Electric Longboard
Project Overview
Our goal in this project was to modify the Longboard riding experience. In particular, when riding a Longboard for commuting or exercise there is no way to certainly know how far or fast one has ridden. Using a GPS chip and an encoder on the wheel we programmed a Raspberry Pi 2 Model B to collect data from the board. We could then display the data on a map of the area tracing the route taken. This design enhances the Longboard riding experience by making it interactive and goal driven, while also yielding tangible results.
Team Members
- Max Cetta
- Jacob Frank
- Alden Welsch (TA)
Objectives
These three aspects will be the focus of our project:
- Distance By adding a GPS chip to the board we can collect coordinate data at 1 Hz, which we can then filter and use to calculate distance travelled on a raspberry pi board. Once we have the coordinates saved to a text file we can upload that to a visualizer and plot our path over a map of the area.
- Speed Using a custom printed encoder on a wheel of the longboard we want to collect data on how fast the wheels are spinning, which we can then convert to speed travelled based on the circumference of the wheels. The method of counting ticks could be a matter of a magnetic switch or photodiode. Also the number of ticks per rotation is unclear.
Challenges
- Building Encoders Building and programming the encoders so it can reliably tell us how fast the board is traveling, especially at high speeds when the wheel may spin many times a second. Also figuring out how to distinguish which direction the longboard wheel is spinning.
- GPS Chip We aren not currently familiar with how to interpret GPS chip data. We will need to familiarize ourselves with GPS chip programming, and calculating distance using coordinates. Also, making a reinforced program that will filter out erroneous data due to environmental factors.
- Mounting Taking all of our components and putting them in a compact container which can be secured to the longboard. We need to maintain as light a design as possible considering the board is being manually powered, while still keeping all the components safe and dry.
- Automation Ideally this circuit would be able start and stop on its own based on whether it is being ridden. Because we are using a Raspberry Pi we will be able to extract the data we want later eliminating the need for real time remote display or control. The difficulty will be figuring out how to kick start the circuit.
- LED Control In order to maximize the brightness of the headlights we need to directly hook the LED's up to whatever battery we have. Using an LED driver we hope to be able to keep constant voltage across all LED's while maintaining control of each individually.
Budget
| Item | Quantity | Price | Vendor | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| GPS Receiver - GP-20U7 (56 Channel) | 1 | $15.95 | Sparkfun | https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13740 |
| Mini Photocell | 2 | $1.50 | Sparkfun | https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9088 |
| Analog to Digital Converter - MCP3002 | 1 | $2.30 | Sparkfun | https://www.sparkfun.com/products/8636 |
| Raspberry Pi 2 - Model B (8GB Bundle) | 1 | $49.95 | Sparkfun | https://www.sparkfun.com/products/13724 |
| Resistor Kit - 1/4W (500 total) | 1 | $7.95 | Sparkfun | https://www.sparkfun.com/products/10969 |
| LED - Basic Green 5mm | 2 | $0.35 | Sparkfun | https://www.sparkfun.com/products/9592 |
| Tontec® Raspberry Pi Case | 1 | $7.98 | Amazon | http://www.amazon.com/Tontec%AE-Raspberry-Black-Enclosure-Transparent/dp/B00NUN98UW?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=od_aui_detailpages00 |
| KMASHI 10000mAh Battery | 1 | $13.99 | Amazon | http://www.amazon.com/KMASHI-10000mAh-External-Battery-Portable/dp/B00JM59JPG?ie=UTF8&psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00 |
| Total | $101.82 |
