Here are some of my favorite projects! My Electrical Engineering projects have an emphasis on critical thinking and attracting females into STEM majors with a twist of philosophy and art. My music project focuses on experimenting with different sounds.
Click on the drop down menu or button to view more about each project! |
This project was delivered for EE 418 High Speed System Engineering Measurement and Testing. The goal of this individual project was to do research on any topic related to high speed systems which includes electromagnetism, methods of measurement, signal processing, and microwaves. I wanted to understand the belief system behind the phenomenon of the growing popularity in pseudoscience and the occult, as well as the psychology of those who believe in it. In addition, I take a perspective of how analyzing pseudoscience can be a tool for learning scientific inquiry and critical thinking.
This project was completed for EE 186 Introduction to Electrical Engineering and Problem Solving II. This individual project explores the interaction between humans and nature by giving plants the ability to "sing" when you touch them.
To achieve this goal, I used a swept frequency capacitive sensor to detect electric fields generated through plant and human contact. This data is collected and converted into audio using an open source sound synthesis library. The sensor is from Disney Research, called Touche, which is adapted for use on the Arduino Uno and another Arduino Uno is used to generate the audio using the Mozzi library. With further research and study, I can reduce the system to one Arduino, build a filter to remove any unwanted noise, calibrate the sensor to differentiate states of touch, expand into a network of plants, and possibly differentiate types of flora each with a specific sound through a matrix structure. I hope to showcase this as an interactive art exhibit in the future.
To achieve this goal, I used a swept frequency capacitive sensor to detect electric fields generated through plant and human contact. This data is collected and converted into audio using an open source sound synthesis library. The sensor is from Disney Research, called Touche, which is adapted for use on the Arduino Uno and another Arduino Uno is used to generate the audio using the Mozzi library. With further research and study, I can reduce the system to one Arduino, build a filter to remove any unwanted noise, calibrate the sensor to differentiate states of touch, expand into a network of plants, and possibly differentiate types of flora each with a specific sound through a matrix structure. I hope to showcase this as an interactive art exhibit in the future.
The sunscreen reminder hat is part of a project that I am involved in with the ECSEL scholars program at ISU. The ECSEL Scholars hosted a Spring 2017 session for The Road Less Traveled (TRLT), a career exploration program hosted by Iowa State University, geared towards young females in middle school and high school to explore STEM fields. Our session focuses on how technology can help benefit a healthy lifestyle. The hat uses Adafruit's FLORA, an Arduino-compatible microcontroller. It is a wearable electronic that is outfitted with a UV sensor and piezo speaker which is programmed to alert the user to reapply sunscreen at a given time interval.
Images courtesy of Adafruit
The midi glove showcases the different uses for Adafruit's FLORA. The glove transmits a signal to music-making software such as NanoStudio to create an experience that lets you turn any surface into an instrument by using piezo sensors. This project was intended to be a demonstration for TRLT students to explore different sensors.
I composed my first music pieces using the DAWS (Digital Audio Work Station) ProTools for my MUSIC 246 class. The goal of the first project was to create a 2 minute track using only the provided audio files containing random sounds. The second project takes a midi file and uses different effects and sounds to differentiate the track from the original.