Kevin Ying

Autonomous Maze-Exploring Robot

I am currently working in a team of four to design and build a robot that is fully autonomous and capable of line following, wall-following, tone detection, and IR detection and avoidance of other robots. In addition, the robot is able to communicate with a base station using an RF transceiver to display the maze state to a display as we map it. We're currently working on adding tree-search exploration algorithms and integrating a camera and FPGA to detect visual treasures. Our robots were built with an Arduino Uno, a DE0-nano FPGA, custom 3D-printed components, and various sensors and servos.

To see more, take a look at our project page.

TFT Display Ball Video Game

A group of three implemented a video game in which a player controls a paddle which moves back and forth across the bottom of the screen, attempting to catch balls with the paddle in order to prevent balls from reaching the bottom of the screen. The goal was to be able to animate as many balls simultaneously as possible, while modeling all of the collisions between balls and walls, playing sounds for when balls are caught or escape the screen, and maintaining at least 15 frames per second. In order to increase the number of balls we were able to animate, we minimized the amount of information updated on the TFT and utilized a DMA channel in order to play sound with as little load on our main processor as possible.

Here is a video of the game in action. Take a look at the lab report here.

Double-Balanced RF Mixer

I created a combination of two Clapp oscillators and a double-balanced RF mixer using breadboarded FETs and carefully chosen bias voltages. The two oscillators convert noise into AC signals through a high Q positive feedback loop. The mixer multiplies two differential signals together, generating a frequency modulated signal. Note that we utilize current mirrors in order to increase the stability of our circuitry, and that no additional low-pass filtering is required on the output. Our circuit was able to reliably mix RF signals in the 100kHz to 10mHz range.

For more detail, see the final report.

Snake Game

This project, completed with a partner, implements the classic Nokia phone game SNAKE using the FRDM K64F board and an Adafruit LED matrix. Users can play the game SNAKE on a two-dimensional LED matrix. The snake moves forward approximately 10 times per second and in a forward direction unless the user dictates it to turn left or right. One food item is on the board at all times and the snake can eat the food and increase in length if it collides into it. The goal of this game is to get to the snake to the longest length possible without colliding into itself or the border of the board.

As I was working on this project, I also documented using I2C on the FRDM-K64F board, as well as details on the specifics of the Adafruit IS31FL3731, which were immediately utilized by my classmates.

Here is a video of the result, minus the final feature of being able to select your speed. For a more in-depth documentation, check out this document. Code can be found here.

Software Engineering Co-op

I worked at Alarm.com for two terms. In my first term, I implemented a new feature for home light automation, taking it from the ideation stages to beta. This included working with a proprietary assembly language and developing web pages and backend services. I also wrote automated tests for the rules to automate the lighting and thermostat integrations Alarm.com offers.

In my second term, I have been working on integrations with new temperature sensors, working in greater depth with the automation rules code and designing the interactions needed to properly recognize and support the sensor readings.

Electrical Member

As part of team entirely composed of undergraduate students, I designed, populated, and programmed two separate printed circuit boards and am currently in the process of producing a third. Design concerns include selecting more reliable components to minimize passive power draw, decreasing the size profile of the board, and working with mechanical engineers to improve heat dissipation around critical components. All projects go through multiple stages of review and a revision process.

CUAUV is an official Cornell University engineering project team and achieved a 1st place finish in 2017 and top 5 finish in 2018 out of approximately 45 international teams at the International RoboSub Competition in San Diego, California. More information can be found on our website.

Software Intern

Trained and tested convolutional neural networks to perform single image super-resolution tasks in conjunction with deblurring. Networks were built in TensorFlow and MATLAB and compared with current image super-resolution and segmentation algorithms.

Teaching Assistant

Digital Logic and Computer Organization (ECE 2300 - Spring 2018, Fall 2018)

In addition to holding office hours and grading student work, I organize and hold lab sessions to give students hands-on experience with logic gates, Verilog, and FPGAs. I also assisted the professor in developing new course content.

Discrete Structures (CS 2800 - Fall 2017)

My responsibilities included holding office hours, responding to student questions online, and grading homework and exams. This course, focused on the mathematics behind computing, also has a heavy emphasis on formal proofs.

Cornell University

GPA: 4.14/4.0