We are always looking for motivated students to join the lab.

Typical work for students includes cell culture, proteomics, microfabrication, programming, and a variety of other tasks.

We have also outlined some specific projects that we are currently offering. Please look through these and contact the person in charge if you are interested in one of them. This list is not exhaustive, so feel free to email us even if you are not applying for one of these projects.

 

Hardware & software

Implementation of a robust control loop for an air pressure regulator

Description: We have developed an electronic air pressure regulator, consisting of a microcontroller combined with a precision pressure sensor and two proportional solenoid valves. It takes compressed air from a pump or tank and outputs a stable, precise pressure anywhere between full vacuum to +2 atm.

While we have achieved acceptable performance with a simple P/I controller, there is a lot of room for improvement. The goal of this project is to characterize the system, devise some control strategies, and implement them in software. Simulation of the system will be done with MATLAB, and the microcontroller will be programmed in C++.

Requirements: Background in control theory; experience with MATLAB programming. Experience with C++ and Arduino are a plus, but not required.

Contact: craig.watson@case.edu