ECE 4760: Introduction to Microcontroller Programming FINAL DESIGN PROJECT

May 10, 2009 11:06 AM

Our project is a fart intensity detector which ranks fart magnitude on a scale from 0-9 according to sound, temperature, and gas concentrations.Two Cornell EE students built a Fart Intensity Detection Station as a final project for Introduction to Microcontroller Programming.

"It is a fascinating idea," say Robert Clain and Miguel Salas, "that something that induces so much laughter in society can be actually measured and objectively ranked. In fact, it is a project that shows the world out there that electrical engineering can indeed be simply deliciously FUN!"

...oh god I can't believe I'm posting this. Sorry. And you're welcome. Enjoy the tags and the header picture.

posted by clavicle (57 comments total)

That's the beauty of college these days. You can major in Game Boy if you know how to bullshit.
posted by Bathtub Bobsled at 11:09 AM on May 10, 2009 [5 favorites]

but what about smell? can they measure a plain stinky fart against one that makes everyone's eyes water?

it don't mean a thing if it ain't got that sting
posted by pyramid termite at 11:14 AM on May 10, 2009

"deliciously" fun? wtf?
posted by molecicco at 11:23 AM on May 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

Matches?
posted by metagnathous at 11:28 AM on May 10, 2009

Matches?

We don't need no matches! I don't have to show you any stinkin' matches!
posted by FelliniBlank at 11:30 AM on May 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

. . . Lighter?
posted by metagnathous at 11:35 AM on May 10, 2009

readings are off the scale captain!
posted by bottlebrushtree at 11:36 AM on May 10, 2009

...sound, temperature, and gas concentrations.

In all seriousness, I think they should have ranked in accordance to relative humidity as well.
posted by Bathtub Bobsled at 11:39 AM on May 10, 2009

From the syllabus "The purpose of this course is to enable its students to carry out sophisticated designs of the modern digital systems which now appear in products such as automobiles, appliances and industrial tools. The basis of such systems is the microcontroller, a microcomputer optimized for single-chip system design by possessing many peripheral devices geared to real-time applications. The microcontrollers we will use are the Atmel MEGA series RISC microcontrollers."

So they're preparing engineers to turn out sophisticated designs. And yet this project's code is somewhat amateur. A main loop with an if(a)-if(b)-if(c)-if(d) begging to be turned into a switch statement, and a complete lack of interrupts.

but what about smell? can they measure a plain stinky fart against one that makes everyone's eyes water?

They measure odor by way of an H₂S sensor. This post would have been greatly augmented by the video wherein they describe how it works.

Other class Final Projects appear to be equally if not more nifty.
posted by pwnguin at 11:39 AM on May 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

That's the beauty of college these days. You can major in Game Boy if you know how to bullshit.

You might be an electrical engineer, but I am not. Reading the link made the work they did on an admittedly silly premise seem significantly more complicated than bullshit.

I know you are just snarking, but reducing someone's final project to bullshit because it's predicated upon a silly premise seems lame to my snark sensor.
posted by lazaruslong at 11:44 AM on May 10, 2009 [8 favorites]

I expect to be hearing about this via email forward from a couple of Republican-leaning acquaintances sometime within the next week or so.
posted by metagnathous at 11:47 AM on May 10, 2009

I really want to know if they resolve the thoery of The First One Who Smelt It Is the One Who Dealt It.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 11:50 AM on May 10, 2009 [4 favorites]

You might be an electrical engineer,

Chemical Engineer, and I wasn't snarking, I just really liked that movie.
posted by Bathtub Bobsled at 11:55 AM on May 10, 2009

Hey! I didn't get it the first time. I really like that movie too. It made me go see P-Funk at Voodoo in New Orleans in 2003. Let's be friends.
posted by lazaruslong at 11:57 AM on May 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

I really want to know if they resolve the thoery of The First One Who Smelt It Is the One Who Dealt It

Let's not forget about whoever detected it ejected it, or whoever smelled it expelled it.
posted by ORthey at 11:58 AM on May 10, 2009

I hope it's connected to twitter.
posted by tybstar at 12:00 PM on May 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

So they're preparing engineers to turn out sophisticated designs. And yet this project's code is somewhat amateur. A main loop with an if(a)-if(b)-if(c)-if(d) begging to be turned into a switch statement, and a complete lack of interrupts.

So you are detecting code smells in the smell detecting code?
posted by srboisvert at 12:01 PM on May 10, 2009 [4 favorites]

Let's be friends.

Sounds good laz.

I feel like we're violating some sort of natural law, seeing as we've come to some sort of mutual understanding over something trivial.

And now... back to the fpp.
posted by Bathtub Bobsled at 12:04 PM on May 10, 2009

. . . Lighter?

You brought'er. . . .
posted by FelliniBlank at 12:15 PM on May 10, 2009

I wonder if it was hard to calibrate due to the background radiation of college life.
posted by kuujjuarapik at 12:30 PM on May 10, 2009

Needs more mapping capability.
posted by YoBananaBoy at 12:31 PM on May 10, 2009

[rrrrrrriip]

Spock, analyze...

Speaking as an EE dropout who's currently messing about with PIC microcontrollers, and who still possesses the worldly sophistication of a 10-year-old... Great post. Thanks.
posted by Artful Codger at 12:33 PM on May 10, 2009

"deliciously" fun? wtf?

Yeah, I picture a future employer googling one of these guys and thinking, "...um, on the other hand, he appears to find farts delicious."
posted by clavicle at 12:33 PM on May 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

from the source:
if(fartDetected==1) {

best. if statement. ever?
posted by limon at 12:50 PM on May 10, 2009

...reducing someone's final project to bullshit because it's predicated upon a silly premise seems lame to my snark sensor...

Wrapping your work in a stupid gimmick is pretty much announcing that your project is bullshit.
posted by troybob at 1:07 PM on May 10, 2009

Looks like they've made a number of improvements on the Mythbusters original.
posted by Martin E. at 1:31 PM on May 10, 2009

from the source:
if(fartDetected==1) {

best. if statement. ever?

That should be written

if (fartDetected) {

I'm a CompE, which is basically half CS and half EE. I loved it, I learned a bunch of CS (operating systems, etc) and EE (DC, AC, grid, etc), its a shame I never really had the opportunity to apply it. The closest I got was retrieving data from a CS1000 datalogger for solar power... now I spend most of my time doing web development. Its fun, but not what I yearn to do...
posted by SirOmega at 1:37 PM on May 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

Those aren't the things I judge farts on, I use...


Volume, ie: sound intensity not amount of gas
Hang Time, how long it lingers
Taste, it can't just smell bad bud it has to leave a bad taste in your mouth
posted by Confess, Fletch at 1:55 PM on May 10, 2009

good lord Confess that's awful.
posted by molecicco at 2:05 PM on May 10, 2009

Computer Scientists will be laughing at the code of Electrical Engineers forever.
posted by tehloki at 2:10 PM on May 10, 2009 [4 favorites]

Uh oh, he's right behind me, and he has swine flu.
posted by StickyCarpet at 2:12 PM on May 10, 2009

a fart intensity detector which ranks fart magnitude on a scale from 0-9 according to sound, temperature, and gas concentrations.

They best get one that goes up to 11 before they come round to my house.
posted by biffa at 2:20 PM on May 10, 2009

We choose to measure the fart in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one which we intend to win, and the others, too. It is for these reasons that I regard the decision last year to shift our efforts in fart measurement from low to high gear as among the most important decisions that will be made during my incumbency in the office of the Presidency.
- Barack Obama, 2009, speaking at Brown University
posted by crapmatic at 2:27 PM on May 10, 2009 [2 favorites]

either my perception of cornell has been very, very wrong all these years, or this is one helluva machine.
posted by msconduct at 2:39 PM on May 10, 2009

It took approximately 10 seconds for my classmates in second year engineering applications to discover that a refrigerant leak detector could also detect an, erm, other kind of gas leak.
posted by scruss at 2:56 PM on May 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

A swimming pool pee detector would be much more useful.
posted by troybob at 2:59 PM on May 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

God Bless the Ivy League.
posted by spirit72 at 3:15 PM on May 10, 2009

If you could somehow create a user interface for this device that would display an arrow pointing to the originating asshole person, THAT would be awesome! No more "Who farted?" discussions would ever have to occur again. Of course, you'd have to take into account micro-climates, air movement in the surrounding area, etc. But it would STILL be awesome.
posted by jasper411 at 3:19 PM on May 10, 2009

That should be written

if (fartDetected) {

That variable has several non-zero values, dependant on social status.
posted by StickyCarpet at 3:28 PM on May 10, 2009 [2 favorites]

Okay not only is this awesome because someone came up with this concept, it is even cooler that they got it to work!
posted by eiro0701 at 3:33 PM on May 10, 2009

I really want to know if they resolve the thoery of The First One Who Smelt It Is the One Who Dealt It

Let's not forget about whoever detected it ejected it, or whoever smelled it expelled it.

I believe this clears that up
posted by P.o.B. at 3:36 PM on May 10, 2009

I just farted.
posted by orme at 4:19 PM on May 10, 2009

That variable has several non-zero values, dependant on social status.

wait, are we talking about farts or falsies?

god, I code too much
posted by davejay at 4:31 PM on May 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

That should be written

if (fartDetected) { ...

Not in code where fartDetected can be 0, 1, 2 or 3. It could perhaps have been called fartState or fartDetectState.
posted by motty at 4:46 PM on May 10, 2009 [1 favorite]

If you could somehow create a user interface for this device that would display an arrow pointing to the originating person, THAT would be awesome! No more "Who farted?" discussions would ever have to occur again.

The downside is that you would no longer be able to blame your farts on the dog.
posted by louche mustachio at 4:56 PM on May 10, 2009

jasper411, you'll be glad to know that that's in their suggestions for further research at the end of the paper.
posted by clavicle at 5:39 PM on May 10, 2009

I still giggle every time I hear a Brit say methane (They pronounce it Me Thane). It's like they really want to own their farts. Some sort of Gaseous Imperialism.
posted by srboisvert at 5:55 PM on May 10, 2009

For purposes of detection who dealt it, I suggest multiple sensors and calculating the gradient. It would probably require something more sophisticated for testing purposes.

Or looking back at scenarios in my life, it's probably sufficient to just instrument a car's seat cushions.
posted by pwnguin at 5:57 PM on May 10, 2009

This one goes to 11...
posted by bystander at 6:04 PM on May 10, 2009

Wasn't me!
posted by briank at 7:02 PM on May 10, 2009

I object to their application of the Ideal Gas Law to farts. As far as I'm concerned, farts aren't ideal at all.
posted by lukemeister at 7:52 PM on May 10, 2009

Spend some time at White Castle late on a Saturday night. You could use this machine to write a doctorate.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 8:46 PM on May 10, 2009

My Labs would overload that sucker and fry it out without even trying.
posted by txvtchick at 9:05 PM on May 10, 2009

Labradors are notoriously hyperflatulent. Well, hyper everything, really.
posted by Marisa Stole the Precious Thing at 10:04 PM on May 10, 2009

I really want to know if they resolve the thoery of The First One Who Smelt It Is the One Who Dealt It

Let's not forget about whoever detected it ejected it, or whoever smelled it expelled it.


Or whoever denied it, supplied it.
posted by motown missile at 1:40 AM on May 11, 2009

Computer Scientists will be laughing at the code of Electrical Engineers forever.

Unless the EE is the CS's boss, in which I'll just roll my eyes and try to fix it later.
posted by DU at 5:07 AM on May 11, 2009 [1 favorite]

What happened to smell? It's missing the silent-but-deadly fart!
posted by movicont at 5:01 PM on May 11, 2009