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Design an Ultrasonic Sonar Tower

Using long-distance range sensors like an ultrasonic, build a sonar tower (which is like a radar tower, but with sound).

The tower should have a field of view that is nearly 180 degrees, but potentially as large as 360. You can use cardboard, one or more ultrasonic sensors, and a cardboard/lego base.

The sonar tower needs to "actually work," even if the materials are paper or lego. That is, you should find a way to turn the ultrasonic (either by hand, or with a motor), take a measurement, then turn the ultrasonic a bit more. The best designs will include some signal processing (filters, etc.). Demonstrate carefully how your Sonar Tower makes an accurate measurement.

Write Arduino code so that you can measure an array of distances from the tower. You may want to build a Processing sketch to visualize your tower's measurements (yes, AI-built code is fine here).

After building, draw your tower. Annotate your drawing, and explain how it works from both an algorithm and physical design perspective. Pseudo-code is fine.

Design solution format and handin​

Submit images or a video of your built prototype with your reflection on Canvas. Demonstrate that your prototype "actually works," i.e., either build a circuit and show a moving tower or show on paper the step-by-step algorithm for determining the object. Either the algorithm must be correct, or the tower must demonstrably work.

Your reflection and self-provided grade should assess your design challenge: how well did you think that you did the design challenge? Provide a short justification for your self-given grade and reflect on the connection between the design challenge and course concepts. The best reflections do not linger long on self-promotion. Instead, they focus on course concepts.

Submit evidence of your participation in the course: over the module, did you fully engage in the pre-readings? Did you do the in-class drawing exercises and design challenges to the best of your ability? Provide evidence of your engagement with in-class design challenges.

For this course, we always use the following kind of scale:

  • 5: Exceptional: above and beyond requirements, brings in outside knowledge and/or deeply engages with the material.
  • 4: Very good: meets requirements fully, no major critiques.
  • 3: Good: mostly meets requirements, one or two major critiques or many minor critiques.
  • 2: Poor: mostly pro forma meeting of requirements, many major or minor critiques.
  • 1: Very poor: some discernable effort, but significant problems.
  • 0: No discernable effort.

The design challenge is due two weeks after the assignment released (will be indicated on Canvas).