Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
30 PawFeast: Food on Demand
Arash Amiri
Kathryn Thompson
Omkar Kulkarni
Aishee Mondal design_document3.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
grading_sheet1.pdf
proposal1.pdf
video
# PawFeast: Food on Demand

Team Members:
- Omkar Kulkarni (onk2)
- Arash Amiri (arasha3)
- Kathryn Thompson (kyt3)

# Problem

All pet owners must remember to feed their pets at set times during the day. There are times that people forget to feed their pets, double feed them when there are multiple people in the house and there is poor communication, or have trouble feeding them on time when they get home late if there are prior conflicts. In these times, pets either eat too much, too little, or irregularly. As a result, timer-based pet feeders have been created that release food at set times. However, this introduces a new problem, food that was sealed in an airtight container is now released into an open environment. When this food sits out for extended periods of time, this risks the food becoming stale or bugs getting introduced to the food.

# Solution

We are seeking to solve this problem by having timers preventing overeating, coupled with pressure sensors required to release food. Given both of these conditions, the dispenser will release the food for the pet. This ensures that the food is fresh when the pet goes to eat and that the pet is fed on time. In addition, if the pet were to not eat all the food at once and leave the food dispenser, the pressure sensor will tell the dispenser to cover the food until the pet returns ensuring freshness and preventing bugs. In addition, our system will notify owners when the pet has eaten, or when the food dispenser has low levels of food.


# Solution Components
## Subsystem 1: Refilling Food Store
The subsystem for checking if the food store is empty will include an infrared presence sensor (Vishay TSSP77038) that is able to measure up to 2 meters in front of it to determine whether an object is present—this will serve to detect whether the food inside of the container is low and needs to be refilled. When the food store reaches a certain level, a signal will be sent to subsystem 7 (the brain), which will send an automated message to notify the owner to refill the food store.
## Subsystem 2: Power System
The power system will supply energy to all of the various subsystems, including the microcontroller of subsystem 7, the stepper motor driver in subsystem 3, and the various sensors in subsystems 1, 5, and 6. The low voltage buses will be 3.3V, 12V, and 5V, all of which will be powered by a combination of rechargeable lithium-ion batteries and low-dropout regulators. This compact, custom battery pack will allow the pet dispenser to be portable, even for family vacations or road trips. The AMS1117 LDO has variable voltage levels of 1.2V, 1.5V, 3.3V, 5V, and more for all of the lower voltage needs; the 12V supply will come directly from the battery pack or possibly from a DC-DC converter that is implemented.
## Subsystem 3: Food Dispenser
This subsystem will utilize a E Series Nema 17 stepper motor that will slide open a door to the food container when needed and allow a set amount of food through before sliding closed the
door. The motor will be controlled by a stepper motor controller IC (DRV8825) with a custom control circuit that takes in 12V and outputs 3.4V to the motor. Hard cut offs will also be coded for maximum food and min and max on times during the day.

The main objective of this subsystem is to make the system an on-demand food system. We will utilize a large button for the dog to step on when hungry. When pressed, the system will start the motors to release food, on the condition that enough time has elapsed since it ate last. The pet would be trained how to ask for food using this button. Only when the button is pressed and enough time has passed, will food then be dispensed.
## Subsystem 4: RFID for pet identification

We will have receivers for minimum 2 RFIDs, UHF RFID tag 9662 Long Distance Passive Alien H3. The RFIDs would be used to signal which pet is using the dispenser, so the owner is able to utilize the same dispenser for one or more pets.
## Subsystem 5: User Interface
The subsystem for notifications will be a phone application that we will build that is able to connect with the pet feed dispenser system. For the application side, we will utilize React Native and Expo to create a user friendly method to check the pet’s eating habits. This will notify users for when the pet has been fed, if the food tank is low and requires refiling, and if the food was covered due to an empty bowl or a partially filled one.

## Subsystem 6: Brain
The brain subsystem will take in inputs from all of the other sensor subsystems and output the according signals to the user interface (for notifications) and the food dispenser motor driver. This system will also track the amount of time that has passed and sound a soft chime for when enough time has passed for the pet to be able to eat. The ESP32 microcontroller, known for its wifi connectivity and security measures, would have a set of I/O pins for taking in these signals. This MCU programmer circuit and other control level circuitry—firmware or equivalent—would be incorporated onto this board along with a UART circuit to detect pet RFIDs (done with the UHF RFID reader JRD-4035).

# Criterion For Success

The mechanical feeder system should drop a bowl-full of food once a valid RFID is nearby, a pet-intended button has been pressed, AND enough time has passed since the pet last ate.
An owner should receive a notification once the food store has decreased below 10% and 20%, and when criterion 1 has been satisfied.
The power system should be power efficient: the rechargeable battery should last for at least 10 food dispenses.

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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