Initial Project and Group Identification Document EEL 4914

Group 8 Clinton Thomas Brandon Gilzean Ashish Thomas Xi Guo

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There are a few projects under consideration by our group. Wireless Photovoltaic Panel Failure Sensor This project is sponsored by Quickbeam Energy. Currently, detecting the failure of a photovoltaic panel requires the use of wired sensors. While this may be acceptable for a small-scale deployment, large scale deployments are difficult to monitor in this manner. The amount of wire and cost associated with such an implementation are not feasible. In addition, a more effective remote monitoring ability is desired. Being able to have a wireless sensor to detect failure would greatly increase the efficiency with which defective panels are located and repaired. In some installations, the number of panels can be in the tens of thousands. The need for a more effective monitoring system to detect which panels have failed is apparent. The system must draw a very low amount of power, and also able to withstand the temperature variations encountered in a solar installation. The sensors must be capable of setting up their own structured wireless network, using each other as repeating nodes in the network to eventually reach the central processor. This can be accomplished using mesh networking. However, due to cost constraints, the system will have to be designed and built from scratch. The system must also be capable of monitoring voltage and current values, and be able to tabulate these values for the various panels and upload them to a central server. The primary concern of this project is cost. While the cost is generally calculated in cents per watt (and so varies according to the exact specification of the project), the overall amount cannot exceed $5 per sensor. This poses the largest difficulty in this project.

Specifications

- System must be capable of supporting hundreds, possibly thousands of sensors - Must be capable of operating regardless of voltage/current variances from PV panel. - The power supply must be able to dynamically transform DC voltage and current to the levels

appropriate for the circuit components. This means, for example, no matter if the power supply has 600V or 20V incoming, it must provide 12V for the circuit board, while also protecting from excess current.

- Must be capable of operating when there is no external power (such as at night). As such, will require a small rechargeable battery. Will require a charging circuit.

- The battery must be able to last without the need for maintenance for up to 20 years. - Has to monitor voltage/current values up to 600V and 50A. - Must be able to withstand temperatures of up to 105° F (possibly more) - Must be robust enough to be reliable and maintenance free for over 20 years. - Should be able to plug in to the existing system with few, if any, modifications - Has to be able to configure its own network with thousands of nodes - Radios have to communicate at a maximum range of 50 feet. - Power values will be read every 15 minutes and transmitted back to the central controller. - The central controller will organize readings from all sensors into a table format, which will be

uploaded to a central, remote server for further processing and use. - Cost must be below $5/sensor

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Block Diagram

Project Budget (financed by Quickbeam up to $500-$1000)

Circuitry (resistors, capacitors, etc) $50, also from UCF labs

Battery $5

Microcontroller $20

Enclosure $50

Current detector (up to 50A) $25

Voltage detector (up to 600V) $40

Mesh networking radio $25

PCB board $20

Total $235

Milestones

Fall

September – Finalize project topic

October – Research and begin documentation

Power Supply

RESEARCH Current detection

RESEARCH

Voltage detection

RESEARCH

Mesh networking radio

RESEARCH

Microcontroller

TO BE ACQUIRED

TO

Charging Circuit

RESEARCH

Battery

TO BE ACQUIRED

To free

space

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November – Continue writing documentation and research. Rough draft at end of November.

December – be done with final paper a week before due date.

Spring

January – Build prototype

February – continuing building prototype

March – Test prototype

April – Finish documentation and test procedures.

Project Title:

- Exploding, puzzle-based Alarm Clock

Project Narrative Description:

For this project, the basic concept is to have an alarm clock that explodes into three pieces. The user has a certain amount of time to pick up a particular piece (device) that has a unique two digit key given by the clock. The unique key will stay static until a time constant runs out. If the user doesn't receive the key and enter it in the clock within that certain time then the device that holds the key will send the key to another random device. The time constant will change for each time it has been placed in another device. For the clock, this will require mechanical, hardware, and software implementation. Since the alarm clock will be sending and receive message between the devices, a network implementation is needed.

Specification :

4devices that will have transmit and receive capabilities Ever 10 seconds, send message packet(unique key) to random device Mechanical structure should be 128mm x 128mm PCB Design for a 25in size– cost: $73.25 Bluetooth DIP Module - Roving Networks cost: $59.95 PIC16F727 – cost: free

FSR(Force Sensing Resistor) has a 1.5" (38.1 mm) cost: $0.75 / sensor

Power Supply: 5V PIC used to do A2D and computations Bluetooth transmission range needed will be 5ft-7ft. data throughput speed envisioning for project: 400Kbs PIC also has capacitive touch sensing; the user can punch in the code using FSR

Unique Key randomly generated from algorithm

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Block Diagram By: Brandon Gilzean

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FSR: Force Sensing Resistor. Force Sensing resistor that measure the resistance

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Project Budget:

Expected Budget: less than 300

Finance:

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Legend:

FSR: Force Sensing Resistor. Force Sensing resistor that measure the resistance

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PCB Design for a 25in size– cost: $73.25 Bluetooth DIP Module - Roving Networks cost: $59.95 PIC16F727 – cost: free

FSR(Force Sensing Resistor) has a 1.5" (38.1 mm) cost: $0.75 / sensor

Total: $133.95

Milestones:

Fall:

September: Finish final decision on project

October: Start Paper

November: Finish paper

December: Start Design

Spring:

January: Continue Design

February: Finish Design

March: Develop Design

April: Finish/ Test Design

May: Present Design

iPhone Breathalyzer

This is a non-sponsored project, but it does not eliminate the possibility of seeking potential sponsors

such as but not limited to: Apple Computer Inc. , Florida Highway Patrol and MADD (Mothers Against

Drunk Driving).

Description:

This product is motivated by the revolution of the iPhone, specifically its availability and usage. With

over 37 million iPhone sold worldwide and with a huge percentage contributed by the highly

technological advance college student population, whom also has an increasing concern, drunk driving.

There is no question that drunk driving is a major issue among the college student and therefore by

increasing the availability of Breathalyzers, we will be able to better prevent drunk driving. The goal of

this project is to provide the availability of low cost, easy access and friendly user interface breathalyzers

to the iPhone user group. This will be a product that acts as an accessory to the existing iPhone by being

able to connect to the iPhone directly. For this product to work properly it must consist of the

Breathalyzer adapter unit, iPhone and a user-friendly application. The Breathalyzer itself will be

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accurate, portable and fits a college student’s budget. The iPhone application will be able to process the

gathered data and display it correctly.

Additional features will include but not limited to:

If the driver is determined to be “drunk” by alcohol in blood level

o GPS location of the drunken individual will be sent from the iPhone through SMS and email to an emergency contact previously stored in the phone.

o Through GPS data, a list of surround Taxi driver and Bus services will be presented Specifications:

Sensor semi-conductive oxide alcohol sensor

Test automation: Single button operation (One click of App button)

Accuracy: ±0.01% at 0.10% BAC

Response Time: 5 seconds

Cost Under: $50

Display: iPhone Display (No display on the unit itself aside for a proper operation signal light)

Warm up time: 20 seconds

Mouthpiece: reusable mouthpieces

Size: 90mm x 40 x 20 mm (Not including the adapter cord)

Weight 150 grams

Power Supply: supplied by iPhone battery

Block Diagram

(Hardware)

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(Software)

Prototype

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Project Budget (Not Including iPhone)

Circuitry (resistors, capacitors, etc) $50, also from UCF labs

Semi-Conductive oxide alcohol sensor $50

Power Regulator $20

Microcontroller $20

Enclosure with adapter cord $50

Re-useable Mouth piece $20

iPhone Application Developer Membership $99

Total $309

Milestones

Fall

September – Finalize project topic

October – Research and begin documentation

November – Continue writing documentation and research. Rough draft at end of November.

December – be done with final paper a week before due date.

Spring

January – Build prototype

February – continuing building prototype

March – Test prototype

April – Finish documentation and test procedures.

Project : Gesture-Based Home Automation System

Sponsors

Project sponsors are limited to the group members involved, or potentially Progress Energy based upon

the practical usefulness of home utility control, and potential integration into systems for monitoring

and effectively utilizing home power consumption.

Motivation

An increasingly popular field of study is the advancement of the human-machine interface, utilizing

technologies and techniques that were either previously unavailable or impractical. Companies spend

millions of dollars researching and prototyping different form factors and methods of interface, in order

to draw broad appeal to their device or idea, with the eventual goal being commercial success. More so

than any purely physical design, the intuitive grace of what are called “Gesture-Based” interfaces offer

the user of any given system a natural, unencumbered interface with the technology they wish to

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control. Great examples of this idea exist with implementations such as “mouse gestures” used by

computer software to translate particular mouse motions into program commands, as well as the rise of

multi-touch interfaces used in the Iphone and other consumer devices.

Project Description

The goal of this project is to create a system by which a resident can exercise control of basic devices

within their home, through the use of natural, programmable gestures. The basic idea would be that a

user could walk into a room equipped with the right visual sensors, conduct a pre-programmed gesture

in order to activate or change the operating state of a common household device (a light bulb, a ceiling

fan, speaker system, etc.) without the need to equip themselves with some sort of secondary control

device, like a remote control or user-wearable sensing device. An initiating gesture could be used to

begin the capture sequence for the device command, followed by the program gesture for whatever

action the user wishes to initiate. The gestures would need to be intuitive to the type of action to be

performed, such as raising and lowering a hand to control the luminosity of a light, or some kind of

hand-twirling action to increase or decrease the speed of a fan. An ideal system would not need to

distinguish between different users of the system, so that it would be possible for any home dweller to

control these basic devices (a light switch doesn’t care if you’re the homeowner or a guest).

Specifications

- System will make use of multiple visual sensors (cameras) to determine a gesture. This should be no

more than 3-4 cameras in a given area

- Acquisition and processing hardware should be commodity and COTS hardware to keep costs

manageable, and provide flexibility for value-addition in a commercial system design

- Total system cost can fall within an acceptable range for existing home automation systems ($1000+)

- Costs to retrofit existing in-home devices should be within the tolerable range of home automation

costs for the typical consumer ( approx. $50-100 per device)

- New devices would provide an ideal solution for the new home builder or renovator, but should

remain reasonably affordable ( approx. $100-$200 premium over typical device costs, less for smaller

device)

- System should be fault tolerant, meaning it will not recognize gestures at arbitrary times unintended

by any home dwellers, with a tolerance of %5 (1 out of 20 times)

- Cameras should be sufficiently able to capture motion of human gestures in any environment,

including scenarios of either low or intense lighting, reflections, natural occlusion, etc.

- Processing system should be sufficiently fast for gestures to allow for “real-time” control of the device

in question (2+ processing cores for parallel calculation)

- Must operate using standard input power (120V AC in U.S.)

- Environmental considerations are limited to the scope of the climate-controlled scope of a house

whose owner can afford such a system (Ambient air temperature 70-85 degrees F)

- Node to device communication modules should be small, utilize existing power (120V AC), and

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wireless to minimize retrofitting operations.

Diagrams

Diagram Responsibility Breakdown

Task Primary Engineer Secondary Engineer

Visual Processing Software Clinton Thomas Brandon Gilzean

C&C Software Brandon Gilzean Clinton Thomas

Hardware Communications Ashish Thomas Xi Guo

Hardware Control Xi Guo Ashish Thomas

Visual Processing Software – Primary object and gesture recognition. Software will receive input from

camera sensors over Serial/Ethernet connection, isolate portions of motion into centroidal figures, make

determination of desired gesture based on centroidal COG motion deltas, then pass result through a

software port to a memory-resident Communications and Control software module.

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Communications and Control Software – Receives gesture recognition result over software port.

Translates gesture recognition into hardware commands. Initiates communication with control

hardware over PLC (power line communication) or wireless (IEEE 802.11 or 802.15.4), sends control

messages, verifies arrival of command and successful execution on the hardware end.

Hardware Communications – Hardware to receive communications over defined medium, interpret

message, translate into a signal to be passed to the hardware control circuit.

Hardware Control – Interprets signal from communications hardware and initiates device state-change

based on the determined value. This portion also includes hardware to power the hardware control

element, transforming the standard input power source (120V AC) to the necessary DC voltages for

hardware operation (3.3V, 5V DC).

Budget

Items Money Allocable

Processing Node $300

Cameras (1-2 for prototype) $150

Comms Modules $200

Light Bulb w/socket $20

Ceiling Fan $50

Total $720

Project Milestones

2009

October – Identify individual component hardware, research all proposed communications and control

methods, Begin full project documentation

November – Begin component acquisition, initial software for visual signal processing regarding object

recognition, initial comms module design, Complete project design documentation

December – Verify all components functionality and interoperability, resolve early obstacles in intra-

device communication and control, Final documentation review and release

2010

January – Critical design review of comms hardware before board fabrication, identify and resolve

obstacles in gesture recognition software

February – Debug fabricated comms hardware, identifying bugs in design or production, re-spin

hardware if necessary. Identify obstacles in software to communicate between visual processing results

and comms hardware.

March – Verify finalized hardware design and operability, Software for all control and communications

aspects should be mostly complete and all bugs should be identified and contained. Integration of all

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project components should begin.

April – Hardware should be stable and complete. All software bugs identified and resolved, and

software/hardware integration should be complete. Presentation of prototype for review.

Decision Matrix

Project Cost Sponsorship Feasibility Motivation

PV Panel sensor $235 Yes Hardware can be realized, but not on a per-panel basis for the cost requirements imposed.

Interested, but scope is large to stay below $5; A sponsored project for a commercially realized system with easily realizable goals (when ignoring cost constraints)

Exploding, puzzle-based Alarm Clock

$133.95 No feasible Interested, covers all aspects of design

iPhone Breathalyzer

$309 No Yes Interested, involve a some knowledge of chemistry

Gesture Automation

$720 No Gesture recognition is still very much a research problem, making this an extremely difficult software problem, paired with a realizable hardware control unit

It would be super cool to “conduct” control of one’s own home naturally.