Hyperloop Pilot GUI
Project Details
Type
Club
Start Date
End Date
Members
Club Project
CPP Hyperloop
May 2019
Jun 2020
20
Objective
Hyperloop a train-like method of transportation proposed by SpaceX to reduce travel times. SpaceX also hosts Hyperloop competitions where students from many universities can design and build their own version of the Hyperloop pod to compete.
The idea was to design a graphical user interface (GUI) as a method to monitor the health of the Hyperloop pod for the CPP Hyperloop team. As part of the Electrical and Hardware team, we are responsible for all data communications to and from the pod. The GUI is to be designed in a way that can be easily read and understood by anyone as per SpaceX requirements.
Responsibility
As the one in charge of creating the graphical user interface (GUI), I did some research and settled on programming the GUI using the Python programming language along with the Tkinter library for GUI design. The GUI has health icons next to their respective data fields to indicate whether the data value falls into an acceptable range. (The GUI above shows random values as a proof of concept that it can be constantly updated).
I also worked with a team to establish TCP and UDP connections between the Raspberry Pi and Arduino to transmit sensor and control data to and from the pod. UDP connection was used for sensor data because we do not need the pod to verify that the sensor data has been received. TCP connection was used for control data to verify control commands to prevent accidentally engaging brakes or an actuator.
Results
The UDP and TCP connections were a success and there were no transmission speed issues; there was no bottleneck of data. Unfortunately, we were unable to build the Hyperloop pod due to the stay-at-home orders to combat COVID-19.