Newsroom

Dec. 4, 2003

WTVD-11

By Don Ross, staff writer

A9 Copyright 2003

It took quite awhile to get to the gee-whiz gadget show at NC State because my windshield wipers could barely keep up with today's downpourand then it was hard to find a parking spot on campus.

Ah, but possible solutions to just such annoyances are what the show is all about.

About 150 future electrical and computer engineers shared their senior design course projects with fellow students.

Take that windshield wiper problem. Ted Midthun showed me one that starts as soon as it rains... the speed determined by the rain'sintensity... and designed to be installed on older model cars. "We wanted to make a solution that was easy to install and cheap. Just plug it in. This system would probably cost about $25.00."

Parking lot companies would install Cong Thai's device. It lets a driver know exactly how many spaces are available (or not)... adding and subtracting as cars exit and enter.

Eric Jones built a moisture-proof robot that can crawl into underwater places too dangerous or small for humans. "Places like ships, if youwant to inspect ship hulls for something... or nuclear reactors."

P.J. Schaefer showed us a portable LED display where you'd type insomething and it lights up your message or company name. "Fold it up and put it into a suitcase or other kind of container and take it where you needed to set it up."

Jeff Bradshaw displayed an instrument that makes a bass guitar sound like it has no frets. "It just kind of smoothes it out a bit."

Thomas Merryman built a forklift programmed to follow a certain color strip laid-out on a factory floor. "You could use it in a warehouse setting to transport materials from one end of the warehouse without actually having a driver on a forklift."

Several of the things were quite frankly beyond my ability to understand but they're probably gizmos we're all going to want someday.