1

Mileage Recording Solution for Small Business Owner/Operators

Presented By: Bergen Fletcher (CEO, HW Engineer)

Ali Abdul-Hussein (COO, FW Engineer)

Patrick Perrella (CFO, SW Engineer)

Lena Lee (QA Director, SW Engineer)

2

Agenda

Company Profile

Vision

Other Existing Solutions

Our Solution

System Overview

Budget

Time Constrains

Future Work

Learning Experience

3

Company Profile

Bergen Fletcher – CEO, Senior Hardware Engineer

Team/Project Management

Hardware Design/Development

Project Integration (Including SW/FW development)

Ali AbdulHussein – COO, Firmware Design Engineer

Software/Firmware Management

Firmware Design/Development Lead

Flowchart Design/Development Lead

4

Company Profile

Patrick Perrella – CFO, Software Design Engineer

Finance Management

Software Design/Development

Firmware Design/Development

Lena Lee – Director of QA, User-Interface Design Engineer

Test-Plan Development

Graphical User Interface Design/Development

5

Problem

Small business owner/operators

Use vehicle for business and pleasure purposes

Can deduct vehicle business use costs from income tax

Deduction based on percent business mileage to total mileage

Vision

6

Vision

Need

Method of recording vehicle usage

Record mileage for all trips

Record should include (as specified by the CRA):

Trip purpose (business/pleasure)

Destination

Date

7

Other Existing Solutions

1. Estimation

Simple/cheap, but inaccurate

Not compliant with CRA rules

Possible consequences

8

Other Existing Solutions cont’d

2. Travel Log

Cheap & in compliance with CRA guidelines

Involves much more effort and more prone to error

9

Other Existing Solutions cont’d

3. ON Board Diagnostic (OBD) Devices

Automatically provides accurate data

Expensive, not easy to use

Not tailored for mileage recording

Compatibility issues

10

Our Solution

Plug N’ Go: Automated Vehicle Usage Recording

11

Our Solution cont’d

Our Solution Tailored for small business users

Specifically designed to record vehicle usage

CRA guideline compliant

Additional features

Easy to use

Low cost

Highly compatible

12

Other Uses

1. Route comparison

2. Vacation trip tracking

3. Car usage in carpooling

4. Family car sharing

5. Company vehicle tracking

13

Market Analysis

Positive initial reaction

Larger companies face similar problems

Potential CRA certification

14

System Overview

1. Mileage Recorder Device (MRD)

2. User PC Software

15

MRD Modules

Modules

MRDUI: LCD, 4 push buttons

PC-MRD: USB Connector

CAR-MRD: Vehicle Cradle Device (VCD)

16

MRD Functionality

User Trip/Gas Data Input

Trip Data Gas Data

User Name User Name

Car Type Car Type

Data/Start Data/Start

Trip Type Cost ($/L)

Destination Volume (L)

Mileage  

17

Software Overview

Software Basic Features

Windows® XP and 2000 compatible

Standard GUI application

USB communication to MRD

Spreadsheet format

18

Software Overview cont’d

Software Spreadsheet Functionalities

Separate data and gas sheets

Customizable:

Hide columns

Sort data

Save as CSV file format

Printable file

19

Software Overview cont’d

Software Data Functionalities

Display in Metric units

Allow MRD configuration editing

Allow vehicle cost entry

Calculate trip type ratios

Calculate total mileage

Calculate total fuel usage

20

Cost approx. doubled due to extra prototypes

Extra prototypes not required

Component/Equipment Cost Estimate

Atmel AVR STK500 Development Kit $100

Atmel AVR Microcontroller $10

USB Interface IC $10

Voltage Regulators $10

Discrete Logic, Opamps, Misc Discrete Components

$10

Passive Components $10

Liquid Crystal Display $20

Prototyping Perforated Circuit Board, Enclosure $20

EEPROM Memory $5

Real Time Clock (RTC) $5

Other/Extra(Back-up) Components $50

Total $250

Budget

21

Time Constrains

22

Possible Future Work

Intellectual property protection

Apply for a Patent

More sophisticated market analysis

Business incorporation

CRA certification

Reduced hardware cost

Less costly USB interface

High volume production

23

Possible Future Work cont’d

Improved Hardware

Larger, possibly graphic-based LCD

Improve user interface

Smaller, more appealing industrial design

User upgradeable firmware

24

Possible Future Work cont’d

Software Improvements

Enhanced file saving

Unit conversions

Graphical data presentation

Integration with tax software

Multi-platform support

25

Learning Experience

Team/Project management

Product development process

Troubleshooting

Documentation

Application of engineering skills

26

Acknowledgements

Dr. Andrew Rawicz , Professor of the School of Engineering Science

Steve Whitmore, Senior Lecturer in the School of Engineering Science

Leah Honkanen, Small Business Owner/Operator, Sunshine Bay Natural Products

Maria Bender, Canadian Revenue Agency

27

Thank You!