Research Projects:
- PowerBlade
By building on the experiences of Monjolo and PowerCube (below) we created
PowerBlade. This plug load power metering system is so thin that devices
literally plug though it into the outlet. This miniaturization enables
extreme density of deployment, even higher than what PowerCube originally
offered.
We published our findings at SenSys'15, and a link to the complete text can be
found below.
PowerBlade Webpage
PowerBlade Github
- Monjolo (CoilCube)
Recent advances in energy harvesting technology has made possible a host of
energy harvesting applications previously unavailable due to power draw,
energy availabilty, etc. Monjolo is a new wireless sensing paradigm that
relies on energy harvesting to be the sensor - frequency of wakeups can be
directly mapped to energy availability. This means that a central listener
can listen for wireless packets (signifying a wakeup) and accurately infer
the power source underneath.
In order to test this design we have built several monjolo-based sensors,
including CoilCube, the monjolo-based AC plug load power meter. Myself and
Brad Campbell published our findings in SenSys '13. A link to the complete
text can be found below.
Monjolo Webpage
- PowerCube
With the explosive boom in power demand, a huge strain has been put on the power generation infrastructure
in the world. What the Cubic Inch Power Meter project attempts to provide
is a simple, straightforward way for power consumers to be informed about
the power use in their home or office. The hope is that an informed user
will use this information to reduce their own power usage.
The device fits into an unobtrusive cubic inch form factor and monitors
power use in individual wall sockets. This information is fed into a central
database where it is aggregated and displayed to the user over the Internet.
PowerCube Wiki
- BlueLogic Logic Analyzer
We are working on designing an ultra-low
cost logic analyzer that operates over a Bluetooth link. Our design involves a Spartan
FPGA and the Roving Networks RN-42.
Challenges to this project
involve a high sampling rate a low bandwidth Bluetooth link. Our low cost criterion
restricts the use of extensive on board storage but our goal is 20MSamples/second and
256K samples recorded.
- Environmental Sensing
Working under Professor Robert Dick at the
University of Michigan as well as engineers at the University of Colorado, Boulder,
and abroad, I am helping to design and build a device for monitoring air quality.
Publications:
- PowerBlade: A Low-Profile, True-Power, Plug-Through Energy Meter
Samuel DeBruin, Branden Ghena, Ye-Sheng Kuo, Prabal Dutta
SenSys '15 (Embedded Networked Sensor Systems)
Full Text
- Monjolo: An Energy-Harvesting Energy Meter Architecture
Samuel DeBruin, Bradford Campbell, Prabal Dutta
SenSys '13 (Embedded Networked Sensor Systems)
Full Text
Involvement:
- SkySpecs.
SkySpecs is a local Ann Arbor startup founded in 2012 by Danny Ellis, Tom Brady, and myself.
We aim to lower the barrier to entry of drones by making them safer and easier to use. We
three were many of the original members of MAAV and when we graduated we attempted to
commercialize our technology. To date we have raised over $1.4M in capital and have received
numerous accolades at local business competitions and accelerators.
- Endectra.
Endectra is commercializing a revolutionary material innovation which enables highly sensitive,
rugged, low power, and directional detection of neutron radiation. This is a key element in U.S.
national security, multinational anti-terrorism activities, and global prevention of nuclear
isotope proliferation because neutrons emitted from illicit nuclear materials are very difficult
to shield.
- Michigan Autonomous Aerial Vehicles.
MAAV is a multi-diciplinary team of student engineers from EECS and Aerospace Engineering.
Founded in 2009, MAAV builds autonomous quadrocoptors for the International Aerial Robotics
Competition every summer. For several years I was the team lead for the hardware subteam, designing
and creating printed circuit boards for the flight systems.
Documents:
- Resume
- In order to save costs while producing high quality circuit boards, I have developed a technique
for creating custom solder stencils using Cadsoft Eagle and AutoDesk AutoCAD. The technique uses a laser
cutter. A pdf describing how to produce the necessairy files can be found here.
A tutorial for using this file to actually cut the stencil can be found here.
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