Events

Our project is to create a system to set the water level of the facilities at the Hinsdale Wave Research Laboratory. This wave lab has two facilities at its location for researchers to run tests. Currently, the valves used fill the facilities had to be manually opened or closed. Due to the size of both facilities, the amount of time the filling process takes to reach the target height for the next test can take several hours, and the wave lab would choose to begin filling at the end of the day.  Wave lab users would need to wake up at night to manually turn off the valves filling the facilities.

Our project is a server-based application where the users and water depth sensors send data into the database, at which point the server displays information to the user, and allows control of the water fill valves. Both a web app and Android  app were created in this project for users to remotely access the wave lab data and control the valves at the wave lab. Any user logged into the OSU VPN will be able to view the website or Android app but only authorized users are allowed to control the valves, by logging in to the app.

To fill remotely, users can set a target depth and a delay for when the filling process will begin, or they can begin filling without a target set. The server always uses the most recent target depth for filling a facility so multiple target depths requested at once can be managed efficiently. The system is able to keep track of various pieces of information, like a short history of depths and a maximum fill level for each facility, in order to prevent accidents from occurring. If a large enough change in water depth over time is not detected, the system will stop any currently active target fills and notify the user through log and error files. Wave Lab users can also press the stop button to stop filling at any time.