Samueli School of Engineering

Abstract

The project aimed to revolutionize home security by developing innovative, user-friendly, and highly secure smart security devices requiring minimal installation and robust data protection. Through meticulous research and critical design phases, the project successfully achieved its objectives, surpassing initial goals and setting new standards for home security.

Objectives & Research Findings:

The project aimed to address the critical needs of homeowners, tenants/renters, and property managers by focusing on damage-free installation, easy setup, remote monitoring, and encrypted data transmission. Analysis of burglary statistics emphasized the vulnerability of inadequate door-locking mechanisms, while exploration of sensor technologies identified viable options for detecting door status. Patent analysis provided insights into prior art and innovation trends, guiding design decisions and strategies for intellectual property protection.

Critical Design Phase & Achievements:

Detailed engineering analysis, testing protocols, risk assessment, and compliance considerations were conducted. Hardware components were carefully selected and tested for optimal performance, and housing units were designed for durability and practical installation. Non-invasive sensors facilitated risk-free installation, while battery-powered sensors ensured portability and longevity. Invasive sensor options were developed for permanent home installation, and user-friendly mobile/web applications provided real-time property security status with secure and encrypted data transmission.

Future Recommendations & Conclusion:

Future recommendations include extending battery life, enhancing data protection measures, implementing a notification system within the application, and ensuring compatibility with other smart home systems. The project demonstrates how innovative security solutions can evolve alongside technology to meet user needs effectively, setting new benchmarks for convenience, flexibility, and data protection in home security systems. Lessons learned will guide future improvements, ensuring continued innovation and user satisfaction.

The UnCommons Project, as the name implies, introduces an alternative building model to traditional inefficient and environmentally destructive building stock, making it a beacon of sustainability. This state-of-the-art structure is a localized, bio-based structure reflecting concentric rings of impact from the site level, to regional, and to liberating materials from global supply chain constraints. This project’s approach integrates restorative renewable resources, water harvesting, recycling, and conservation measures to minimize its footprints. This 1,000 square foot structure, serving as a student common area at UCI, showcases high-tech, low-impact sustainable solutions through the seamless integration of AI for temperature regulation, structural wall-adjustments, and predictive maintenance systems. Given its proximity to the UCI Ecological Preserve, this structure aims to augment local biodiversity, cultivate ecological resilience, and enable students to blend with and foster an enhanced coexistence with nature. The UnCommons Project envisions buildings as living structures that harmonize with their environment.

Industry Advisors: James Bucknam, Brett Kaufmann

Approximately 1 in 6000 newborns are born with congenital ear deformities, which disproportionately affects Hispanic, Native American, and Asian-Pacific Islander communities. Children born with outer ear deformities are at a higher risk of experiencing psychosocial distress later in life. To non-surgically correct these deformities, diagnosis and treatment within 2-6 weeks of birth is crucial. This narrow time window provides a significant barrier to treatment for underserved communities. Additionally, these devices must be paid for out-of-pocket and are often aggressive, not customizable to each patient, difficult to use, and costly. To address these issues, we are developing a customizable 3D-printed ear mold to non-surgically correct outer ear deformities in neonates within 2-6 weeks of birth. Our ear mold is customized based on three-dimensional scans of each patient’s ears. After 3D-printing and assembly, it will be shipped directly to the parents, who will be able to apply the mold without the assistance of a medical practitioner. Through this method, we aim to reduce manufacturing time and costs while maximizing comfort and efficacy.

With approximately 1 in 20 individuals experiencing tooth fractures annually, there is a pressing demand for dental restorations. However, commercially available dental restoration options force consumers to compromise between aesthetics and mechanical properties. Highly esthetic cubic yttria-stabilized zirconia (YSZ) deviates from the popularity of standard tetragonal 3 mol% YSZ bioceramic due to its insufficient mechanical properties for practical dental applications. Yet, a tantalum functional gradient coating (FGC) applied to cubic YSZ has been demonstrated to enhance mechanical properties beyond even that of undoped 3 mol% YSZ, while maintaining adequate transparency values—corroborated by mechanical and optical testing. A combination of SEM, EDS, XRD, and Raman spectroscopy were employed to elucidate the mechanisms behind the change in mechanical and optical properties upon varying tantalum dopant concentrations. Tantalum defects within the YSZ lattice decrease cubic phase stability, locally inducing monoclinic phase transformations around cracks, subsequently arresting their propagation. Although the monoclinic crystal structure diminishes optical isotropy, the negative impact on transparency is deemed negligible for dental restoration applications. Advisors: Drs. Chriss Hoo, Shen Dillon, David Kisailus, jae-Won Kim

The Human Powered Vehicle Competition (HPVC) at UCI, for the first time ever, designed and manufactured a durable, compact, and ergonomic electrically-assisted recumbent trike capable of navigating rough terrain, hairpin turns, and slaloms. The vehicle, reaching theoretical top speeds of 30 mph, features a custom 10-bar indirect steering mechanism designed and manufactured at UCI and a rollover protection system handling a top load of 900 lbs and a side load of 450 lbs. In April, the team is set to compete in their very first West Coast eHPV Competition, hosted by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) at Boise State University (BSU). Beyond the competition, the project aims to explore alternative modes of transportation and inspire the next generation of engineers because we believe green engineering is the future. Furthering interest and experience on designing electric vehicles for everyday use will greatly reduce the average person’s carbon footprint. This project presents the opportunity to get one’s foot in the door as electric bikes become more commonplace. Faculty advisor: Professor Copp; assistance and support from Tyler Schult, Jake Chutney, and Patrick Jerome Smyth.

Process control is crucial in the operations of chemical engineering plants and manufacturing processes across a broad range of industries. This report details the testing and optimization of P, PI, PID controllers for a temperature control system. The first objective is to determine the best controller type for controlling the system temperature. The second objective is to alter tuning parameters manually for PID controllers in the temperature control system to achieve optimality. The performance criteria include the settling time, peak-to-trough ratio, and steady state offset. It is discovered that PID controller is the best due to its fast response,

offset elimination, and minimized settling time and oscillations, combining the aspects of Proportional (P), Integral (I), and Derivative (D) control. Additionally, manual tuning attempts were made to fine-tune the PID controller. However, the lack of data points lead to inconclusive results. Future works should conduct additional trials or employ alternative tuning methods.

University brings many changes and challenges in students inducing a great amount of emotion fluctuation. During these times of emotion fluctuation, students can experience a drop off in academic performance and a rise in stress levels. In these times, effective emotion regulation has demonstrated to be a valuable tool correlated with improving academic performance and lowering stress. Music and light/color have been shown to be effective aspects of a smart environment for emotion regulation. Combining this knowledge along with physiological signal analysis correlating with emotions, we set out to develop a smart environment system set to aid students with emotion regulation. Our goal is to develop a low-cost accessible tool for university students that enhances student performance, emotional self understanding, and positive emotion regulation habits.

Faculty Advisor: Professor Dang

The Virtual Reality (VR) Haptic Feedback Matrix, abbreviated as the “Matrix”, leverages magnetic actuators to create a compact, versatile, and scalable system to deliver touch (haptic) feedback in VR applications. By mapping movements from a virtual environment onto an arm-mounted two-dimensional array of magnetic actuators, the system dynamically mimics realistic tactile sensations at specific pressure points. The Matrix holds potential for numerous applications such as enhanced immersion for VR games and physical therapy for patients. Faculty advisors: Professor Camilo Velez Cuervo, Professor Rainer Doemer

This project focuses on the development of a human-aware advanced driver assistance system (ADAS) that helps promote safe driving based on a driver's biometrics and driving behavior. The system uses biometric signals from the driver using BioHarness Belt and Galvanic Skin Response (GSR) sensors to monitor the driver's heart rate, breathing rate, ECG and GSR signals. These sensory information are then analyzed by machine learning models to determine whether the driver is stressed or drowsy. The project extended the current state-of-the-art driving simulator CARLA to not only include the driver's brake intensity, speed, throttle and steering but also the driver's biometric state. The vehicle controls and biometrics are then plotted and analyzed for correlations that could imply a driver is driving aggressively, assertively, or defensively. Based on these correlations, the driver will be displayed a warning on the simulation which advises them to drive carefully. The output from this project is an extension to the CARLA tool that developers can use to design and simulate human-aware solutions for ADAS. Faculty Advisor: Professor Salma Elmalaki

The overall objective for HyperXite 9 was to design and build a more robust, and reliable pod, capable of proving the feasibility of a high-speed transportation system. We are working to improve a linear induction motor as the pod's propulsion system. We are also designing and implementing a thermal cooling system to actively dissipate the heat generated by this propulsion system. Our team is comprised of the following 7 subteams: Static Structures, Braking & Pneumatics, Dynamic Structures, Propulsion, Power Systems, Control Systems, and Outreach.