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General Embedded Project |
The Embedded Systems Lab can support the following: PC/104, Intel 80C196, Microchip PICs, Texas Instruments DSPs, Motorola 68HC12, Actel Field Programmable Gate Arrays, any surface mount circuits, real-time operating system applications, DOS applications, Windows applications. Any worthwhile project will be considered, and an expansion of our support (different chips, software etc) is readily available. Examples of past projects: three phase arbitrary waveform generator, data acquisition system and MIDI controller, home energy management using CEbus spread spectrum technology, power line carrier testing facility, MIDI interface, data acquisition modules.
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General Digital Signal Processing Project |
The Embedded Systems Lab can support a number of platforms for digital signal processing (see above). Examples of digital signal processing projects are: PC based spectrum analyser, spread spectrum comms, wireless link for the Signals and Systems Maze Rover, arbitrary noise generator, digital controllers for a myriad of real control problems, autonomous robots, etc.
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Portable Digital Controller |
A portable digital controller is required for control of the various systems in the control lab. The general features of such a device would be: 16-bit microcontroller with fuzzy logic support, graphical LCD display, 8-channel 12-bit ADC, 8-channel 12-bit DAC, USB 1.1, serial port, 12V supply from a PC or battery. Windows software also needs to be written to provide a more user-friendly graphical interface.
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Portable MP3 Player |
MP3 decoder chips are becoming popular and cheap. This project would involve the design of a portable hard-disk based MP3 player such as would be used in a car. A microcontroller would be used to provide a graphical interface and control of the MP3 decoder. [Hardware + software]
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RTP Translator |
An Internet Processor based transparent bridge that translates RTP from within small Ethernet packets on one side to RTP in large Ethernet packets on the other. This will involve: theoretical investigation into RTP, RTSP and RTCP protocols, simulation of "slicing and dicing" on a Linux-based PC, and implementation within the Internet Processor. [Theory + software]
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Internet Home Gateway |
Specify the functionality for an Internet home gateway including security, dynamic IP addressing, bridging and protocol translation. Implement in a PC/104 or other embedded system with large memory capacity. [Theory + hardware + software]
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PC to Embedded System Interface |
A lot of embedded systems have communication facilities, but poor user interface. A PC based interface for such systems is highly desirable, allowing a graphical, friendly interface for the user. This topic involves writing a PC based user interface for such a system using the latest language/development tools, such as Java, a "WWW browser", or C++. The software should conform to any 32-bit Windows standards. [Software]
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Porting to a Real-Time Operating System |
Take an existing embedded DOS application and port it to a real-time multitasking operating system. [Software]
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Embedded Input/Output PC/104 Card |
PC/104 is an embedded systems standard that implements the usual PC ISA bus in a compact format. An embedded system currently uses several PC/104 cards to achieve analog input and digital I/O. For cost reasons an integration of all these functions into one card is desirable. This involves combining control logic, opto-isolated digital I/O and multi-channel analog data acquisition onto one PC/104 card. Due to the limited space, it is envisaged that the design will involve a field programmable gate array and use surface mount technology. [Hardware]
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Wireless Link |
A low cost wireless link is to be built that can be inserted into a standard RS-485 network without any noticeable effects from the user. The link must operate in an adverse light and EMC environment (such as a pub or club). Options are infra-red (complying to IrDA 1.9) or radio. Surface mount technology is to be used. [Hardware]
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Power Line Carrier |
Several topics come under this heading: low voltage communication of appliances in the home using CEbus, LV communication on the electricity supply network, energy management software, hardware re-design of an existing power line carrier scheme, DSP software such as phase-lock loops and FFTs for an existing system, etc.
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SCADA Communications |
Write and test a Level 1 implementation of DNP 3.0 (Distributed Network Protocol) using a high-level language (preferably C++). Organise protocol compliance testing. [Software]
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Power System Software |
A lot of software analysis programs can be written for power systems. Choose from the following: harmonics estimator, 3 phase power transformer discrete time modelling, transient analysis, discrete time circuit breaker model, optimal VAR dispatch, voltage instability, generator/load management, power system state estimator, ferroresonance. [Software]
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Home Automation using ZigBee |
Home automation systems need a cheap and reliable method of communicating with a master control centre. ZigBee is a wireless chipset and protocol that allows simple microcontrollers to communicate wirelessly in the ISM band. The performance of ZigBee in a typical home environment is unknown. This project would build small ZigBee enabled microcontroller modules that communicated with a master PC (with ZigBee module) that would then allow the performance of the network to be measured in a real home. PC software would need to be written to measure the performance of the network in a variety of configurations. [Hardware & Software]
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Telescope Controller and PC Interface |
Modern telescopes have CCDs, motor-driven mounts, and a database of astronomical objects. This project would allow the telescope to be controlled remotely from a PC. The PC would be used to "track-and-stack" frames of CCD images to improve noise performance, as well as correct for CCD and telescope artefacts by subtracting "dark frames" etc. Many signal processing techniques can be used on the PC to enhance astronomical images, such as simple averaging, median filtering, unsharp masking, deconvolution, spatial Fourier transforms and filtering etc. Also, colour images can be obtained by using appropriate filters on the telescope. Ultimately, the telescope would be controlled via a web interface. [Software]
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Portable Media Player |
Media decoder chips are becoming popular and cheap (MPEG2/4 video and MP3 audio). This project would involve the design of a portable hard-disk or flash card based media player for video and audio. The device would have a colour LCD screen and built-in speakers. A microcontroller would be used to provide a graphical interface and control of the media decoder. [Hardware + Software]
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DSP Module for tims |
The tims units in the Control Lab need a Digital Signal Processor based module that allows a variety of processing functions using the one card, e.g. filtering, multiplying, phase-shifting, Hilbert transforming etc. The card would be programmable via a simple interface, and would operate on signals in the audio range (< 20 kHz). It is envisaged that a floating-point Texas Instruments DSP would be used for the job, and the program would be written in C. [Hardware + software]