WEEK 18 - APPLICATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

  1. HOME
  2. ASSIGNMENTS
  3. APPLICATIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

INTRODUCTION

This week was a good chance to look back at all the activities and identify gaps, organize plans and review progress to be ready for the final project. I started by writing my thoughts on a piece of paper and putting a rough schedule on an excel sheet then I built from that this web page.

Assignment Description

  • Propose a final project that integrates the range of units covered.

Learning Outcomes

  • Define the scope of a project.
  • Develop a project plan.

Have you (Checklist)

  • ✔ what will it do?.
  • ✔ who has done what beforehand?
  • ✔ what materials and components will be required?
  • ✔ where will they come from?
  • ✔ how much will it cost?
  • ✔ what parts and systems will be made?
  • ✔ what processes will be used?
  • ✔ what tasks need to be completed?
  • ✔ what questions need to be answered?
  • ✔ what is the schedule?
  • ✔ how will it be evaluated?


WHAT IS MY PROJECT?


My project (Refered to here as IR-SIGMA) is a BLUETOOTH enabled, VOICE CONTROLLED universal IR remote control that can be controlled from any Android device (Referred to in this page as UNIT A). It also comes with an additional hardware (Referred to in this page as UNIT B) that can be attached / plugged to electrical device to make it IR remotely controllable (Example: can be switched ON and OFF)




WHAT WILL IT DO?


What I have in mind is that it should enable the user to remotely control several devices (even the ones that were earlier not remotely controllable) through UNIT A (Infra-red Transmitter Hub) and UNIT B (Infra-red Receiver) using a single easy to use android application interface as follows:

  • The user a button with IR signal code and protocol and then Push the button
  • The IR Code is sent to the UNIT A (IR TRansmitter HUB) via Bluetooth.
  • The IR Transmitter sends the IR Signal to the desired device.
  • If the Transmitted IR Signal matches the one preset to UNIT B (IR Reciever) it stimulate a relay to TURN ON or TURN OFF the device it is attached to.





WHO HAS DONE WHAT BEFOREHAND?


When I did surf on the internet to look at similar devices, I did not find an exact match as most of the devices I found are designed to handle ONLY specific brands and the application associated with their commercial products is mainly to setup the the universal remote control rather than to operate it, below is a list of some similar end products that I found :




WHAT MATERIALS AND COMPONENTS WILL BE REQUIRED?


FROM WHERE?


HOW MUCH WILL IT COST?


The materials that that will be needed to fabricate the proposed project, the location from where it will be acquired and its cost will be 23.01 USD as below:


# COMPONENT COUNT UNIT PRICE TOTAL PRICE VENDOR URL NOTES
1 ATMEGA 328P-AU Micro-controller 2 2.20 USD 4.40 USD FARNELL LINK
2 Crystal 16Mhz/18pF 2 0.25 USD USD 0.50 USD FARNELL LINK
3 Green LED 2 0.25 USD USD 0.50 USD FARNELL LINK
4 Red LED 2 0.25 USD USD 0.50 USD FARNELL LINK
5 10K Ohm Resistor 2 0.05 USD 0.1 USD FARNELL LINK
6 499 Ohm Resistor 2 0.05 USD 0.1 USD FARNELL LINK
7 22 Pf Capacitor 4 0.1 USD 0.4 USD FARNELL LINK
8 1K Ohm Resistor 8 0.1 USD 0.8 USD Digi-Key LINK
9 FTDI Header 2 0.25 USD 0.5 USD FARNELL LINK
10 Phototransistor IR 1 0.41 USD 0.41 USD Digi-Key LINK
11 HC-05 Bluetooth Module 1 7.5 USD 7.5 USD Hilegto LINK
12 IR Transmitter LED 1 0.05 USD 0.05 USD RAM(LOCAL SHOP) LINK
13 IR receiver 1 0.35 USD 0.35 USD RAM(LOCAL SHOP) LINK
14 220v to 5v module 1 3.5 USD 3.5 USD RAM(LOCAL SHOP) LINK
15 Solid State Relay 1 3.4 USD 3.4 USD RAM(LOCAL SHOP) LINK


WHAT PARTS AND SYSTEMS WILL BE MADE?


The parts and the systems / codes that will be made are as follows:

  • IR Transmitter HUB (UNIT A) including the following:
    • Enclosure Design and Fabrication from 3mm thick plywood sheets.
    • 3D Printing accessories like PCB holder.
    • Electronic Circuit Design and production.
    • Programming the circuit.

  • IR Receiver (UNIT B) including the following:
    • Enclosure Design and Fabrication from 3mm thick plywood sheets.
    • 3D Printing accessories like enclosure box mounting kit.
    • Electronic Circuit Design and production.
    • Programming the circuit.

  • ANDROID APPLICATION INTERFACE including the following:
    • Design, implement and test the application using MIT App Inventor with arduino (For proof of concept purpose).
    • Design, Implement and test the application using MIT App Inventor with my final board.



WHAT PROCESS WILL BE USED?


WHAT TASKS NEED TO BE COMPLETED?


WHAT IS THE SCHEDULE?


The materials that that will be needed to fabricate the proposed project, the location from where it will be acquired and its cost will be as below:


# TASKS COMPLETED % DATE (FROM-TO) PROCESS
IR TRANSMITTER (UNIT A)
1 Design Enclosure Using Autodesk Fusion 360.
100%
Computer-Aided Design
2 Design Enclosure Accessories (PCB-Holders).
100%
23/5 - 26/5 Computer-Aided Design
3 Fabricate the Enclosure Using laser cutter.
100%
Computer-Controlled Cutting
4 Fabricate Enclosure Accessories (PCB-Holders).
100%
23/5 - 26/5 3D Printing
5 Circuit Design using Eagle.
100%
Electronics Design
6 Produce the Electronic PCB.
50%
29/5 - 03/6 Electronics Production
7 Program the Board.
80%
04/06 - 05/06 Embedded Programming
IR RECEIVER (UNIT B)
8 Design Enclosure Using Autodesk Fusion 360.
100%
Computer-Aided Design
8 Design Enclosure Accessories (PCB-Mounting Kit).
100%
23/5 - 26/5 Computer-Aided Design
9 Fabricate the Enclosure Using laser cutter.
100%
Computer-Controlled Cutting
10 Fabricate Enclosure Accessories (PCB-Mounting Kit).
100%
23/5 - 26/5 3D Printing
11 Circuit Design using Eagle.
100%
Electronics Design
12 Produce the Electronic PCB.
50%
29/5 - 03/6 Electronics Production
13 Program the Board.
80%
04/6 - 05/6 Embedded Programming
ANDROID APPLICATION INTERFACE
14 Design application User Interface using MIT App Inventor.
100%
24/5 - 25/5 User Interface (GUI)
15 Coding and Testing Application.
60%
26/5 - 28/5 User Interface (GUI)
INTEGRATION, ASSEMBLY AND DOCUMENTATION
16 Integrate All parts and Systems.
0%
06/06 - 10/06 All Above
17 Create Slide, Video and overall project documentation.
0%
24/05 - 10/06 All Above




WHAT QUESTIONS NEED TO BE ANSWERED?


  • What is the maximum string value for the RAW IR code that the BT module will be able to send? Will that be a limitation?
  • What is the best Capacitor value to be used on the board to reduce the inductance and stabilize the electronc boards for the IR transmitter and the IR receiver?
  • How to ensure the relay and the 220v to be installed in the IR receiver will not introduce electromagnetic waves or inductance that will affect the controller performance?



HOW WILL IT BE EVALUATED?


Since the whole purpose of the final project is to examine if the course / diploma achieved its objectives, I believe that the criteria to be used for evaluation of the final project can include:

  • The integration and application of learned skills through out the academy
  • The functionality of the end product as it is intended to:
    • Can the application send IR Code va bluetooth?
    • Can the IR Transmitter send IR command to a device?
    • Will the IR receiver respond to a received preset IR Code?

    NOTICE THAT: This project deliverable is ONLY a proof of concept and initial stage for other work stages to be developed later. My intention is to add several capabilites to the end product like adding RF communication etween 2 similar hubs to extend the range of control, adding WI-FI capability to ensure the HUB can be reached via web rather than Bluetooth ONLY!.


  • The calrity of the documentation and extent to which it will allow others to replicate the end product.




DEVELOPED BY: HAITHEM ABDELKHALEK