Project
| # | Title | Team Members | TA | Documents | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 33 | Therapalz collar |
Benjamin Trang Bernardo Vargas Tanvi Modi |
Dongwei Shi | design_document0.pdf final_paper0.pdf other0.pdf presentation0.pdf proposal0.pdf |
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| Partners: Name: Tanvi Modi: NET ID: tmodi3 Name: Benjamin Trang : Net ID: bbtrang2 Name: Bernado Vargas Net ID: bvargas2 Web Board Discussion: https://courses.engr.illinois.edu/ece445/pace/view-topic.asp?id=27797 # Solution Overview After speaking with the sponsor of the Therapalz project, we have come up with some ideas to solve problems with the current product. We would develop a collar device that houses some more easily accessible controls, additional sensors, and a locating feature. Adding a few controls on the outside of the stuffed animal would help in emergency situations where the pet needs to be turned off, or even certain features need to be temporarily deactivated. The extra sensors would help note current patient activity, or other times it would be beneficial to put the pet into a lower power mode to conserve battery. These sensors would include ambient light sensors, microphone, and accelerometer. Locating the stuffed animal is sometimes a problem for caregivers as it is a common occurrence for Alzheimer's patients to hide things, and our solution would be to add the ability to locate the stuffed animal by having it make a loud noise through a speaker, similar to calling your phone to find it. This feature would be tied to a controlling app for the stuffed animal. # Solution Components. ## Power Subsystem Use of a battery that can allow the collar to remain functional for a while, considering we also want the battery to last throughout the night. Thus we want to focus on using rechargeable batteries. Which the Adafruit Trinket does seem to have access to from their site. Link to adafruit battery pack: https://www.adafruit.com/product/2124 ## Processing Subsystem Use bluetooth to communicate to and from a mobile device, using an app, to configure settings based on the choice of the user. Also use bluetooth to track the location of the animal. Use of an internal microcontroller, currently looking at the Adafruit Trinket - Mini Microcontroller - 5V Logic to control sensors, battery, etc ## Mechanical Subsystem The mechanical system would consist mostly of a box or other container 3-4 in. in length attached to a collar for a stuffed animal. This box would contain all of the electronic hardware, including the sensors, battery, and microcontroller. # Criterion for Success We would like to successfully implement the tracking feature on the animal. The touch of a button on the app would ‘ring’ the animal which would make it easy to find similar to finding a cell phone when lost. We would also like to implement some buttons on the collar itself which would easily shut on/off the animal to conserve power, or mute it. We also hope to implement voice sensors in the collar which would change the behaviour of the animal ( vibration level, heartbeat frequency , etc) based on the loudness of the voice which can be adjusted in the app. We also plan to have certain pre-programmed moods such as angry, confused, happy etc with pre programmed settings for the animal which could simply be activated by picking the mood on the app. Finally, we hope to successfully implement light sensors which would put the animal in ‘sleep’ mode automatically so it does not make noise when the patient is asleep and also helps preserve battery. |
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