Broadcom Masters
The Broadcom Foundation and Society for Science & the Public |
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Broadcom masters (Math, Applied Science, Technology, and Winner Meghna Behari, 8th Grade Marshall Middle School: Wexford, PA |
![]() Tactics and Results: Meghna’s automated testing device has dual motors powering an axle with propellers. Lots of tinkering made sure it could be controlled wirelessly and would travel well in water. Meghna mounted a variety of sensors on the device and connected them to Arduino microcontrollers. “I wrote a program for each sensor, which converts voltage to the respective water testing parameter through a formula,” she explains. She added a Bluetooth module to collect and transmit data wirelessly. She also added a GPS module to track the time, date and location of readings. Last but not least, Meghna created a smartphone app to receive and record the data. Then she tested the platform in a local lake. She also got input from water quality inspectors. The data correlated well with handheld sensor readings. And the equipment proved reliable. “In the future, I want to conduct more research on the accuracy of Aquabot’s sensors and make my platform even more fit in field settings,” Meghna says. “I also want to make Aquabot a standard tool for all water quality inspectors.” Other Interests: Meghna plays the violin and loves to sing. She’s also active in scouting, swimming, track, and cross country. Meghna loves working with her robotics team and hopes to become a computer engineer. “I enjoy thinking of novel ways to approach challenges,” she says. “I am also good at working with others, which is needed for most careers.” |