Renaissance Computing Institute

RENCI Resources

Innovations Lab

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RENCI Innovations Lab

Overview
The RENCI Innovations Lab (I-Lab) focuses on rapidly developing novel devices that support research activities at RENCI. These prototype devices range from remote sensors to robots to unique display technologies. The Innovations Lab houses a rapid prototyping capability for printed circuit boards, a device programming station, a professional solder station, and small-scale machine tools, all of which allow quick fabrication of devices from concept to prototype.

Click the image above to luanch interactive I-Lab

Laboratory Equipment
RENCI houses a fully-stocked electronics lab and a small machine shop for the fabrication of electronic research devices. The lab is equipped with:

commercial software tools to design and simulate analog and digital circuits.
circuit fabrication capabilities. Two-layer boards with plated-through holes can be fabricated in-house via a mechanical milling process, which has a minimum trace and space width of .004 inches.
hand tools, a commercial solder station, and a reflow oven, used to populate boards with components.
a DC power supply, a 20-MHz arbitrary wave form generator, a 4-channel x 100-MHz digital oscilloscope, and additional instruments as required used for functionality testing.
basic machine tools, including a band saw, a drill press, and a sanding station, to generate custom device housings.
a 3D part scanner to import physical objects directly into Solidworks, a software program for customization or replication.

Projects

Brunswick County Flood Sensor Network. The I-Lab is developing a complete remote sensing network to assist Brunswick County emergency managers with impending flood situations. The project includes sensors that will measure water levels and the wireless network infrastructure needed to transport and analyze data. The water level sensors will be connected to short-range transmitters, which will transmit date to solar-powered computers. The computers will be able to communicate with each other and with RENCI using cell phone technology. The network is designed to be rapidly deployable and to minimize dependency on the existing infrastructure, which might not function in the event of a severe flood. The network will give emergency workers crucial real-time data when hurricanes or severe storms cause flooding in Brunswick County. I-Lab also plans to develop full weather stations and additional sensors once the network is operational.

Outpatient Health Management System (OHMS). The I-Lab is building a remote sensor pod to support RENCI’s Outpatient Health Management System (OHMS), a project that aims to help patients and their doctors better manage chronic diseases using secure Internet-based technologies and wireless devices. The sensor pod will be used by a study group of asthma patients to collect and aggregate environmental data (temperature, humidity, particulate level). Patients also will be given a handheld computer and devices for measuring pulse, blood oxygen content and lung capacity. All data will be transmitted over a wireless link to a secure database at RENCI, where it could be combined with additional data, such as weather reports, and processed into a comprehensive picture of a patient’s day-to-day health. OHMS will allow both patient and doctor to examine the data and develop treatment plans and lifestyle changes that improve the patient’s health and avoid costly trips to the emergency room.

RENCI Summer Institute. The I-Lab collaborates with RENCI's Education and Outreach division to develop course material and provide instruction for the Summer Institute. Students work with engineers and other RENCI scientists to gain knowledge of electronics and build robotic and sensory devices. The I-Lab utilizes robots to study, demonstrate, and teach machine navigation and tracking techniques.

Funding
The State of North Carolina

RENCI Team
Daniel Bedard
Erik Scott

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