The S.C.I.F.I. Weekly Issue 6

8/8/2019 The S.C.I.F.I. Weekly Issue 6

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CARLOS SOKION SHINProducer

It was a fabulous week for team S.C.I.F.I. not only because they had a wonderful and inspiring moment at Maker Fairein New York but also because they finished researching and listing all the necessary components for the three deliverables.Moreover, most of the components have arrived so that we are ready to build ourLaser Weenies , Cardio Gauntlets andHIVE.

!

ISSUE 6 WWW.ETC.CMU.EDU/PROJECTS/LM-SCI-FI/ SEPTEMBER 2010

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The S.C.I.F.I. Weekly

This week inside...The S.C.I.F.I. Weekly

Time To Move On.............................1

S.C.I.F.I. at Maker Faire NY......................1

User Scenario...........................................2, 3

Inspirations..............................................2, 3

Components Arrived..................................4

Weekly Checklist................. .......................4

Time To Move On

MICHAEL HILL

Programmer / Hardware Designer

Team S.C.I.F.I. had a field trip to Maker Faire in NewYork during last weekend (September 25~26, 2010). MakerFaire was very informative, and certainly inspirational.

There was quite a variety of crafts with a special focus onDo-It-Yourself electronics. The following are things wesaw that were of special interest to our project:

1. Chris Anderson from Wiredmagazine gave a presentation on thecurrent state of the DIY industry and

how it is helping further science byputting modern tools into the hands ofthe common people.

2. Mark Frauenfelder, editor-in-chief ofMake magazine, gave a lecture aboutsome of his experiences trying to live

green and on his hobby of makingcigar box guitars and ukuleles. He alsotalked about making these into electricinstruments. Many of the electricalcomponents he mentioned can also be

used to build the ECG gloves.

3. Massimo Banzi, one of the co-creators of the Arduino, announced thenew line of Arduinos: Arduino Uno and

Arduino Mega 2560. These new boardsmake it easier to create human-interface-devices such as keyboards, mice, andMIDI controllers.

4. The Wireless Arduino by Async Labs was used in aproject we saw. When combined with a Java library that

works for both Iphone and Android, a user could

wirelessly read from sensors on the board as well as turncomponents on and off.

5. Sparkfun Electronics also had a booth at the Faire.We were able to talk to them about the electronics theyoffer as well as get some hands-on time with some of thecomponents we were considering using for our projects.

6. We also took advantage of Sparkfuns solderingclasses. Doing so allowed us to practice soldering realcomponents without having to risk wasting our own

components.

For more photos and videos, visit the project website athttp://www.etc.cmu.edu/projects/lm-sci-fi/2010/10/01/makerfaireny/

S.C.I.F.I. at Maker Faire NY

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JAMES DOUGHTYHardware Designer and Assembly

The remote mountain town in Area23 had been devastated by the surpriseattack, and all roads leading in or outhad been rendered impassible or

destroyed entirely. Drop-shipments ofmedical supplies and clean water hadbeen delivered by gyrocopter easilyenough, but with nowhere to land,Home Base was unable to deliverqualified medical personnel or aid

workers via the same means, andreaching the town on foot wouldvetaken days. It had been determinedthat the only option was for my teamto deliver ourselves via off-roadmotorized cycles through mountain

wilderness over rugged terrain, withthe occasional foot path as the closestthing resembling a road for too manymiles. And since this was an areaoutside of network coverage, with allother lines of communication havingbeen wiped out by the Ironhead army,

wed be using the D R A D i s(Direction, Range, and Distance) suiteof applications and hardware.

Before heading out from the send-off point, I switched on my LASERWeenie, entered the GPS coordinatesof the town into the proprietary DroidX application, and soon the familiarbright green directional arrowappeared on the ground in front ofme, pointing toward the globalposition of the town whichhappened to be about 20 clicks due

south of our position. Without furtherado, I hit the dirt leading the way.

The LASER Weenie, or The Arrowof Apo!o as its formally named, is ashoulder- mounted unit whichoperates on a simple premise thatthe quickest way from point A to pointB is a straight line. Its key feature isthat green arrow. It floats, turns, andspins in response to the wearerspersonal heading, never pointing awayfrom the very direction in which youneed to go. In a situation where roadsare nonexistent or your eyes and handsare constantly occupied, all otherforms of navigational devices are outof the question. Wed first used thedevice during rescue operations in andaround a submerged city. The streetsdisappeared under ten feet of water,but with the LASER Weenie pointingthe way, we saved valuable time in

getting where we needed to be asquickly and directly as possible viasteamboat. In yet another part of thecountry aboard snowcomotives, theWeenie enabled us to cross frozentundra to locate and rescue injuredadventurers using coordinatesdetermined by their mobile devices.

This time, we were heading up theside of a mountain in Area 23 to givehumanitarian aid to a town torn apartby marauding Ironheads. Once under

way, following the directional arrow asbest I could, we soon came upon a

wide mountain stream, angry andbloated from seasonal rainfall, andmoving too swiftly to be safelycrossed. We decided to head west,following the stream as closely aspossible. My sense of urgency was

heightened when I began moving inthe opposite direction to which theWeenie pointed. Fortunately, we founda foot bridge upstream and were ableto safely cross with the cycles, andthen once again heading in the rightdirection with a bright green arrowpointing the way, we eventually madeit to the town. (continued to next page)

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ISSUE 6 WWW.ETC.CMU.EDU/PROJECTS/LM-SCI-FI/ SEPTEMBER 2010

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User ScenarioLaser Weenie, ECG Gauntlet

and HIVE system in Area 23A TEAM OF MEDICAL PERSONNEL AND AID WORKERS MUSTFIND THEIR WAY AND STAY CONNECTED IN THE REMOTE,WAR-RAVAGED WILDERNESS OF AN ALTERNATE UNIVERSE.

Concept Art of the Laser Weenie, by James Doughty

InspirationsThe three gadgets in the scenario have

their roots in various science fictions.

First, the Laser Weenie isinspired by the Locator System ofEA's game Dead Space. In the game,the Locator System helps you findthe way to the next destination. Itsnickname, The Arrow of Apo!o, came

from TV series Battlestar Galactica.The Arrow of Apo!o, a symbolic greathunting arrow and a symbol of Apollo, is a clue to location of theplanet earth in the show.

Whi le there are many

representations of the basic ideathese days, the team had a feeling oflack from the existing solutions.None of them fits in urgentsituation such as search and rescueoperation. The team decided tosolve this problem by making itwearable and significantly light. TheProsthetoscope, one of the firstproposed ideas , seemed very promising in many ways. But there was a critical issue. Existing AR( Augmented Reality) goggles were

very distracting when worn due toits disconnected sight with real world. Current AR technologieswere simply not there yet.

The team, however, still wantedto solve the problem. Thus the teamstarted to think out of the boxquestioning to themselves "what arethere around us we could use todraw an arrow right in front of us,not inside goggles?" Finally werealized laser pointer with rotating

cap on it will do the job even betterthan the previous idea. Also it is waycloser to what the inspirationsource, the Locator System, lookslike. That is how the Laser Weenieidea was born.

(continued to next page)

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Upon entering, I immediately cameacross a man who appeared to be dying

in the street. With no time to locatethe diagnostic equipment that hadpreviously been del ivered v ia

gyrocopter, I launched the Field ECGapplication on the Droid X and placedthe electrode-enabled fingers of myCardio Gauntlets in the appropriateposition on the mans body. The Droidsoon lit up with his ECG scan,indicating a slightly strained butotherwise normal heart rate .Exhaustion can be deadly in

emergency situations, but there wereno other signs of visible trauma, so fornow there was still time for my teamto regroup.

I raised my arm to look again at the

Droid X on my wrist and switchedover to the HIVE application. HIVE(an acronym for High-frequencyIdentity, Vitals, and Emplacement)keeps tabs on anyone within range

wearing a HIVE Suit. The suit gathersrelevant info from the wearer, collatesit into a string of unique code, andthen transmits the data over a high-frequency radio signal. Upon receivingthese signals, the HIVE applicationtranslates them into an easy-to-read

graphic interface display, creating asort of network-less network thatsperfect for tracking your team. As withany such operation, be it search &rescue, humanitarian, or military, ateam needs to stay connected throughany available means. Early variantsusing a network connection were first

utilized by fire brigades, for whom thesystem worked great. The non -

network, high-frequency transmission was later developed for use in areas without connectivity, or wherenetwork connection is prone toinvasive outside monitoring or attacksby Ironhead intelligence agents.

At first glance, it appeared thateveryone was present and accountedfor; Wells and Verne had gone onahead into town to begin setting up,Scott and Verhoeven were somewhereto the right of my position, Lucas was

with me, but where was Bradbury andClark? Their GPS coordinates were

way off from ours, and each others, soI tapped Bradburys icon to view his

d e t a i l s ;accelerated heartrate and slightlyh igher thannormal b loodpressure. I gavethem both aquick shout over

the radio, to which Bradburyresponded thathed lost controlof his cycle abouttwo clicks back;he was alright,but wasst rugg l ing andneeded a hand

getting his machine outof a muddy ravine. There was no

response from Clark, so I checked hisHIVE details. To my horror, I couldsee that his vital signs were in the red!I instinctively tapped the flashingGo icon next to his name, and wasimmediately switched back to theLASER Weenie application, whichautomatically entered Clarks GPScoordinates as the destination point.

As I followed the green LASER arrowback into the wilderness, I called outto Lucas with instructions to follow

me. In the wake of an Ironhead attackI needed every member of my teamalive and well for the tasks ahead, andI wasnt about to lose anyone before

wed even gotten started.

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ISSUE 6 WWW.ETC.CMU.EDU/PROJECTS/LM-SCI-FI/ SEPTEMBER 2010

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User Scenario

Concept Art of the Cardio Gauntlet, by James Doughty

Inspirations

Second, Cardio Gauntlet isinspired by the Tricoder in Star Trek. Tricorder is a multifunctionhandheld device used for sensorscanning, data analysis , andrecording data.

The idea itself was more thancool as it is one of our dream device.However, there were problems ofthe Tricoder idea. First, enabling

such functionalities will make itbigger and heavier and it will loseportability. Second, it will also takelonger to develop. Third, havingunnecessary functionalities mayharm its consistency with thescenario.

Thus, the team needed to find a way to incorporate this to thescenario. During the process, theteam focused on medical purposesnot only because it fits well in thesearch and rescue operation scenariothat was being developed, but alsobecause it will benefit the trinity ofthe prototypes the team is buildingas for components.

Third, the HIVE is inspired fromHeart Beat Sensor(HBS) of TomClancy's Rainbow Six and Call ofDuty Modern Warfare 2. The deviceare used to grasp where friendlies

and enemies are nearby and allows

the user to track multiple targets inthose games. Even though this ideastarted from its potential militaryuse, it can also be efficiently utilizedfor search and rescue operation.

CARLOS SOKION SHINProducer

8/8/2019 The S.C.I.F.I. Weekly Issue 6

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Upcoming Schedule

October 8, 2010

Weekly Client Meeting

October 15, 2010

Due prototype and detailed schedule

October 18, 20, 22, 2010

1/2 Presentation

October 28, 2010

TEA/ETC Technology Mixer

The S.C.I.F.I.

Project Client

(Lockheed Martin)

James F. Burke Jr.

Brad A. Michael

Project Advisors

Shirley Saldamarco

Scott Stevens

Team Writers

Carlos Sokion Shin

James Doughty

Michael Hill

Hanika Karkhanis

Programming Advisor

John Conomikes

Page Design

Carlos Sokion Shin

ISSUE 6 WWW.ETC.CMU.EDU/PROJECTS/LM-SCI-FI/ SEPTEMBER 2010

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Components Arrived

W E E K LY C H E C K L I S T

This week

Field Trip to Maker Faire New YorkPick deliverables for the project.

Elaborate the ideas.Develop user scenario.Develop concept arts.Name the devices.Reschedule development phase.Order all necessary hardware parts.

Next week

Receive all necessary components.Start building prototypes.

Have digital compass work with Servomotor.Retrieve data from both heart ratemonitor and Arduino.Work on detailed schedule.Develop concept arts for HIVE.Start working on 10 sec promo video.

Laser Weenie Cardio Gauntlet HIVE

Droid XBluetooth module

Arduino Pro Mini

Servo motor

Magnifying lens

Fresnel Lens

Laser printertransparencies

Digital compass

10mw Laser

Conductive threadCustom circuit

Arduino Pro Mini

Bluetooth module

Battery pack

Battery charger

Power supply for charger

Glove

Arduino LilypadXBEE Lilypad BreakoutBoard

Electrodes

USB weather board

XBEE

Polar HR transmitter

Polar HR monitor

Battery pack (900mAh)

Battery charger (900mAh)

General

70w soldering station

Lead-free solder

Arduino Uno

Solder wick

9v Power supply forArduino

Helping hands

LilyPad LiPower

Optoisolator

Breakaway headers

FTDI Basic Breakout

6 Jumper wires

DC power jack

Breadboard

Wire stripper

During the last week, team S.C.I.F.I. finished researching on necessary components.More than 95% of them are already ready or will be ready by next week. Below is thestatus of each components.

Legend

Ready

Orders placed

Building

Researching