2023 UCLA Master of Engineering IoT Capstone Projects
Two UCLA Master of Engineering (MEng) Internet of Things (IoT) area of study capstone project groups developed over the summer a pair of vital sign-monitoring and American Sign Language-classification systems, respectively, thanks to the support of STMicroelectronics.
The two projects were part of the MEng program’s IoT area of study directed by electrical and computer engineering distinguished professor Mani Srivastava. The students also received support from STMicroelectronics’ Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) team — Mahesh Chowdhary, senior director of MEMS software solutions and fellow, and Swapnil Sayan Saha, an algorithm development engineer who received his doctoral degree in electrical and computer engineering from the UCLA Samueli School of Engineering in June of 2023.
Vital Sign Monitoring
The project team focused on monitoring heart and breathing rates using electrocardiogram (ECG) electrodes connected to a smart accelerometer. Students explored signal processing and machine learning techniques to extract vital signs from ECG signals. They also used a machine learning (ML) tool to train and develop artificial intelligence models.
ASL Classification
The team attempted to classify American Sign Language (ASL) on chip using radar electrodes attached to the wrist. With help from the STMicroelectronics team, the students developed an analog multiplexer board that allows up to 16 electrodes to be read by a smart, digital, three-axis linear accelerometer. The students then leveraged an ML tool to develop a tiny “decision tree” designed to help classify different ASL gestures.
