The OP should hurry to design a brake to stop the derailing of his thread.

Guilty, but in my defense, the OP brought up the "smart brake" concept. Implementing such a thing requires a set of rules for when to brake and when not.

 

UPDATE: I talked to my adviser and both of my group members and it looks like we are just going to design an op-amp tester. None of them were too keen on any of the above ideas. My group members just wanted to take the easy way out even if they don't have fun with the project. The adviser gets an op-amp tester that he gets to use for one of his classes, every couple of semesters and we get an easy project.

I'm a bit disappointed in them for going the easy route but maybe I can work on the brake idea myself after I finish school. I'm also a bit scared that the people that will see our presentation may be a bit disappointed. It's my understanding that many people from the industry will be attending our classes presentations and this could be a great way to impress them and help with networking but not if our project is underwhelming.

Regardless, thank you everybody for your help and ideas, and thanks for keeping this thread alive.

 

Nothing wrong with an op-amp tester! Have some fun and set some challenging benchmarks for yourselves (or just yourself). If you get into it and have some passion about it, and put some creativity into it, you'll have no problem selling it. It doesn't matter how mundane it seems; if you believe in yourself and your work, others will notice.