Projects that will be put up here soon: Skittles, Strain Tester, Sonar Transceiver, Active Slip Ring, Opto Flex Board, Mouse Wheel, Thermistor Amplifier

Note: Not all of our members worked on every project. Initials of members who worked on which projects are given above, and full names given in project descriptions. There are also portfolio pages for each individual member.

Please note that we have multiple projects that are ongoing or under an NDA that are not shown here. If you would like more information about any of our work, please reach out to Sidharth Annapragada at: sidharth@futurescapeengineering.com

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Take a look at our Announcements page to see some updates about the company and our new initiatives!

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Trinity Robotics

This project is ongoing. It involves a full system robotics design. The goal of the project is to build a robot that uses biology-inspired navigation techniques to perform in the Trinity Firefighting Robotics Competition. It involves PCB design, Mechanical design, PIC microcontroller Firmware, Embedded Linux, Computer Vision, and Robotics, as well as Neuroscience and Biology. This project is being worked on by Sidharth Annapragada.

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Electromagnetic Racers

This project involved a full system design. The goal of the project was to build a prototype museum exhibit that taught middle school students about Electromagnetic propulsion. It involved PCB design, Mechanical design, Arduino firmware, Matlab programming, UI development, and Graphic design. This project was worked on by Sidharth Annapragada, Trevor Giardine, Giona Kleinberg (kleinberg.g@husky.neu.edu, not currently a team member), and Demitri Kokoros. Caroline Zhu also contributed.

You can view our project technical report here.

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ESP8266 IOT Edge Sensing and Control

This project involved Electronics Design. The goal of the project was to build modules that used the ESP8266 WiFi module to communicate data from a load cell and temperature sensors, and to control two AC relays. It involved PCB design and Arduino programming. This project was worked on by Sidharth Annapragada.

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Transit Authority Application Mockup

This is a collection of images from a project that involved creating a mockup of an improved application, with an improved user interface for the Massachusettes-Boston Transit Authority. Showcases User Interface and Graphic Design capabilities. The project shown was worked on solely by Caroline Zhu.

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Cellular IOT Sensor

This project involved Electronics Design and Mechanical Design. The goal of the project was to build a prototype device that could detect water leaks, measure temperature, and self-monitor its battery level and send a periodic report via the cellular network. It involved low-power, low-cost design, a Lithium-Ion Battery management/charging system, RF and Analog design, and integrated mechanical and electrical engineering with waterproofing. This project was worked on by Sidharth Annapragada.

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CoVent-19 Challenge

This was a design challenge called “CoVent-19”. The link to the challenge is here: https://grabcad.com/challenges/covent-19-challenge-round-1. The goal was to develop a ventilator design that was low-cost, and rapidly manufacturable, ideally by 3D printing to assist with the COVID-19 crisis. The design involved working on creating a 3D printed “air-flow manifold” and all the associated pneumatics and sensing. This project was worked on by Sidharth Annapragada, Trevor Giardine, and Demitri Kokoros.

You can see the project abstract here.

You can see our submission, with design files, here: https://grabcad.com/library/neuvent-1

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Powder Dispenser

This was a full system product development project. The goal was to develop a prototype product that would be easily manufacturable that could accurately dispense common cooking powders and be controlled via wifi. The design involved working on creating a number of 3D printable parts (with an eye for injection molding) as well as developing a PCB and firmware to control the system. This project was worked on by Demitri Kokoros and Dominik Zajac.

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Mechanical Mockup and Renders

This includes a few mechanical design projects combined into one portfolio entry. The first project’s goal was to design a mockup design of a sensor box that would be installed in irrigation systems. The design involved selecting appropriate parts from McMaster Carr and Digikey for the sensor and fluid path components, as well as mechanical design and rendering. This project was worked on by Trevor Giardine. The project was then extended with two actual flume designs, which were worked on by Demitri Kokoros. These designs involved sheet metal design and CNC design for manufacturing.

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Rapid-Prototype Electronics Boards

It is a common scenario where a client has an existing electronics solution, such as a RasberryPi or Arduino, but needs a way to connect peripherals to this solution that is more robust than a breadboard. Below are examples of such projects, where we have developed custom boards that interface various existing electronics solutions together into a tight system within a two-week timeline. We will even assemble boards for you, for a $30 fee, which ends up being cheaper and faster than most existing assembly solutions! These were worked on by Sidharth Annapragada.

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RFID Programmer

This was a software/firmware project. The goal of this project was to convert existing micro controller C code into a clean C# GUI that automated programming and reading RFID tags for an industrial application. This project involved C# programming, GUI development, microcontroller and hardware interfacing via serial port communication and various bit manipulation techniques. Imagery limited and censored for intellectual property protection purposes. This project was worked on by Caroline Zhu.

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Automatic Light Switch

This project involved a full product design. The goal was to develop an automatic light switch to reduce energy consumption. It involved both electronics and mechanical design. Details restricted by NDA. This project was worked on by everyone at FutureScape, except Caroline, since there was no major software component.

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“Wakie” Smart Alarm Clock

For Digi-Key’s Back2School design competition, Sidharth entered a product called “Wakie”. The purpose of the competition was to award a creative product that helped better college students lives with a “home lab” for electronics prototyping. Wakie is a pressure pad that detects different forces being applied to it. It has a Bluetooth connection, with a hypothetical (hopefully soon to be real) app on a phone. When the alarm in the app goes off, the user must perform a predefined set of motions on the pressure pad to disable it, helping them wake up and stay up in the mornings. The design was created by Sidharth and the idea was formed by Caroline.

You can see our project description along with schematic and BOM here.

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Pump Control Relays

This project involved both mechanical and electrical design. The goal was to design a solid-state relay board that could be enclosed in a waterproof container, with logic-level and manual override control options. The design involved high-current/industrial equipment design techniques as well as waterproof and tight-fit mechanical design. This project was worked on by Sidharth Annapragada and Dominik Zajac.

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Hindmarsh-Rose Artificial Neuron

This was an electronics design project. The goal of the project was to develop a small analog computer that was capable of solving the Hindmarsh-Rose differential equations, which model the membrane potential of a firing neuron. This project was worked on by Sidharth Annapragada.

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Bluetooth Development Board

This was a small electronics design project. The goal was to create a simple development board for a Laird Bluetooth module, in the Adafruit Feather form-factor. This project was spun off of the Wakie project, and was worked on by Sidharth Annapragada. This project is also part of FutureScape’s product portfolio.

Skittles

This involved a full product design. As part of the Action Lab at Northeastern University, Sid was tasked with creating a device to record arm movements, for installation at the Song Lab at Brown University, a collaborator. The project involved developing custom hardware, firmware, and software to measure arm angle and a button, and communicate the data to a MATLAB program to render the data in a game, to conduct human movement experiments.

Strain Tester

This involved a full product design. Sid worked under Prof. Brian O’ Connell at Northeastern University to develop a lab kit for first year students to learn MATLAB. The project involved developing custom hardware and firmware for a strain testing device, as well as incomplete MATLAB code which students could fill in to learn simple programming concepts.

Sonar Transceiver

This was an electronics project. As part of the Biomimetic Underwater Robotics Lab at Northeastern, Sid, in collaboration with two other undergraduate students, designed and developed a custom low-cost sonar transceiver and applicable firmware to communicate with an existing biomimetic robotic lobster, designed for low-noise, long-range underwater operation.

Active Slip Ring

This was a full product design. Sid, as part of the Datta Lab at Harvard Medical School, developed a custom electro-mechanical device designed to enable recording signals from freely moving mice. The device tracks mouse motion and rotates the cable connecting to sensors on the mouse to prevent twisting, using a slip ring to transmit data to a computer. Multiple sensors and protocols can be used at the same time.

Optogenetics Flex Board

This was a small electronics design project. Sid, as part of the Datta Lab at Harvard Medical School, developed a custom flex-PCB with LEDs mounted on board, designed to be implanted above the brain of a mouse to enable patterned optogenetic stimulation. The device has an LED driver which is interfaced with through the Active Slip Ring device and custom Arduino code.

Mouse Headcameras

This was a small electronics and mechanical design project. Sid, as part of the Datta Lab at Harvard Medical School, developed a custom mount for a small off-the-shelf camera designed to be adjustable and attached to the skull of a mouse for recording facial movements. Later, Sid developed a light-weight carrier board for new camera module, enabling higher resolution and framerate recordings. Both devices interface with recording devices through the Active Slip Ring.

Thermistor Amplifier

This was a small electronics design project. Sid, as part of the Datta Lab at Harvard Medical School, developed a custom PCB designed to amplify signals from a thermistor implanted into the nose of mice, to enable recording sniffing and breathing behaviors. The device has an ADC and DAC for automatic offset adjustment, and is interfaced with through the Active Slip Ring device and custom Arduino code.

Runoff Monitor

This was a full prototype product design. This was worked on by Sidharth Annapragada and Demitri Kokoros. The goal was to create a watertight device designed to measure flow-rate, turbidity, and pressure of runoff streams to estimate soil loss. The project involved mechanical design, done by Demitri, as well as electrical design and firmware to integrate the sensor data.

Rhythm Rehab Revolution

This was a full product design. Worked on by Sid, Dominik, and three non-FutureScape undergraduate students. for our engineering Capstone project. The project involved hardware, firmware, and software. The goal was to create a customized rhythm game and controller for stroke rehabilitation. All software was developed by the non-FutureScape members.

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