IEEE ENCS NCSU EPICS Senior Design Projects and ExCom Meeting Wednesday, April 10, 2024

Great News: 3 NCSU EPICS NCSU ECE Senior Design Teams will present Engineering Projects at Wednesday’s ExCom Meeting. See the description below. All IEEE members, guests, officers, and chairs for chapters, affinities, committees and subsections are welcome. Advance registration is preferred to account for food and room setup. The April 10, 2024 ExCom Meeting is a Hybrid, NCSU On-site in Engineering Building 2, Room 3001. Food and drinks will be served. Webex Meeting Link, for those attending remotely: https://ieeemeetings.webex.com/meet/WX3ENCieee.org NOTE: Virtual Meeting starts at 6:30 PM this month, due to room setup and networking time. Meeting Schedule: 6:00 PM In-person Networking, Food and Room Setup 6:30 PM Agenda and Open Webex 6:45 PM EPICS Teams 1-3: https://seniordesign.ece.ncsu.edu/ Project 1: Wheelchair Electric Assist – User Interface Caretakers have access to transport wheelchairs to aid the injured and disabled. They are simple, cheap devices that can be useful for them. However, they cannot always move the passenger easily. The caretaker could be limited in mobility and have difficulty moving the passenger over long distances, inclines, and bumps. The alternative is an electric wheelchair, but they are expensive and heavy compared to transport wheelchairs. We have created a product between these two extremes: a light, low-cost wheelchair that provides caregivers with electric assist for inclines and bumps. The wheelchair has easy-to-understand user interfaces for the caregiver and keeps its ability to fold and be easily loaded into a vehicle. Project 2: Wheelchair Electric Assist – Low cost drive solution The project aims to address the challenges faced by caregivers who have limited mobility while caring for wheelchair users, particularly when navigating rough or uneven surfaces. By repurposing the gearboxes found in Power Wheels toy cars, the project seeks to provide an innovative and cost-effective solution to assist caregivers when pushing wheelchairs. These gearboxes are chosen for their lightweight nature and affordability, making the solution accessible to a wide range of caregivers. This solution will allow caregivers and wheelchair users to be more independent in their daily lives and explore new places that they were not able to go to before. Project 3: Mothular Power Unit Currently, 16 volunteer-managed moth traps across North Carolina are used as data collection points for the patterns of invasive moth species. The traps contain a UV light that needs to be powered from a wall outlet, limiting their range of use and accuracy of data. We created a modular outdoor energy storage system, including a battery and a solar panel, so that the moth traps can be powered from anywhere. The unit also includes weather sensors to help understand moth behaviors depending on outside conditions. Using a microcontroller, the light gets turned on only when moths are active, saving power. Our unit also includes an LCD and an SD card, so helpful data can be displayed in person and downloaded to a volunteer’s computer. 8:00 PM Adjourn Please register so that your participation can count toward our Regional attendance and food. Your participation does make a difference. Here is a useful link for the MGA operations manual: https://mga.ieee.org/images/files/CurrentMGA_Operations_Manual_2023_June_29_2023_CG_v1.1.pdf Agenda: IEEE Eastern North Carolina Section Executive Committee Hybrid Meeting Agenda for Wednesday, 04/10/2024 6:00 pm On-Site Networking, Webex Setup and Food (Proudlove) 6:30 pm Convene Executive Committee (ExCom) and open Webex (Pennisi) Greeting & Short Introductions (if time) (Pennisi) Record Attendance (Proudlove) Meetings and Events (Pennisi) – SouthEastCon Update–Award – New Leadership Position Approvals–Move to May 8 Old or New Business–Rescheduled (Pennisi) – Appointing a Section Nominating Committee–Joe Pennisi – Climate Healing Technology Grant proposal–Abhinav Aggarwal 6:45 pm EPICS Team Presentations (Edmondson) – Wheelchair Electric Assist–User Interface – Wheelchair Electric Assist–Low Cost Drive Solution – Mothular Power Unit Room: 3001, Bldg: EB2, NCSU Engineering Building 2, 890 Oval Dr, Raleigh, North Carolina, United States, 27695, Virtual: https://events.vtools.ieee.org/m/415971