Dream Team Project Selection 1st Inertia Magnetic Induction Charging System Most of us have seen the flash lights that are powered by shaking them a few times thereby charging the battery through currents induced into a coil by a permanent magnet. The power generated by these small charging systems is considerable when compared to the power needs of some of today’s electronics, but no one wants to go around shaking their mp3 player to keep it going. A solution to this lies in the movements we make everyday. A small percentage of the amount of energy used to walk from class to class could power an mp3 player for hours. Some of this “everyday” energy could be collected by very small scale magnetic induction charging systems woven into all types of clothing. Small nylon tubes could contain arrays of coil-permanent magnet sets, each magnet given enough space to move through one or two coil sets allowing it to pickup speed and thereby inducing more current. The tubes could contain a small amount of lubricant to keep friction down. The current could then be filtered and stored into a battery. Of course there would be a limit to how many of these tubes could be woven in before the user would start to feel the extra energy exerted to power the charging system. Also, the size of the tubes would have to be small enough to still be comfortable. For this project, given the manufacturing limitations, tube sizes would be ~.200” to.400” for testing whereas actual application may be ~.005” to.010”

2nd Smart Lights A vast amount of energy is wasted each year by household overhead lighting. A solution to this would be a “smart” lighting system where overhead lights would track a person around the room using a single light as well as where the person was going using a separate light. Once a person walks out of the light systems range, the lights turn off and possibly could send a signal to another set of lights corresponding to where the person was heading. Fewer total lights would be needed to provide the same overall lighting by standard lights and the amount of wasted electrical power would be lowered. 3rd Handi-Brush The Handi-Brush is a toothbrush for individuals with limited mobility that makes the dental cleansing process less of a hassle. It will be attached to the individual’s sink and be capable of moving in all directions to allow for easy access. This device will also be automatically loaded with toothpaste and have a 360º bristle design to allow for easy usage by any individual.

4th Small Running Humanoid Robot Most modern walking robots move very slowly compared with the running speed of the average person. This is due to the difficulty of creating a control system to handle the whole process. However, if the movements could be directed by a simplified controller that used partially closed-loop and mostly open-loop control, the task of running may not be so difficult to achieve. 5th Automated Leaf Raker One of the annoying outdoor tasks that many people have to deal with is raking their yards. To make this task easier a solution is developing an outdoor unmanned automated rake and vacuum. The idea and functionality of this device would be similar to the operation of the smart vacuum.

6th Stay-Dry Umbrella for Automobiles The Stay-Dry Umbrella is a mechanism that attaches to any automobile that allows the driver to get in and out of the car without getting wet on a rainy day. It includes a trigger in the inside of the car that causes the umbrella to deploy and then once the driver has exited the car the umbrella can then be detached from the housing on the mechanism and used like a regular umbrella. 7th Continuously Adjustable Damper System Most spring-damper systems utilize a dampener that is sometimes adjustable, however the dampener either has to be taken apart and “revalved” or its operation stopped while an adjusting screw is turned to increase or decrease its damping characteristics. A solution to this would be to create a dampener whose valve plate cut-out area was adjustable during operation by changing its rotation through electromagnetic windings much like that of a stepper motor. The valve would actually consist of two plates with cut-outs along half the edge of each plate. During full damping the cut-outs would be 180 degrees apart. If less damping is desired, one plate’s cut-out area could be rotated via the “stepper” windings towards the cut-out area of the stationary plate. If enough windings are used, a seemingly continuous variance in damping characteristics could be achieved.

8th Speak and Splash Voice activated shower apparatus for people with upper extremity disabilities. It has default temperature settings and the person may adjust the water temperature by saying "hotter" or "colder," depending on their preference.