Distanced But Not Deterred: UMass Lowell Students Present their IoT Projects

Jun 29, 2020 | News, UMass Lowell

More than 300 million students worldwide have experienced a level of disruption to their education. Unlike any time in the past, most institutions have been able to continue with education even with schools closed. Such is the case at Umass Lowell, where the shift to complete virtual classrooms has been the culmination of the spring semesters’ experience.

While the move to re-create an in-person learning experience online has been far from smooth, UMass Lowell students in the IoT class taught by William Moloney were able to quickly adapt to changes and develop interesting projects from home. Red Hatters Jeff Bown and Daniel Pivonka who volunteered their time as IoT expert leaders for the IoT class at Umass Lowell brought speakers to the class virtually and worked remotely with the students to build and improve hardware and software for each project . Some of the technologies combined in student projects include Arduinos, Raspberry Pis, the MQTT messaging protocol, video processors and temperature sensors. 

On Thursday afternoon, April 30, UMass Lowell students converged on BlueJeans to present their semester-long projects to a panel of judges that included their professors as well as Red Hat engineers. Some of the ideas presented include:

  1. Smart mailbox by Christopher Goulart

The smart mailbox project by Christopher used IoT for delivery as well as security purposes. A user receives an alert when their mailbox is opened. The smart mailbox won the judges’ prize.

(Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pj1itEO7C4o)

  1. IoT Connect 4 by Cam Knopp

The famous Connect 4 game, where two players face off in an attempt to get four chips in a row, was automated using an Arduino, Raspberry Pii and LEDs to display the game in real time. 

(Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P447xZhtXsc)

  1. Home based security system using motion sensors to detect movement by David N

(Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwhbIU9T9_E)

  1. Home security system using facial recognition by Sean Nishi 

(Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kp8JbZoRlvU )

  1. Simon Says alarm clock that plays a Spotify playlist by Jasen Ripley 

(Video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7kG3whrJkw&feature=youtu.be)

Related Stories

Red Hat Research brings sustainability to the edge

Red Hat Research brings sustainability to the edge

A data-science-driven sustainability project supported by Red Hat Research was recognized as a FIWARE iHub at the 2023 FIWARE Summit in Vienna, Austria. Based on the SmartaByar smart village in Sweden, the project was a recipient of the Red Hat Collaboratory at Boston University Research Incubation Award in 2022 and 2023. FIWARE describes iHubs as centers for accelerated growth that support companies, cities, and developers in their innovation and digitalization journey by offering easy access to open source technologies, business development support, and community building.

Red Hat Collaboratory at Boston University announces Request for Proposals for 2024 Grants

Red Hat Collaboratory at Boston University announces Request for Proposals for 2024 Grants

The Red Hat Collaboratory at Boston University has announced details on the Request for Proposals (RFP) for 2024 Grants. The goal of the program is to enable collaborative research between Boston University researchers and Red Hat engineers. Projects must be open source and should generally focus on problems of distributed, operating, security, or network systems whose solution shows promise for advancing their field and impacting industry.

Watch recordings of the Mass Open Cloud Alliance Workshop

Watch recordings of the Mass Open Cloud Alliance Workshop

Over 30 Red Hatters attend the 2023 Mass Open Cloud (MOC) Alliance Workshop on March 20 - 21, 2023, at Boston University.  Recordings of each day of the event are available (see below with the schedule - currently unedited), and we will announce in the coming...

EU-funded cybersecurity consortium kicks off in Brno, Czech Republic

EU-funded cybersecurity consortium kicks off in Brno, Czech Republic

Authors Jaroslav Řezník, Principal Program Manager—Technical at Red HatViktor Malík, Senior Software Engineer at Red Hat Cybersecurity has become a critical focus of research in today's interconnected world, especially with the rise of cyberattacks posing a threat to...