1. RC Boat Power and Signal Level Indicator
Sanchit Anand, Vaibhav Mittal, Sho Harisawa
ECE 445 Senior Design

2. You shouldn’t need a talking mouse to keep your RC boat safe

3. Requirements Indicate low battery levels Keep boat in range
Track boat location

4. System Overview

5. Hardware Overview Developed In-House Bought off the shelf HM-10 BLE
Regulator
Comparator
MCU
Hardware Overview
Developed In-House
LM317
LM339 Comparator
MCU (Atmega328)
Bought off the shelf
HM-10 BLE
NEO6-MV2 GPS
GPS Module
HM-10

6. Micro-Controller Unit
Works on input voltage of 3.3 V. ✓
Communicate using serial port. ✓

7. Data Flow

8. Data Format

9. Software Overview BLE backend
Android app UI with Google maps interface

10. App Interface

11. Boat Battery Performance

12. Battery Level Comparator
Notify user when the voltage goes below VREF. ✓
VRef(V)
VIn(V)
LED State 5 6
OFF
5.5
4.9 ON

13. Peak power consumption
Communication Protocol
Protocol
Bluetooth low energy
(BLE)
Radio Frequency
(RF 445 MHz)
Data transfer Range m m
Peak power consumption V V
Ease of integration
Doesn’t require a receiver
Requires a separate receiver

14. Bluetooth Unit Works on input voltage of 3.3 V. ✓
Transmit data from MCU to app.✓
Receive sensitivity of - 97dbm.✓

15. Bluetooth Range Test

16. GPS Unit Works on input voltage of 3.3 V. ✓
Update location with 1 Hz. ✓

17. Verification

18. Current consumption

19. Power Supply
3.3 V DC regulated supply.✓
100mA current. ✓

20. Iout vs VIN
Vout vs VIN

21. Practical Design Compact and small. ✓ Low power consumption ✓
Boat is well balanced.✓
Boat drives well in water.✓

22. Final Design

23. Strengths and Weaknesses
Supports BLE
Large consumer market (primary and secondary)
Practical Design
Cannot work indoors
Low range of usage (Bluetooth limitation)
Integrated design is complex

24. Future Development Change comparator design
Get more data (Speed, Direction..)
Bring boat back
Add waterproof compartment to boat
Improve GPS strength
Different communication protocol

25. Ethical Considerations
Abide to IEEE’s code of ethics.
Responsible to environmental concerns ( no electric discharge).
Safety standards (Battery safety, water proof).

26. Acknowledgements Yamuna Phal Michael Oelze Arne Fliflet Karl Reinhard
Jacob Bryan
Channing Philbrick

27. Thank You