Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
44 POWER-SAVING MODULAR LIGHT CONTROL SYSTEM FOR EXISTING INFRASTRUCTURE
 Ibrahim Odeh
Konrad Woo
Rohan Tikmany
 Amr Martini appendix1.pdf
design_document4.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
other1.pdf
presentation1.pptx
proposal1.pdf
https://courses.engr.illinois.edu/ece445/pace/view-topic.asp?id=31908

Team;
Ibrahim Odeh (irodeh2)
Konrad Woo (kwoo3)
Rohan Tikmany (tikmany2)

Problem: While modern systems do exist to control lights through motion sensors for the sake of power saving, they require a total overhaul of the existing lighting infrastructure. This can be inconvenient and prohibitively expensive.

Solution: We plan to create an inexpensive modular system that can be attached to existing lighting infrastructure that will use motion detection to control the lights.

Uniqueness: Our system would require very little setup and no expertise on the technologies. Ideally, the user would simply tack on sensors to the ceiling and controllers onto the light switches and plug in a central hub.

Our system consists of 3 primary components.

1. Sensor boards that can be tacked to the ceiling to detect motion and wirelessly communicate with the hub. These sensor boards will be identifiable in groups so that the hub will be able to differentiate what parts of the room are occupied.

2. A hub that will communicate with the sensor boards and be able to control individual switches based on the received sensor data.

3. Physical hardware that will flip a light switch using a servo motor based on wireless signals from the hub.

The switch system will consist of a mini servo which will control an actuator and toggle the switch. There will be a button to manually operate the mechanism and the switch itself will still be operational. Each switch assembly contains an RF transceiver to communicate with the hub and an Atmega 328 for processing.

The sensors will be utilizing PIR in order to detect movement. They will also contain an Atmega for processing logic and a RF transciever for communicating with the hub. The RF and PIR are expected to consume low enough power that a battery cell will suffice. The sensor boards will preassigned with unique identifiers so that the hub can differentiate what areas of a room are occupied, which would be useful for larger rooms with several switches controlling several zones of lighting.

The central hub will be the brains of it all, containing the same RF transciever to communicate with the sensors and the switch systems, and an Atmega processor for respective control. The hub will be powered by a larger 9V battery, which should help longevity. We will use appropriate DC-DC converters to power the atmega at the correct voltage.

Whenever a person enters a room, the sensors will communicate to the hub that they have detected motion, and the hub will command the appropriate switch mechanism to turn on the lights. After a certain timeout with motion, the hub would then command the switch mechanism to turn off the light.

Habit-Forming Toothbrush Stand

John Kim, Quinn Palanca, Rahul Vasanth

Habit-Forming Toothbrush Stand

Featured Project

I spoke with a TA that approved this idea during office hours today, and they said I should submit it as a project proposal.

# Habit-Forming Toothbrush Stand

Team Members:

- Rahul Vasanth (rvasant2)

- Quinn Andrew Palanca (qpalanc2)

- John Jung-Yoon Kim (johnjk5)

# Problem

There are few habits as impactful as good dental hygiene. Brushing teeth in the morning and night can significantly improve health outcomes. Many struggle with forming and maintaining this habit. Parents might have a difficult time getting children to brush in the morning and before sleep while homeless shelter staff, rehab facility staff, and really, anyone looking to develop and track this habit may want a non-intrusive, privacy-preserving method to develop and maintain the practice of brushing their teeth in the morning. Keeping track of this information and but not storing it permanently through a mobile application is something that does not exist on the market. A small nudge is needed to keep kids, teenagers, and adults of all ages aware and mindful about their brushing habits. Additionally, many tend to zone out while brushing their teeth because they are half asleep and have no idea how long they are brushing.

# Solution

Our solution is catered toward electric toothbrushes. Unlike specific toothbrush brands that come with mobile applications, our solution applies to all electric toothbrushes, preserves privacy, and reduces screen time. We will implement a habit-forming toothbrush stand with a microcontroller, sensors, and a simple LED display that houses the electric toothbrush. A band of sensors will be wrapped around the base of the toothbrush. Lifting the toothbrush from the stand, turning it on, and starting to brush displays a timer that counts seconds up to ten minutes. This solves the problem of brushing too quickly or losing track of time and brushing for too long. Additionally, the display will provide a scorecard for brushing, with 14 values coming from (morning, night) x (6daysago, 5daysago, . . . , today) for a "record" of one week and 14 possible instances of brushing. This will augment the user's awareness of any new trends, and potentially help parents, their children, and other use cases outlined above. We specifically store just one week of data as the goal is habit formation and not permanent storage of potentially sensitive health information in the cloud.

# Solution Components

## Subsystem 1 - Sensor Band

The sensor band will contain a Bluetooth/Wireless Accelerometer and Gyroscope, or Accelerometer, IR sensor (to determine height lifted above sink), Bluetooth/Wireless connection to the microcontroller. This will allow us to determine if the electric toothbrush has been turned on. We will experiment with the overall angle, but knowing whether the toothbrush is parallel to the ground, or is lifted at a certain height above the sink will provide additional validation. These outputs need to be communicated wirelessly to the habit-forming toothbrush stand.

Possibilities: https://www.amazon.com/Accelerometer-Acceleration-Gyroscope-Electronic-Magnetometer/dp/B07GBRTB5K/ref=sr_1_12?keywords=wireless+accelerometer&qid=1643675559&sr=8-12 and individual sensors which we are exploring on Digikey and PCB Piezotronics as well.

## Subsystem 2 - Toothbrush Base/Stand and Display

The toothbrush stand will have a pressure sensor to determine when the toothbrush is lifted from the stand (alternatively, we may also add on an IR sensor), a microcontroller with Bluetooth capability, and a control unit to process sensor outputs as well as an LED display which will be set based on the current state. Additionally, the stand will need an internal clock to distinguish between morning and evening and mark states accordingly. The majority of sensors are powered by 3.3V - 5V. If we use a battery, we may include an additional button to power on the display (or just have it turn on when the pressure sensor / IR sensor output confirms the toothbrush has been lifted, or have the device plug into an outlet.

# Criterion For Success

1. When the user lifts the toothbrush from the stan and it begins to vibrate (signaling the toothbrush is on), the brushing timer begins and is displayed.

2. After at least two minutes have passed and the toothbrush is set back on the stand, the display correctly marks the current day and period (morning or evening).

3. Track record over current and previous days and the overall weekly record is accurately maintained. At the start of a new day, the record is shifted appropriately.

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