German-American Project

The history since 2014 and picures.

The project starts in March / April and ends in September 2020.

Approx. 16 students from Texas Tech University and 16 students from Jade University work together in the project. After the preparation period from March to June, the mixed German-American group continues the work together in the project in July / August for 6 weeks at the Jade Hochschule. Following the preparatory theory and conception of the project, they are working on sub-projects using the example of a smart house model in international groups of 3-6 students, in which they plan, implement, program and document specific tasks.

Staff:

Dipl.-Ing. Paul Beckmann
Department of Management, Information Technology - organization, lectures, laboratory support

Jan Dierks B.Eng.
Department of Engineering Sciences, laboratory support

Prof. Dr.-Ing. Heiner Köster
Department of Engineering Sciences - organization

Dipl.-Ing. Jörg Meyer
Department of Engineering Sciences - simulations

Harald Musa M.Eng.
Department of Engineering Sciences - lectures, exercises

Prof. Dr. Folker Renken
Department of Engineering Sciences - lecture

Prof. Dr. Josef Timmerberg
Department of Management, Information Technology - organization, lectures, laboratory support

Detailed subprojects description.

Group A - Heating Pool
Control the water temperature in the outdoor pool. Different power controllers and controller strategies are to be tested. For state‐of‐the‐art controls, operation should also be possible via mobile phone.

Plan of procedures:
subgroup 1:

• measure the step function response of the control process (without the module of subgroup 2)
• build the mathematical model from the step function response
• simulate (Scilab, Xcos) the control process with the mathematical model

subgroup 2:

• analyse an existing phase controlled modulator for the pool heating
• simulate the circuit with LT‐Spice
• test the existing hardware
• analyse an pulse packet controller for the pool heating
• simulate the circuit with LT‐Spice
• test the existing hardware

Both

• control unit design (with the math. model and the frequency response characteristic)
• simulation of the overall system
• programming the controller with Arduino
• measure the step function response of the overall system and make the presentation and a movie
• create the mathematical model with physical knowledge and compare it with that of measurement
• calculate the frequency response characteristic from the step function response
• simulate (Scilab, Xcos) the control process with the mathematical model and the frequency response characteristic
• create the presentation and documentation and make a movie

Group B: App Development
Combine all values gathered by other groups via MQTT in an Unity Application. This Application should also be capable of sending values to other groups.

Plan of procedures:

• Draw a possible interface consisting of User Interface components (2D)
• Develop possible scenes, keep them as generic as possible
• Research a suitable MQTT Library

subgroup 1:

• Build interface for 2 other groups (Elevator and Object Detection / Movement)
• ask them for possible in‐ and outputs
• Add word recognition

subgroup 2:

• Build interface for 2 other groups (Pool Heating and Photovoltaic)
• ask them for possible in‐ and outputs
• Build an interface which is able to display developments over time

Both

• split source code in reusable functions
• document source code
• document use cases and program in one (or more) Flowcharts
• create the presentation and documentation and make a movie

Group C: Elevator
Control the external elevator attached to the house.

Plan of procedures:

• Research on different elevator dispatch mechanism
• Summarize possible sequences
• Control the motor using an Arduino
• Use Sensors to locate the elevator
• Add security features
• Broadcast values via MQTT
• Add buttons and displays
• document source code
• document use cases and program in one (or more) Flowcharts
• create the presentation and documentation and make a movie

Group D: Photovoltaics
Supply the house with renewable energy by a PV system. The renewable energy system should consist of the solar module, an accumulator and a controller, which also contains an mpp‐tracker. For state‐of‐the‐art controls, operation should also be possible via mobile phone.

Plan of procedures:

• plan the energy supply of the house model – energy independent / grid independent
• create an energy supply with "normal" components: PV panel, battery, ..
• measure the characteristic curves I(U) and P(U) of the PV panels
• dimension the battery
• create a concept of a mpp‐controller

subgroup 1:

• analyse the existing control hardware and the existing mpp tracker with LT‐Spice and test it

subgroup 2:

• develop the software for the Arduino
• test the software with the simulation of the PV‐panel

Both

• join the hardware and the software
• test the whole system, draw characteristic curves
• create the presentation and documentation and make a movie

Group E: Optical Movement and Shape Recognition
Signal, if a special car as ambulance or fire truck enters the estate of the house. For state‐of‐the‐art controls, operation should also be possible via mobile phone.

Group E1: Signal, if any person or animal is in the garden or at the entry door, if nobody is at home.
Group E2: Signal, if a special car as ambulance or fire truck enters the estate of the house.
For state‐of‐the‐art controls, operation should also be possible via mobile phone.

Plan of procedures

• configure a Raspberry Pi 3 including a camera
• getting started with Python
• analyse the data from of camera (picture format, compression, origin, ...)
• adjust the resolution by your own procedure and find the optimal value
• practise image processing: colour reduction to grey/b‐w
• practise image processing: rotate, translate, mirror, scale, edge detection (if time)
• handle the effect of changing the intensity of illumination ‐ offset reduction
• if necessary: filter methods

subgroup 1 Optical Movement Recognition:

• empirical approach
• correlation approach
• difference method

subgroup 2 Optical Shape Recognition:

• practise picture segmentation = thresholding
• edge and corner detection such as Canny Edge Detection, Moravec’s Corner Detector
• AND/OR edge and corner detection such as Sobel Edge Detection, Harris Corner Detector
• Hough‐Transformation for a straight line

Both

• compare and discuss your results of both groups
• document used methods and program
• create the presentation and documentation and make a movie

The excursion also serves to know the partner university better, in order to make an easier decision for a later study there.

Company visits (Lubbock, Dallas, New York) and visits of cultural facilities and events during the excursion round off the international project experience with expanded knowledge of international project development and the get to know of the USA.

A final English-language excursion report is jointly prepared by the students and made available to the president of the Jade Hochschule. The excursion report will be published on the website of the Jade Hochschule in an appropriate form.