👑 Brownie Points Student Showcase 👑

APSC 1001 has a longstanding tradition of recognizing student participation, engagement, and creativity with “brownie points”. Here, we are featuring some exciting ideas presented by students on how they thought to apply the technology seen in lab, beyond the classroom!

Of course, it’s always difficult to pick the top few out of so many excellent ideas – we love seeing your hard work, even if it isn’t showcased here!

LED microLab

• Elaine Ly (CS1010), suggested that LEDs, whether full spectrum or colored ones, can be used to emit wavelengths that can accelerate the growth of plants. Extending on the demonstration on the Raspberry Pi was timed to turn on and off within a given interval, she suggested that the LED could be turned off every 6, 8, or 12 hours depending on the plant.
• Claire Moore (CS1010), suggested that LEDs can be used as indicators, such as emergency lights flashing or on and off buttons that light up.
• Aarifah Ullah (CS1010) and Alast Samimi-Darzi (APSC1001), thought of an application entailing multilevel parking lots to indicate whether or not a parking spot is vacant. This application can serve as an aide to people with visual or hearing impairment along with proximity sensors.
• Tharun Saravanan (CS1010), suggested blinking LEDs could be used potentially as part of an alarm for a home security system with a Raspberry Pi.
• Enzer Kurshid (CS1010), conceptualized a wearable electronics application that would have adhesive strips with LED lights closely lined up together. These strips can be cut to any size and put on anything surface one pleases. Examples are on a optical frames (such as eye glasses) so a person can see in the dark, on backpacks in case students are walking so that drivers can clearly see
• Son Nguyen, Theresa Lee and Diana Zepeda-Benitez (CS1010), suggested that LEDs can be used in conjunction with motion tracking and object detection applications. For example, one can utilize the LED in conjunction with a sensor and make light sources . For example, an infra-red sensor can be set up to detect the presence and movement of an object and the LED can flash accordingly.
• Brendan Jarmusz and Stephanie Berthin (CS1010), suggested that a Christmas tree or a holiday decoration would be a good implementation of blinking LEDs.
• Lowell Pioquinto and Talia Novack (CS1010), suggested that LED blinking lights could be extremely useful in the use of fire alarm, carbon monoxide or toxin detectors. When an LED flashes it would get the attention to the people in the room/space that will alert them of any serious danger. This would be extremely useful in the case of carbon monoxide leaks, for example a car being left on inside a garage when it is closed.

Ultrasound Sensor microLab

• Fred Noubieptie Kamgang (CS1010), suggested that the ultrasound sensor can be used in an open air chicken farm to detect the presence of predators.🐓
• Christian Tarrasch (CS1010), suggested that ultrasound sensors can be used to create accurate 3D models of space, such as bedrooms and living rooms. This could later be implemented in a phone to create accurate 3D models when moving the iPhone around. 🏠
• Chloe Truong (CS1010), mentioned that the ultrasound sensor could be used to detect obstacles in front of unmanned vehicles, which could be applied to devices sent to explore other planets as well as for self driving cars. 🚘
• Alessandra Williams (APSC1001), suggested that the application of ultrasound sensors can be used for automatic breaking as well as parking could be really efficient if using an ultrasonic sensor to implement it.🛑
• Ozzy Simpson (CS1010), described the ultrasound sensor as a “tape-less measuring tape” which would make it easier to measure distances.🧰
• Anna-Maria Vargas (APSC1001), suggested that an application of the ultrasound sensor could be to use it to detect cracks in the foundations of buildings.🏢
• Georgette Encinas (APSC1001), suggested that the ultrasound sensor could be used as a 6 feet apart detector, which would be helpful during Covid when we have to stay at 6 feet apart and the sensor could send a vibration when people are too close.🦠

Sense HAT microLab

• Shantao Xu (CS1010), suggested that the Sense HAT could be integrated with sensors to be implanted in the body to continuously collect and display data 🩺
• Rhys Chambers (CS1010) suggested Sense HATs for military use, to create large light up images for satellites 🛰️
• Adriana Vidal (APSC1001) and Stephanie Berthin (CS1010), both recommended sense Hat in order to log temperature and connect it to an app that tells you what is appropriate to wear for that temperature 🌡️
• Ozzy Simpson (CS1010), said the SenseHat could be used to detect earthquakes. The built in accelerometer could sense excessive movement and alert using the LEDs, ultimately uploading the information to a central database 🗺️ 📈
• Henry Ryan (APSC1001), said you could integrate the senseHat in a weather balloon to track temperature, humidity and pressure to ultimately make area-based climate change conclusions. 🎈
• Cole Driskell (CS1010), also talked about how it can be used in weather balloons to detect environmental changes with increasing altitude. 🌎
• Amen Dahab (CS1010), said you could use the SenseHat to determine the effects of atmospheric pressure on plant growth. 🌱
• Hoai Son Nguyen (CS1010), said you could create a drone that uses the SenseHat system to guide its motion (pressure sensors used for altitude, and accelerometer used for direction) 💻
• Adrien Navarre (CS1010), suggested using the Sensehat in airplane gauges to track different metrics while an airplane is in flight 🛫
• Patrick Burke and Charlotte Ketterson (APSC1001) talked about using the senseHat to create a video game, utilizing the LEDs and the movement detection 🎮 📺
• Jacob Ifrah (CS1010), suggested using the SenseHat for translation and display of sentences to help people that speak different languages communicate. 📱

Heart Rate Sensor microLab

• Rhys Chambers (CS1010), suggested the democratization of heart rate sensors to create free health stations stationed around cities that would allow people to access their heart rates and blood pressures without having to buy expensive medical devices.
• Charlotte Ketterson (APSC 1001), suggested the implementation of the heart rate sensor into a phone case, for those who need to take their heart rate often but don’t wear any sort of smart device.
• Alessandra Williams (APSC 1001), also highlighted the use of heart rate sensors in wearable technology, and the importance of expanding wearable technology beyond watches to include items like rings or necklaces.
• Chloe Truong (CS1010), proposed using the Heart Rate Sensor in human behavior research. She recommended attaching such sensors to people while they engage in stressful activities such as test taking or public speaking could allow for data collection into how much of a physical toll, stress takes on individuals.
• Paul Bianco (CS1010), conceptualized an electric bike that modulates how much assistance it gives based on the user’s heart rate, measured through sensors in the handlebars.
• Georgette Encinas (APSC 1001), suggested using the heart rate sensor in a dog collar to detect a pet’s health.
• Olamide Teasure Oluwalade (CS1010), suggested integrating an accessible sound feature with the heart rate sensor to alert wearers of any increasing heart rate, especially for elderly people.
• Jawad Hanif (CS1010), proposed using the heart rate sensor to track the life line of humans that go into deep space or deep underground caves or oceans, especially in areas or situations where communication may be cut off.
• Lowell Pioquinto (CS1010), suggested using the Heart Rate Sensor implementated in smart watches to detect heart palpitations or irregular heart beats with connectivity to emergency medical systems, especially for those who are highly at risk of heart issues.

Image Encryption microLab

• Yusef Jawad (APSC 1001), suggested a buisness application of applying these concepts to encryption of financial statements in banks, protecting user privacy by ensuring images are not intercepted and viewed by others, and preventing fraud.
• Sameen Ahmad (CS1010), suggested a security camera application that protects the data it saves using encryption.
• AnnaMaria Vargas (APSC 1001), suggested an application that sends medical information and documents securely between doctors and hospitals, which would protect patient privacy, as well as protecting other information being sent.
• Georgette Encinas (APSC 1001), suggested a combination of the pi camera and the moduolo encryption with the Ultrasound Sensor microLab to capture a picture of someone standing a little to close to someone/something important, like a safe box. A combination of these two technologies could dectect when someone is approaching the safe and take a picture of them.
• Elaine Ly (CS1010), suggested steganography, the practice within cybersecurity of hiding information in messages. Through the practice of hiding ‘true’ information using a modulo-operation-based cypher, cybersecurity firms, intelligence agencies, and other parties can use this to covertly spread intel among the necessary individuals.

APSC 1001 (Fall 2020) in the news! Student apps from our class (that’s right, YOUR work!) were featured in a recent SEAS newsletter. Give it a read and share it with your friends and family! Once again, congrats on a job well done with these excellent apps.