dashboard and diagnosis tool.
Unfortunately this project is under A*Star, more details cannot be revealed, so just enjoy the pictures for inspiration!
CONCEPT
A simple diagram shows the general concept without being explicit.
PICTURES
WIRELESS FALL DETECTOR
This is a social engineering project I thought of for one of my core modules in NTU. The 6 week time constraint proved daunting, but I did not want to produce the usual walking sticks and beepers others were doing.
The idea behind this concept is a small device that can be strapped onto a patient, to return the status to the main station. The device would send the patient status, location, and ID wirelessly to a PC. The interface on the PC would continuously monitor and alert the person on duty if any abnormal situation is encountered. I tore my hair over how to get a wireless interface to the PC. There were many ways of course, but no time, $$$... Suddenly!!!!!!
A moment of inspiration! I would use a wireless mouse which can be bought cheaply and serve my needs perfectly. Next, I tore out all the parts, leaving the 2 precious LSI chips and related components, and interfaced the sensors. I was pleased with the receiver, it has a USB interface with programmable ID! Together with multiple transmitters and receivers, I could demonstrate the possibility of multi-users and location tracking.
The software is written in Labview. The interface simulates a floor plan of a house with different rooms, each room having a receiver. Patients who are suspected to have fallen are shown on the screen, their picture appearing in the respective room. An alarm is sounded as well. Unfortunately the features are limited due to non-proprietary hardware, but at least it works!
PICTURES
