Senior Design Project - Project Plan

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.	.	SENIOR DESIGN PROJECT
.	.	PROJECT PLAN
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.		.	CHILD MONITORING DEVICE
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.			Submitted on September 22, 1998
Project Description
.			Abstract
Project Plan			Problem Statement
.			Design Objective
Design Review			Technical Solution
.			Gantt Chart
Final Report			Proposed Budget
.			Other Comments
Team Members
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Faculty Advisor		.	ABSTRACT OF THE PROJECT
.			The "Child Monitoring Device" (CMD) is a device specifically designed for a parent
Client			to supervise his/her child’s activities. This device is a system that includes a
.			Tracer/Monitor and a Communication Dummy. It will be designed for use in the
May 99 Projects			home as well as for outside of the house. The parent will be able to monitor the
.			distance and position of the child within a certain radius without any direct
Senior Design Homepage			supervision. The device will also have a buzzer that alerts the parent whenever the
.			child is in contact with water (ie. Swimming pool, bathroom) or beyond a specified
.			distance from the parent. Technically, this device uses radio frequency waves to
.			send and receive signals from the device worn by the child to the parent’s monitor.
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		.	PROBLEM STATEMENT
			Children around the age of 5 tend to be very active. They are curious about things
			that take place around them and will venture off without any warning. It is not always
			easy for parents of guardians to take care of their children every second.
			Consequently, children may be involved in accidents that our device will help avoid.

			Parents need some sort of device that would assist them in looking after their
			children. Our senior design project called the "Child Monitoring Device" (CMD) is
			the solution to this dilemma. By using this device, parents will be able to monitor the
.			location of their child and see if he/she is near water without having to accompany
			them all of the time.
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		.	DESIGN OBJECTIVE
			Generally, the "Child Monitoring Device" consists of two components, a
			Tracer/Monitor (used by the parents) and a Communication Dummy (attached to
			the child).

			In order to initiate communication, the Tracer sends out a radio signal periodically to
.			the Communication Dummy. As the Communication Dummy receives the signal, it
			will transmit another radio signal back to the Tracer. A micro-controller is embedded
			in the Tracer, which controls the signal generator and will compute the distance the
			child is from the parent. The Tracer is also equipped with a position sensor that
			monitors the location of the child.

			In addition to just sending a signal back to the Tracer, the Communication Dummy
			has a special sensor that will trigger whenever the child is in contact with water or is
			not within a specified radius. When this happens. The Communication Dummy will
			activate the signal generator and transmit a radio signal to the Tracer to report the
.			situation. Having a buzzer attached, the Tracer will assert a command that triggers a
			buzzer notifying the parents that the child could be in trouble.
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		.	TECHNICAL SOLUTION
			The CMD is composed of the Tracer/Monitor and the Communication Dummy.
			These two parts are described below:

			Tracer/Monitor (see diagram below)
			At a set time interval the micro-controller will instruct the signal generator to send out
..			a signal through the signal generator. Concurrently with the signal being sent a
.			counter is started in the micro-controller. When the signal is received back the
.			micro-controller is informed and the counter is stopped. The micro-controller uses
.			the information on the number of ticks that were counted between the time the signal
.			was sent and when it was received to calculate the distance of the Communication
.			Dummy. The signal received is also sent to the position sensor, which will calculate
.			the direction of the signal. Both the distance and direction of the signal are than
.			displayed on the LCD screen. If no signal is received or the specified signal for
.			water contact is received, the buzzer will sound and an appropriate message is
.			displayed on the screen.
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.			Communication Dummy (see diagram below)
.			The Communication Dummy is a very simple device. If a signal is received by the
.			signal receiver the device will have the signal generator send a signal out. If the water
.			sensor comes in contacts with water, it instructs the signal generator to output a
.			signal of a specific frequency.
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.			To view the Gantt Chart, press here
.			To view the Proposed Budget, proceed here
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.		.	OTHER COMMENTS
.			We are also looking into placing a cell phone transmitter into the Communication
.			Dummy so that in case of an emergency the child might be able to be found from
.			long distances away.
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.			The direction sensor had been questionable as to whether it could be implemented
.			but we have determined that it is feasible for us to accomplish.
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.	.	Send your comments to cmd-team@iastate.edu
.	.	� Copyright CMD, Iowa State University 1998