PANAMA CITY — The goal for the project is an inexpensive radar that would detect birds before they reach a contaminated water source. A more developed version would then emit a signal to keep the birds from reaching the water and possibly spreading the contaminates throughout their environment.
“The majority of bird fatalities are related to human activities,” senior engineering student Jerry Walker said in his presentation Thursday. He then gave an example of 1,600 birds being killed in a pit around an area of the tar sands in western Canada.
The project was one of two senior projects on display at Florida State University Panama City’s Engineering Project Demonstrations and Presentations on Thursday. Geoffrey Brooks, head of the electrical and computer engineering department, said students who make it all the way to their senior projects have about a 100 percent chance of being hired by local companies. Two of those companies had representatives in attendance.-
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Currently, Florida State University Panama City students Walker and partner Shoa Russell’s prototype radar appears as naked computer components connected to two tin cans. Russell said the system can pick up a human at 50 meters, birds significantly closer, although they are planning official testing in January. The project extends into the second semester with a deadline of April 22.
The idea of a bird radar is not revolutionary. Russell said radar at airports detect birds in an attempt to limit damage to aircraft. However, Walker and Russell’s radar, using an existing system, could cost just a few hundred dollars. A 500-megawatt amplifier and two parabolic, or satellite-dish style, receivers still are needed.
This type of cost piqued the interest of Panama City company DeTect Inc., who could save more money in mass production, Walker said. DeTect is sponsoring the equipment costs for the senior project. Walker brought the idea to DeTect, having developed the design on his own based on a fascination with radar technology stemming from his military service; he’s retired now, at least 25 years Russell’s senior.
“I built this unit as a play thing,” Walker said of the tin can model.
DeTect, while the only commercial sponsor, was not the only company in attendance. Steve Wallace of Exelis, a company that develops mine countermeasures, surveyed the various projects, including the work of first-year electrical engineering students like Joe Stanford, who developed a blackjack game using a rudimentary computer-programmed panel. Exelis had sponsored a senior project a previous year, improving a data collection algorithm.
“So far it looks really good,” Wallace said. “I like what they’re doing. I see improvement all the time and I like that.”
The other senior project on display Thursday was a different type of game. Gavin Taylor, Kinsey Naud and Jonah Cleveland are developing a light system that displays the speeds of animals for the Science & Discovery Center of Northwest Florida. The idea is that children would input an animal native to Northwest Florida — Naud was thinking alligator, panther, gopher turtle and a pelican — and would then race that animal, or its specter conveyed through a string of flashing lights.
“It’s super fun and we’re going to teach native species,” Science & Discovery Center Director Linda Macbeth said. “This is a perfect example of how the community is coming together to help us become more viable.”
The students’ relationship with the Discovery Center is more partnership than sponsorship. Taylor said the university will provide the software and hardware for the computer program and lights. The Discovery Center will provide an enclosure for the lights and other materials for the display. Like Walker and Russell, Taylor, Naud and Cleveland will have a completed project ready for display at the Discovery Center by April 22.
Bill Porter, who works on robots at Naval Support Activity Panama City as an electrical engineer, was a mentor for Taylor, Naud and Cleveland. He said the design projects provide an important bridge for students from the theory taught in the classroom and how it needs to be applied in a working setting. He used the example of a tic-tac-toe game designed by one of the first-year students.
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“It’s one thing to use that board; it’s another to make your own tic-tac-toe game,” Porter said.
It might be an important lesson to temper the ambitions of younger students. Stanford is literally shooting for the moon, wanting to be a part of a program to launch solar panels into space — although he had to admit that he was not sure how electricity might be transferred or what would be the most cost-effective way to put the panels into space.
“There’s always a way to make it better,” Stanford said of solar and technology in general.