December Blog Post

 

     Our internal deadline for all of our sensors to be working independently was on December 16th.We have broken into groups, and are working on separate tasks to complete and eventually come back together. All groups had  something that needed to be ordered, assembled, and finalized. The last bit of orders are being pushed out before this year ends. The testing teams have been working tirelessly to meet their deadline.
Our project description remains the same, as we are still determining the feasibility of our proposed design. Our project description is: Our device will mitigate the number of hot car deaths of children and pets. We will investigate and test a variety of technologies to integrate into a simple, reliable device with a three tiered alert system. First, a text alarm will be sent, next, a voice alarm for individuals in the vicinity will be activated, and finally a GPS location of the vehicle will be sent to authorities notifying them of the emergency.

Progress During Last Month

During the month of December we had a lot going on. Work time was limited because of break and finals. Throughout our time together we were able to complete individual work for our testing teams.

The temperature sensor team worked to find a way to make either a visual or audible alarm if the temperature goes over a programmed threshold.  We have been successful in implementing a small buzzer.

As of the last update, our Motion Testing Team had a functioning motion sensor.  This month we started to test.  The goal is to determine if there are situations in which the motion sensor does not detect motion inside of the car.   For example, can it see moving passengers in we will test each situation, with the goal of finding an optimal position for the sensor inside of the vehicle?  To document testing, we have taken images of the inside of vehicles and created testing scenarios.  Each scenario will be tested and documented.

Our Infrared Team continues to encounter challenges.  Initially, the product we ordered did not come with a male connector component, so we were delayed because we had to order it and wait for it to arrive.  Now, the Infrared Sensor team is waiting on a new connector, as the four pin connector that was ordered was too large.  In the meantime, the team has made sure that we have everything set up appropriately so that all we need to do is plug in the connector when it arrives and the infrared sensor will be ready for testing inside of the vehicle.

The GPS team, is progressively working with a functioning location sensor, the have had a minor setback with assembling the sensor, so we contacted Mr.Ayers, one of our technical experts, and set up meeting with him so he can help us further understand how to setup the sensor. Finally, after continued research, we were able to get the code working so an output could be received.  Unfortunately, the code yielded a message stating that the location of the GPS device was unknown.  This led our team to the realization that we needed to order a GPS antenna component to receive the GPS signal.  The antenna component has now been ordered but it is shipping from China. It will be here before we return from break.   

In addition to the four teams mentioned above, Ms. White asked a couple of students to begin to research how we are going to power our device within the car for testing and for our final design.  A couple of students pulled off of their sensor teams for the moment to take care of some research. We have decided that the first thing that we will try will be to use the cigarette lighter outlet adapter to plug directly into the arduinos that are being tested.  We have ordered the adapters for this purpose.

Finally, a big shout out goes to Jurnee Miller who serves as our project manager, but additionally, she has volunteered to become our Sustainability Lead.  She studied for and took the Certification Exam, and passed!  Thanks for being such a team player Jurnee!

Goals for Upcoming Month

Our goals that we have set for the month of January, include our sensor teams going forward with our testing and combining what we have completed so far. We are planning to have a three tiered alarm system for our invention, in order for the system to be complete we need to operate and interface the separate components for each level of the system.

In each group there are necessities that we need to fulfill.  

In the Motion Sensor Group, we want to see how far the sensor will be able to detect the minimum and maximum distance. We have planned to get the dimensions of a vehicle in order to test if the sensor will observe a passenger in the vehicle. Based off of the images we have access to we will determine where to put the device in order for it to detect the most effective amount of motion, based off of the testing results. 

Our GPS (Global Positioning System) Team will get their sensor up and running once the antenna arrives, and then we will begin testing their GPS device.  Their next step after getting it functioning, and making sure the readouts are correct will be to get it communicating with a phone.

Our Thermal/Temperature Team will begin testing in a temperature controlled environment.  We will determine the threshold at which we want to send out our first, and second alarm and implement those into the code.

Last but not least is our Infrared Team. As a result of the set back from ordering the incorrect piece to connect the sensor with the breadboard, we have to wait for the new order that we have made. After it gets here we will move forward. A round of applause for our Infrared Team for not giving up! A round of applause for all of our teams for pushing through all the struggles and making it to January!! 

Teamwork

On our team, communication is key! So far with our testing teams, we have had all of our sensor groups that we have shaped; (GPS, Infrared, Motion, Thermal) come together to check each other progress, to make sure we are all on the same page. Also we have been diligently working within our teams to overcome obstacles with the sensors, like ordering unnecessary pieces, also making any adjustments to insure our sensors are functioning. We have set a deadline to make sure all of our testing for our sensors are completed by December 16, which, unfortunately, the IR team and GPS team were not able to meet. We want our team to enjoy their break without having to consider what we have to finish when we return, instead we when return we can continue our progress by moving forward in our process.

After the new year has become we will check in once again and share out to the whole team what we have been doing and what our next steps are as a team. Since we can’t move on without a sensor we have to make sure that all the sensors do work. If a teammate needs assistance and another teammate has completed their task we will work together to make sure their daily goal is complete.

Please feel free to donate to our GoFundMe

https://www.gofundme.com/drew-design-teams-inventeams-trip-2v5kk3g?utm_source=internal&utm_medium=email&utm_content=campaign_link_t&utm_campaign=welcome