Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
35 CarGuard: Autonomous Hot Car and CO Poisoning Mitigator
 Cathy Boman
Emily Xu
Parvati Menon
 Rui Gong proposal1.pdf
# CarGuard: Autonomous Hot Car and CO Poisoning Mitigator
Link to Discussion: https://courses.grainger.illinois.edu/ece445/pace/view-topic.asp?id=77034

Team Members:
- Parvati Menon (parvati3)
- Cathy Boman (cboman2)
- Emily Xu (exu7)

# Problem

Every year, many children and pets die due to hot cars or carbon monoxide poisoning when they are left in a locked vehicle. Parents often forget or knowingly leave their children and pets in a hot, locked car. Even if the parent leaves for a quick 10-minute errand, there are still concerns about heatstrokes since temperatures inside can rise as much as 20 degrees in that short duration of time (Seattle Children’s Hospital). In 2024 alone, 39 kids died from heatstroke of being in a hot car (NSC).

Currently on the market, there exist devices to remind users to open the back door or check the backseat (CNN). The volume of these alarms can be reduced, and as a result, parents can forget they are going off. There is no autonomous solution that works to mitigate the situation when the car’s interior temperature is unsafe.

There are Carbon Monoxide detectors on the market today, but these devices simply sound an alarm when a certain threshold is reached. However, if the user is not in the vicinity, they might get notified of the incident too late.

Sources:
NSC: https://injuryfacts.nsc.org/motor-vehicle/motor-vehicle-safety-issues/hotcars/

Seattle Children’s Hospital: https://www.seattlechildrens.org/health-safety/injury-prevention/dangers-child-alone-car/

CNN: https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/29/business/hot-car-interior-radar/index.html

# Solution

Our solution is to create an autonomous device that immediately creates ventilation for passengers to prevent deaths in a hot car and alert users of a defective exhaust system. Our device will have a temperature and carbon monoxide sensor. If the vehicle's temperature is too high, the device will open the windows in the car. On the driver's side, you attach a device near the buttons (without obstructing the driver) that will push the button to open all windows. If the carbon monoxide levels are too high, the system will alert the user and recommend they get their exhaust checked.

The device will also alert the car's owner through an app that the temperature or CO level is too high and the windows have been lowered. Furthermore, the vehicle will have an intermittent buzzer or alarm that sounds until the CO or temperature levels are safe. The alarm will shut off automatically once the levels are safe or once the car is turned on. The device will also have a camera streaming footage to the app. Through the app, the user can monitor the inside of their car and talk to the passenger.

# Solution Components

The device comprises a carbon monoxide sensor, a temperature sensor, a power control system, a robotic arm mechanism, a communication module, and a microcontroller to monitor surroundings and detect abnormal CO or high-temperature levels. It is also connected to an app that alerts users of possible incidents.

We plan to integrate two PCBs: one for the sensors and robotic control modules and the other for the communication and monitoring module.

## Subsystem 1: Sensor Subsystem
- Carbon Monoxide Sensor
- MQ-7 (20-2000ppm)
- Detects the CO concentration in the air and sends the information to the microcontroller.
- Temperature sensor

- We will make this sensor using resistors, transistors, and a thermistor.
- This sensor will measure the car's temperature and
send the information to the microcontroller.
- Buzzer
- CYT1008
- A buzzer that will sound when the temperature exceeds the chosen threshold. The buzzer will intermittently buzz until the temperature in the car decreases to a safe level.

## Subsystem 2: Robotic Arm
- Proximity Sensor
- SEN-24049
- This sensor will confirm that the window was rolled down completely. This sensor uses ultrasonic waves to detect if an object is in front of it. Once this sensor detects that nothing is in front of it (i.e., the window is completely rolled down), it will signal to the microcontroller that the arm mechanism rolled the windows down.
- Linear Actuator:
- A linear actuator will be used to control the robotic arms to lower the car windows when the temperature inside the car is too high. It can retract, so it doesn’t obstruct the door handle.
- 3D printed prongs
- Four prongs will push the buttons on the driver’s door to open the windows.

## Subsystem 3: App
- We will use Flutter to implement a custom application to communicate with our microcontroller and sensors. This application will contact the user about high temperature or high CO levels.

## Subsystem 4: Power and Voltage Control Subsystem
- We will use a 12-volt power battery to power our first PCB with the sensors and robotic arm. However, in real life, the product will be powered by a car battery as the car’s “resting voltage” measures about 12 volts. Source: https://www.jiffylube.com/resource-center/car-battery-voltage.

- Our system will only use the 12 volts when the robotic arm is activated.
For most of the time when the system is simply checking the temperature and
CO levels of the car, roughly 3.3 volts will be used.

- Since the majority of the time, 3.3 V is used, this system will not drain the car’s
battery excessively.
- We will create a Voltage regulator/Buck Converter using a zener diode, capacitor, and resistor.
- This subsystem is meant to provide the correct voltage to systems that use a voltage lower than the battery voltage. For example, if we use a 12-volt battery and the microcontroller needs 3.3 volts, this subsystem will convert the 12 volts to 3.3 volts.
- For the second PCB, a 5-volt battery will power the camera and speaker subsystem on the second PCB.

## Subsystem 5: Microcontroller
- ESP32
- The microcontroller will handle the processing of signals from the sensors, sending data to the app, and sending signals to the arm mechanism.

## Subsystem 6: Monitoring and Communication (this subsystem will be on a separate PCB)
- ESP32-CAM

- The camera allows users to monitor the inside of their car in real-time.
We will only be using the ESP32-S chip and the OV2640 lens component that will be
attached to the PCB via a FPC 24 connector.
- Mouser COM-11089

- A speaker system will allow parents or users to talk through the app to comfort kids in the car. The speaker can also deter potential thieves who will use this window of opportunity to steal things from the vehicle.
- We plan to use a separate PCB for this subsystem to allow users to place the camera where they see fit.


# Criterion For Success

## Testing Procedure
We will be in contact with the machine shop to have a demo driver’s door. We will use this door to test our system. We plan to test the temperature sensor by placing a heat source on the sensor. To test the CO sensor, we will put the system by the car’s exhaust and run the car.

## On the Software Side:
- The app will also stream camera footage of the interior of the car and allow the user to talk to the passenger in the car. This would allow the user to monitor their car for theft and check on any remaining passengers within the vehicle.
- The app successfully sends a test notification to the user
## On the Hardware Side:
- When the system detects a temperature above some threshold temperature, it will activate the system.
- A sound will play when the temperature threshold is reached
- The linear actuator will extend, and the prongs will press the buttons
- The window should be rolled down past the proximity sensor

- When the temperature returns below the threshold, the alarm should stop ringing, and the linear actuator should retract to its initial position.
- When the temperature sensor detects a temperature above the threshold, the buzzer sounds an alarm.
## Integration:
- When the temperature sensor detects the temperature to be above the threshold, the microcontroller sends an alert to the user via the app.
- The user can speak through the app and this is audible through the speaker.
- If the CO concentration is too high, the sensor will send a signal system to notify the user via the app and recommend fixing the exhaust pipe.

BusPlan

Aashish Kapur, Connor Lake, Scott Liu

BusPlan

Featured Project

# People

Scott Liu - sliu125

Connor Lake - crlake2

Aashish Kapur - askapur2

# Problem

Buses are scheduled inefficiently. Traditionally buses are scheduled in 10-30 minute intervals with no regard the the actual load of people at any given stop at a given time. This results in some buses being packed, and others empty.

# Solution Overview

Introducing the _BusPlan_: A network of smart detectors that actively survey the amount of people waiting at a bus stop to determine the ideal amount of buses at any given time and location.

To technically achieve this, the device will use a wifi chip to listen for probe requests from nearby wifi-devices (we assume to be closely correlated with the number of people). It will use a radio chip to mesh network with other nearby devices at other bus stops. For power the device will use a solar cell and Li-Ion battery.

With the existing mesh network, we also are considering hosting wifi at each deployed location. This might include media, advertisements, localized wifi (restricted to bus stops), weather forecasts, and much more.

# Solution Components

## Wifi Chip

- esp8266 to wake periodically and listen for wifi probe requests.

## Radio chip

- NRF24L01 chip to connect to nearby devices and send/receive data.

## Microcontroller

- Microcontroller (Atmel atmega328) to control the RF chip and the wifi chip. It also manages the caching and sending of data. After further research we may not need this microcontroller. We will attempt to use just the ens86606 chip and if we cannot successfully use the SPI interface, we will use the atmega as a middleman.

## Power Subsystem

- Solar panel that will convert solar power to electrical power

- Power regulator chip in charge of taking the power from the solar panel and charging a small battery with it

- Small Li-Ion battery to act as a buffer for shady moments and rainy days

## Software and Server

- Backend api to receive and store data in mongodb or mysql database

- Data visualization frontend

- Machine learning predictions (using LSTM model)

# Criteria for Success

- Successfully collect an accurate measurement of number of people at bus stops

- Use data to determine optimized bus deployment schedules.

- Use data to provide useful visualizations.

# Ethics and Safety

It is important to take into consideration the privacy aspect of users when collecting unique device tokens. We will make sure to follow the existing ethics guidelines established by IEEE and ACM.

There are several potential issues that might arise under very specific conditions: High temperature and harsh environment factors may make the Li-Ion batteries explode. Rainy or moist environments may lead to short-circuiting of the device.

We plan to address all these issues upon our project proposal.

# Competitors

https://www.accuware.com/products/locate-wifi-devices/

Accuware currently has a device that helps locate wifi devices. However our devices will be tailored for bus stops and the data will be formatted in a the most productive ways from the perspective of bus companies.