Group 077-05: Kite Drones for Air Quality Monitoring

This week's deliverables required us to solidify ideas for the design. We added details to the design proposal to identify the resources to use and the skills needed to complete the design. We also ordered parts we need to create the device. We decided to 3D print the box to hold the mechanism and are using an Arduino Board and software for the design. The budget and process was planned out in the design proposal. We plan to move further in the design process as we start to build. In the next week, we will plan out how we are going to program the Arduino Board to take the input and evaluate it, then generating an output for the user. The physical features will also be specified as we start to build and alter the plan according to the building process.

This week's goal was to create a project proposal, with concrete information about our idea. We made just adjustments to our initial idea and have started the planning process. We decided to make a box with various sensors that can be switched out and the box can be mounted to walls or attached to drones to test air quality. In the proposal, we planned out the budget, resources, and project timeline. We also plan to devise a way to get the recorded data to be communicated with the user either through light display, numerical display, graphical display, or a beeping indication.

The goal of Week 1 was to brainstorm several possible solutions for air quality testing. Our group conducted research and found that there are four main pollutants present in the air in the United States that include hydrocarbon, particular matter coming from diesel emissions, oxide, and carbon monoxide. These substances vary across different regions and affect the environment in different ways. The group also found that two very highly polluted cities are Los Angeles and Hong Kong. Some ideas we came up with included an autonomous air quality tester that navigates around a building like a warehouse or factory and continuously tests the quality of the air and records what areas have a higher concentration of pollutants. The idea we decided to implement is a drone that is controlled by a user with sensors that can detect carbon monoxide and nitrogen oxide in any given location. The intended use for this device is in large factories or warehouses where gas leaks are not easily detected...