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Difficult Project Ideas. PLEASE HELP!

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tk

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:?: I was wondering does any one have any ideas for an electronic project. I am going to do a project in the spring of 2004 so I can graduate from college. The problem is I don't know what to do or when I think of something someone's already done it. Does anyone have any suggestions. If you do please make it a difficult one. Another thing is that the suggestion can't be a robot. It can only be in the field of electrical engineering. The sugestion must also have something to do with microprocessors and electronics. Thanks! :!: :!:
 
You could always build an oscilliscope.

I have a schematic for one, only problem is it's very, very complex, it's a 12 page 16 meg schematic so I can't host it.

If you really want to make an A+, you could build a prototype microwave generator.

A microwave generator runs on microwaves generating up to 10 times the amount of energy than solar power. But, they're still experimantal so you probably won't be able to find a schematic for one.

Or you could make a full solar energy system that can power a house.

Or a solar powered dune buggy.

Or a mainframe computer.

Or a doorcam (a microcamera with a flexible tube to connect it to a 6"x4" full color monitor w/ night vision adapter)
 
Nostrafus said:
You could always build an oscilliscope.

I have a schematic for one, only problem is it's very, very complex, it's a 12 page 16 meg schematic so I can't host it.

What type of oscilloscope is that? Analog or Digital?
 
Don't remember, lemme check...

Can't tell, the model info is gone, apparently it's pretty old, but still good, at the time it was their most advanced unit, but now well over 10 years old.

It's a tektronix 535a, so probably analog. Apparently the schematics are widely available.

Okay, update, it's a 7 meg, 32 page pdf... so a lot bigger and more complex than I originally said...
 
tk said:
:?: I was wondering does any one have any ideas for an electronic project. I am going to do a project in the spring of 2004 so I can graduate from college. The problem is I don't know what to do or when I think of something someone's already done it. Does anyone have any suggestions. If you do please make it a difficult one. Another thing is that the suggestion can't be a robot. It can only be in the field of electrical engineering. The sugestion must also have something to do with microprocessors and electronics. Thanks! :!: :!:

Maybe you can do a sincrocheck, or maybe a speed control for turbine generators, or maybe an excitation equipment. All that stuff is pretty related to electrical engineering, and you will shure taka advantage of microcontorllers.

Cheers, and good luck with your project
 
What is your degree? BSEE? What about your minor(s)? What type of things interest you? Transmitting/receiving, sensing, medical, natural science? Don't bother to answer - just think about these things. It is the answer that will point you to your future - not to mention that all-important project.

On the other hand...if your college major is AA, AE, or AS, you have no minor, and your stongest interest is video games, you should go ask some complete strangers for a project . . .
 
how about an aquisition board for PC?
shoulf be complex enough......
you could run it on USB......or make it with PCI
 
get a really good grade

I have been wanting to build this but havent had the money. i had read recently that uv lasers have the capability to ionize the air of the path that they travel. thus making it possible to conduct electricity along this path. you could make a project roughly the size of a decent picture frame and make a "force field" anything that enters the field would be given a light shock. by using a setup of prisms or line splitters this could be accomplished. I wanted to build this for my senior project also but i still have about 4 yrs left of school.
 
A quick web search found this:
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http://www.physlink.com/Education/AskExperts/ae289.cfm

Question

If you shoot a laser into a thunderstorm will the beam act as a lightning rod due to the ionization of the air by the laser beam?

Asked by: Jerry Thero

Answer

A research group in Japan is exploring this concept. I recall seeing a photo in Scientific American of the arc from a large Tesla Coil being guided in a straight line by a laser pulse. Contrary to what one might assume, their laser was IR, not UV. The extremely high power IR pulse caused dust and aerosols in the air to explode into a 'dotted line' of plasma, and the arc then followed this conductive line in the air. There was an article in 1997 by P. Mortensen in the magazine Laser Focus World about their more recent accomplishments. They have moved outdoors and are attempting to create 'plasma columns' above a tower during a thunderstorm. Alumina powder is injected into the air, and the focused laser pulse causes the powder to become a plasma. Here's an online version: http://www.esdjournal.com/articles/lightn.htm

Another group is using a UV eximer laser to excite oxygen and create a pair of ionized paths through the air which are then connected to a pulsed high voltage supply and used as a sort of 'weapon.'

http://www.hsvt.org/

I would imagine that the channels ionized by this UV laser could act as lightning rods during a thunderstorm. However, if oxygen is absorbing the laser light, the range becomes extremely limited. Perhaps too much power is required for an ultraviolet 'lightning rod' laser, and that's why the Japanese group is using IR instead?

Answered by: William Beaty, B.S., Electrical Engineer, Seattle
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The hsvt link is worth exploring, they are developing a taser along these lines, sadly no circuit diagram just a link to the patent website.
 
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