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MSU ECE 480 - Solar‐Powered Multi‐Seat Computer Kiosk

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!TEAM!2!Solar‐Powered!Multi‐Seat!Computer!Kiosk!for!Tanzanian!Classrooms!! ECE!Facilitator! Jian!Ren! !! Telecomm!Facilitator! Kurt!DeMaagd!! UDSM!Solar!Advising!Professor! Dominick!Chambega!! UDSM!Telecomm!Advising!Professor! Aloys!Mvuma!! Management! Jakub!Mazur!! Web! Josh!Wong!! Document! Ben!Kershner!! Presentation/Lab! Eric!Tarkleson!! Telecomm! Joe!Larsen!! Telecomm! Tor!Bjornrud!! UDSM!Telecomm! Victor!Crallet!!Request!for!Proposal!–!October!13th,!2008!!!!!Sponsored!By:!!!In!Cooperation!With:!!! ! ! !! Michigan!State!University! University!of!Dar!es!Salaam!!2!Exe cutive)Su mmary)! With!the!increasing!proliferation!of!affordable,!reliable!personal!computers!into!the!marketplace,!there!is!a!great!demand!to!develop!affordable!personal!computers!for!remote!and!undeveloped!areas.!!One!such!potential!region!is!rural!East!Africa,!specifically!Tanzania.!!Before!deploying!a!computer!system!into!such!harsh!conditions,!several!obstacles!must!be!overcome,!including!source!of!electricity,!telecommunications,!and!the!savannah!climate.!!The!Lenovo!Corporation!has!tasked!this!team!to!develop!a!solar‐powered!computer!workstation!that!can!accommodate!up!to!eight!users.!The!solution!must!be!robust!enough!to!withstand!the!harsh!environment!with!as!little!technical!maintenance!as!possible,!yet!still!be!affordable!for!rural!schools.!!3!!Table)of ) Contents )EXECUTIVE(SUMMARY( 2!TECHNIC AL(SPECIFICATIONS( 4!INTRODUCTION( 4!BACKGROUND( 4!DESIGN(SPECIFICATIONS( 5!DESIGN(CRITERIA( 5!CONCEPTUAL( DESI GN( 6!PHASE(I:(POWER(ARCHITECTURE( 7!PHASE(II:(SYSTEM(A RCHITECTURE(PROTOTYPES( 8!PHASE(III:(POWER(MANAGEME NT( 14!PHASE(IV:(CONTENT( 14!PROJECT(MANAGEMENT( 15!DESIGN(TEAMS(AND(ROLES( 15!REFERENCES( 16!IMA GES( 16!NOMENCLATURE( 16!!!4!Tec hnical)Specifications)Introduction)The!primary!goal!of!this!project!is!to!help!promote!education!in!developing!countries!by!providing!grade!schools!with!electronic!resources.!There!are!a!variety!of!other!groups!that!have!already!initiated!solutions!to!this!problem.!The!most!prominent!group!is!the!One!Laptop!Per!Child!Association!(hereinafter!referred!to!as!OLPC),!which!has!created!a!cheap,!durable!laptop!known!as!the!XO‐1.!Other!groups!such!as!the!Center!for!Scientific!Computing!and!Free!Software!(hereinafter!referred!to!as!C3SL)!have!made!significant!strides!in!reusing!older!computers!for!schools;!however,!both!of!those!programs!have!some!significant!drawbacks.!!Background)The!primary!competitor!identified!is!the!OLPC.!The!OLPC!Association!is!dedicated!to!producing!low!cost!laptops!and!distributing!them!to!low‐income!areas.!There!exist!several!problems!with!the!program,!including!the!per‐deployment!cost!and!deployment.!The!original!intent!was!to!deliver!a!laptop!to!every!child!for!a!cost!of!$100!per!device.!The!program,!however,!is!unable!to!deliver!the!laptop!at!the!$100!target;!in!fact,!the!cost!to!donate!a!system!is!almost!$200.!Deployments!also!require!a!minimum!commitment!of!100!laptops.!This!represents!a!very!significant!financial!burden,!though!once!deployed,!the!XO‐1’s!are!extremely!rugged!PCs!and!do!not!depend!on!any!external!power!sources.!Once!deployed,!it!is!difficult!to!integrate!multiple!PCs!into!a!cohesive!learning!environment,!and!this!takes!away!from!educating!the!students.!C3SL’s!solution!integrates!into!school!systems!better,!and!was!widely!deployed!in!the!Paraná!Digital!project.!This!project!involved!having!the!multiple!terminals!running!off!of!a!single!computer!in!multiple!schools.!This!program!has!been!very!successful!and!shows!great!promise,!but!there!is!a!critical!flaw.!The!program!is!entirely!software,!and!this!software!was!intended!to!run!in!a!classroom!equipped!with!at!a!minimum!basic!utilities,!such!as!power!and!internet‐connectivity.!!5!Our!solution!is!to!integrate!the!OLPC's!ruggedness!and!the!C3SL's!novel!software!solution!into!one!robust!package.!The!design!team!preceding!ours!built!a!solar!powered!computer!system!that!can!be!deployed!in!a!relatively!durable!building.!They!assembled!a!solar!panel,!battery,!and!a!charge!controller!into!a!self‐contained!solution,!such!that!deployment!in!a!wide!variety!of!climates!and!locales!is!possible,!but!they!were!unable!to!decide!on!the!computer!system.!Our!primary!goal!for!this!project!of!integrating!the!work!of!our!predecessors!with!a!computer!system!that!is!suitable!for!educating!youth,!regardless!of!regional!or!socio‐economic!boundaries.!Design)Specificat io n s)The!core!of!the!design!is!a!single!computer!powering!multiple!dumb!terminals.!There!are!many!ways!to!create!a!dumb!terminal;!these!will!be!discussed!later!in!the!proposal.!The!entire!system!is!connected!to!an!AC/DC!inverter,!which!is!powered!by!a!large,!deep‐cycle!battery.!The!battery!is!charged!via!a!photovoltaic!panel.!There!is!independent!monitoring!circuitry!to!ensure!the!system!is!functioning!properly,!which!can!gather!data!to!recommend!ways!of!improving!system!performance!as!well.!Once!the!prototype!is!complete,!we!will!install!it!in!a!school!in!Tanzania.!!Lenovo!will!also!be!able!to!mass‐produce!the!system!and!package!it!for!sale.!A!variety!of!organizations,!such!as!governments!or!humanitarian!groups,!can!then!purchase!a!base!station!and!add!any!number!of!terminals.!Given!that!each!station!functions!independent!of!a!power!source!or!communications!source,!it!can!be!shipped!to!any!location!and!quickly!be!installed.!Once!the!system!is!set!up,!it!will!require!minimal!maintenance,!and!limited!software!support!will!be!provided!over!the!Internet.!Design)Criteria) )The!following!requirements!are!established!to!decide!the!feasibility!and!rating!the!desirability!of!the!conceptual!designs:!• Stability/Reliability!!6!o The!system!is!to!operate!in!a!remote!area!with!as!little!maintenance!as!possible.!• Power!Consumption!o Solar!power!is!the!single!power!source!for!the!system!therefore!minimal!power!consumption!is!a!priority.!• Construction!Difficulty!o The!team!has!a!limited!time!frame!to!complete!the!project!and!have!it!packaged!ready!for!deployment.!• Lenovo!Hardware!o Implementing!the!sponsor’s!hardware!into!the!system!will!help!keep!costs!down.!• Cost!o


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MSU ECE 480 - Solar‐Powered Multi‐Seat Computer Kiosk

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