When I assigned thesis projects to students, they had a whole quarter (ne semester) to do the research, design something, build something, write it up in the form of a formal paper, demonstrate its operation, and present a defense. How come you are less than two weeks from the end, and are just now starting something?
If your device is going to be based on a counter, ask yourself:
1. What events does the counter count? What is the source of those events? Is the time between events regular or random?
2. What determines how long the counter counts before stopping and displaying a result? Is the counting period fixed length or random?