Hi All,
Can anyone help me with some idea's on what i could do for my final year honours project.
I am doing Computer & Electronic Systems Engineering, was thinking of using Raspberry Pi & Arduino linked together but just can't think of what to do.
Dear, dear - the real problem is which ideas NOT to do ...
Environment monitoring
How much time lights are on when a room is unoccupied
What proportion of time doors are open wasting energy
The temperature gradient from a comfortably warm room through interconnecting spaces to the outdoors
Health and safety
Speeds of vehicles compared to a speed limit
Slipperiness of floor surfaces in different weather conditions
Human behaviour statistics
Number of people doing X and patterns of peak and off peak behaviour
Queueing times for different arrangements
Renewable energy
Actual energy capture from a typical solar panel over a perod of time
(all sorts of opportunities for mechanics, electronics and data logging)
etc etc etc
...R
The trouble with Arduino-type projects, is that so much advanced stuff is within the scope of a moderately competent hobbyist, that it's difficult to find a project worthy of 4th year uni.
Even I can cobble stuff together to do reasonably complicated things, with parts off the shelf and code from either the component manufacturers' sites or from here in the forum / playground. So much of what can be done is (literally) trivial.
I think you'll need to read your brief very carefully: you could put huge effort into building something only to find your Prof say that a high-schooler could have done it. How much may be configuring off the shelf stuff, how much needs to be original?
Key I think will be that you're studying Engineering, so that means whatever you decide to do, it must be engineered as opposed to cobbled 8). Show your implementation of whatever systems engineering life cycle you have been taught- that way you can justify the use of off the shelf stuff, as long as the final product is an engineered solution.
How about an unnecessary apostrophe harvester? ]
Tying together a few ready-made boards is something every moderately skilled individual can do. Arduino was made for non-technical folk. If you are doing computer and electronics, at least design your own PCB and solder that stuff.
Prototyping a clock/thermometer is pretty easy to do with a breadboard, an arduino and some breakouts. The real challenge is designing your own PCB using the raw IC's instead of breakouts. Also try adding some 'fancy' things. For instance, my Clock Meister project has a 16x1 LCD with backlight. Instead of dropping in some pots, create some circuitry to adjust contrast and backlight intensity using the arduino's PWM pins.
I guess it's not as much what you make, buy how you make it. Another example is DUO Light. It's just and atmega with some breakouts for PS/2, SD and video, but it's beautifully laid out on the PCB.
Where did you do your vac work / internship or whatever you call it where you are?- did anything there take your fancy? Did any of their clients or suppliers have any needs that you noticed but which no-one is addressing? Any factories or warehouses or whatever in your area who might let you chat to their staff to see what they (the staff) see as lacking in their areas? You never know, one guy might say "what really grinds my gears is and I've always told management to try " and there's a real world need that you could solve.
Real world is good, since it means you can implement your whole engineering life cycle from initial client needs assessment through to implementation. And who knows, maybe those guys will offer you a job....