Progress Report 1 Design Team 5 11-2-2009 Introduction: This report is written to update our facilitator about the progress of the project development including the future tasks that are awaiting completion. First, an overview of the project objectives will be given so that the audience can understand the reasoning that is behind the ideology that has been followed. Later, the project tasks, with their time limitations and present situations will be discussed, followed by the challenges that are forthcoming. Project Description: This project will use various sensors to detect consumers in the room of the appliance. This will make home appliances more energy-efficient by allowing them to enter a statndby mode when no one is present. The two specific home appliances that were chosen to work on are a refrigerator as the high-end and a clothes washer as the low-end appliance. To achieve accurate sensing performance, robustness and reliability are very significant for the entire product development process. These conditions are expected to be satisfied by programming the sensors with the provided microcontrollers. Progress Summary: Meeting our Sponsor: After being assigned this project and group, we decided that our first priority was to meet with our sponsor, Randy Jeffery, Senior Electrical Engineer at Whirlpool Corporation, to discuss the goals of the project. We scheduled a meeting with Mr. Jeffery at Whirlpool headquarters in Benton Harbor, MI and traveled there for a morning meeting. Mr. Jeffery broke the project down in to his three desired stages: sensing technologies, applications, and wireless communications. Up until one week ago, we have been limited by a lack of an appliance to work with, or even the knowledge of what appliance we would be using. Therefore we are still in the sensing technologies stage.Progress Report 1 Design Team 5 11-2-2009 Project Tasks Completed: Selection research was conducted on various types of sensors to decide what sensor(s) would work best for specific applications, each team member is taking on a different sensor category. The sensor options that were available were infrared (IR) sensor, passive infrared (PIR) sensor, pressure sensor, capacitive sensor and ultrasonic sensor. After decided on which sensors to use, the testing section of the research started to begin learning how to use them. Leslie was able to get free sensors from her father's company and Mr. Jeffery had given us some IR sensors when we went to meet with him. We set up the sensors and tested them to look at their capabilities. After observing the detection ranges of these sensors, it was clear that new sensors should be purchased with the desired specifications for the project. Berna bought IR, PIR, and ultrasonic sensors and Mr. Jeffery sent us an ultrasonic sensor that Whirlpool already uses. Since the UIs were received late the progress level is slightly behind the ideal schedule. Similarly, the ultrasonic sensor has not been sent from Whirlpool. Nevertheless, we had the opportunity to work with both the infrared and the passive infrared sensors in the laboratory by now. As a necessary step for the final project, as well as for Demo 1, the sensors’ detection ability was tested for a 180 degree range in 30 degree increments at various distances. Before the testing, Kevin and Nathan built an enclosure to have accurate readings from the sensors. Then, the test was conducted with the sensors mounted in enclosures and also free standing. The PIR test was only done free standing because it would never be enclosed. The more important section of the tests was when the sensor was mounted, since the sensor would have to be mounted in the appliance. The testing of our sensors was conducted using a PIC microprocessor and MPLAB code to process the voltage from the sensor, convert the analog input to digital, and light up a LED to signal that the sensor has sensed something.Progress Report 1 Design Team 5 11-2-2009 Problems Encountered: Most of the problems, the team had to face was the lack of various components. For instance, the late arrival of the UIs effected the start of the laboratory of the testings, and the lack of the ultrasonic sensor prevented the team from working on the high-end appliance application. The current issue we are working on is the software system the team needs to use for the sensor programming. Project Tasks To Be Completed: The next step will be to test the ultrasonic sensor that will be arriving in few days. Even though Berna already acquired an ultrasonic sensor, the testing will be with the sensor that will be received from Mr. Jeffery since it has a higher detection range. Afterwards, the Code Warrior program will be used on the sensors to activate them properly for the specific applications. In the end, the integration of sensors to the appliances will be designed. Changes in Requirements: In the beginning, the appliance options included oven and the microwave; however, later on the washer as the low-end and the refrigerator as the high-end have become the only appliances we will be working on. The sensing technology first was decided to communicate wireless; unfortunately, due to the time constraint, this feature is omitted. Whirlpool is also tolerant with the power consumption. Even though 1 Watt was determined the target value for the standby power consumption of the entire appliance; then it was changed to be rather an expected requirement.Progress Report 1 Design Team 5 11-2-2009 Budget Status Item Price Quantity Source Microcontrollers $0.00 10 Whirlpool IR Sensors $0.00 5 Donated PIR Sensors $0.00 3 Donated Ultrasonic Sensors $24.99 2 http://www.hobbyengineering.com/CatSULTRA.html LCD Display $0.00 1 Whirlpool Whirlpool UI $0.00 2 Whirlpool Devantech SRF05 Ultrasonic Range Sensor $29.50 1 Trossen Electronics Parallax PIR Motion Sensor $9.99 1 Trossen Electronics Sharp IR Distance Sensor GP2D120 (1.57 - 11.81 inches) $12.99 1 Trossen Electronics Over-night shipping $22.99 - ----- TOTAL $125.45 Overall Assessment of the Project: At present, the project is moving forward faster than two months ago. The team is working on the ultrasonic sensor as well as the communications of the infrared and passive infrared sensors with the microcontrollers with the Code Warrior
View Full Document
Unlocking...