Preliminary Project Proposal. Project Title: Automatic Storm Shutters. Team Name: Make It Rain

Transcription

1 EEL 4924 Electrical Engineering Design (Senior Design) Preliminary Project Proposal 28 May 2009 Project Title: Automatic Storm Shutters Team Name: Make It Rain Team Members: Name: Kyle Weber Name: Zachary Wernlund Project Abstract: The basic idea for this project it to build automatic storm shutters that will close in the case of strong winds, essentially a large scale storm. This is why we plan on creating our own anemometer, device to read wind speed, and then send a wireless signal to the storm shutter motor to close and lock in place.

2 Page 1/10 Table of Contents: Detailed Introduction Page 2 Technical Objectives Page 5 Cost Objectives Page 6 Concept Selection Page 7 Division of Labor and Gantt Chart Page 8 References Page 9 Materials Page 9 List of Figures and Tables: Figure1 Page 2 Figure 2 Page 4 Figure 3 Page 5 Figure 4 Page 8 Figure 5 Page 8 1

3 Page 2/10 Detailed Introduction: Basically, an anemometer will rotate in a circle and based on how fast the device rotates you can determine the wind speed. Simply buying an anemometer wouldn t be the best method for our situation. We don t need to know what the speed of wind is, simply when the speed has reached a certain speed. The below figure will help better understand what an anemometer looks like. Figure 1: Example Anemometer By putting a sensor, some sort that will count the number of times one of the arms spins around, we will be able to determine the wind speed. The only concern is finding a sensor that can read speeds of great magnitude. Another concern is building a device that can withstand such high wind speed. We believe that both of these tasks are easily attainable. Another back-up testing method would be to build a barometer to determine when the pressure has dropped to a certain level, to determine that it is definitely a storm of magnitude and not a rare occurrence. 2

4 Page 3/10 After the wind has reached a certain speed for a certain amount of time, a signal will be sent to the control circuit inside the home, letting the motor know to shut the shutter. The shutters will then lock in place until the user manually opens them, most likely through a push button for now. There will also be a manual close of the shutter that will override the wind detecting system in case the user would like to shut them on their own. The locking mechanism allows for a security measure, since most homes are subject to theft and destruction of property after storms. The automatic storm shutter system can be used in any home that risks the chance of destruction during a storm. If the resident is out of town or is not at their vacation home, the storm shutter system will close and protect their home without worry. There are similar products on the market; however, none of them apply wind speed detection. Currently automatic storm shutters close under heavy rain, but nothing for the situation we plan on solving. We feel that rain does not necessarily mean storm shutters should close. The true damage occurs under heavy winds. This would be applicable for any hurricane, tornado, tropical depression, tropical storm, etc. The following image shows the type of storm shutters we will use in our design. These are subject to change. 3

5 Page 4/10 Figure 2: Example Storm Shutters Different developers have run into a variety of problems when creating their automatic storm shutters that close due to heavy rain. We plan to bypass all of the rain problems they encounter by sensing wind speed rather than rain. 4

6 Page 5/10 Technical Objectives: The automatic storm shutters will use a self-built anemometer detection system using a sensor that is sensitive enough to determine the number of rotations in a certain amount of time. This will determine when wind speeds have reached around 60 to 70 mph, possibly less. Once that has occurred we will use an XBee to transmit a wireless signal to the home control system. This will use an Atmel microcontroller. Once at the home control center another Atmel microcontroller will control the manual pushbutton for close and open. This is where the system will determine whether or not to close the shutters, open the shutters, or do nothing. The shutters will run off of a motor of choice and lock when in the down position. Power consumption should not be too much of an issue. Also we may or may not decide to run the system off of solar power, since the anemometer will already be on the roof of the house. The following block diagram best represents our technical objectives in this project. Figure 3: Block Diagram 5

7 Page 6/10 Our primary goals: -Build a digital anemometer (read: an anemometer is inherently an analog device, we want to be able to read the anemometers speed digitally) -Accurately track, record, and process wind speeds through use of Atmel processors -Create a switching system that will be able to control storm shutters (or a similarly functioning device) -Have the two systems communicate with each other wirelessly -Ensure the system operates under extreme conditions and without problematic failures (this is a safety device, after all) Cost Objectives: Quantify the expected costs for your prototype and compare it with the cost of similar presently available products, if any. - Anemometer System w/ sensors: $50-$60 - Atmel: $10 - Programmer: $17 - Xbee: $20 - Motor: $20-$30 - Shutters: $20-$30 6

8 Page 7/10 - Total Cost: $200 No similar product cost. Automatically operated storm shutters can run for $1000 or more, but we will not be using the equivalent quality shutter as major companies. Concept Selection The key selection choice of project was the decision between a wired system and going wireless. Our design makes use of XBee transmitters for wireless communication. Wireless presents several advantages of using a wired design. Our system is focuses on emergency response, it would seem that a wired system would be ideal because it would be a fail safe in the event of power failure. Since our system is meant to pre-empt severe weather and wireless communication is a reliable source, wireless is an effective way to communicate with our shutters. The wireless system allows for the user to easily add more shutters with our the hassle of running new cable to install them; just as easily they can be uninstalled. Division of Labor and Gantt Chart For the majority of the project, team members will share responsibilities because each part requires a certain amount of analog and digital portions. Work will be split to Kyle for the construction of the anemometer and shutter controls with Zac working on the Xbee communication and eventual system integration. 7

9 Page 8/10 Down Task Name Planned Extension time Introduction (team) Research/project proposal (team) Part Ordering (team) Anemometer (Kyle) Xbee communication (Zac) Shutter Control (Kyle) System Integration (Zac) Testing Report Demo (team) Figure 4: Distribution Figure 5: Gantt Chart 8

10 Page 9/10 Materials and Resources: List any major components and resources required in the development of your project. - Anemometer System w/ sensors - Atmel - Programmer - Xbee - Motor - Shutters - Resistors, capacitors, etc. It may be helpful to discuss this idea with individuals knowledgeable about weather and storms. References or Bibliography: First anemometer (Figure 1): Shutter Pricing: Shutter Image (Figure 2): 9