ECE4007 Project Summary

Project Title Team Members (names and majors)

Gas Bot Amrinder Chawla, EE Robert Brown, CompE Enkuang Wang, EE Gowtham Thamilselvan, EE Saurabh Pandey, EE Anurag Kadasne, EE Dr. Erick Maxwell/L03 2010 Fall Intermediate

Advisor / Section Semester Project Abstract (250-300 words)

The Gas Bot will allow emergency response teams to detect and measure the toxicity levels of carbon monoxide (CO) wirelessly and will provide assistance to those trapped in the toxic area. With the attached camera, the controller will receive live video feed that will allow the user to navigate the affected area. The onboard gas sensors will send gas concentration values to the remote computer that will allow the user to identify areas of high toxicity. The safety kit will encompass first aid materials to help people trapped inside the leak. The eBox (Model Number: 3300/3310) acts as the hub of the Gas Bot where all the information is accumulated and processed on a Windows CE 6.0 platform. The sensor and the camera will be connected using a Universal Serial Bus (USB) wire to the eBox. Both these devices will send data via the USB to the eBox. Using the Wi-Fi card present in the eBox, information will be sent to the controller. The gas sensor will be interfaced to the eBox via a programmable controller (Phidgets) board. A graphical user interface (GUI) based software will be programmed using C#. This software will enable the user to wirelessly control the Gas Bot and read the concentration levels. The Gas Bot is expected to weigh approximately 3.5 kilograms and measure 13.4" diameter x 6" height. This makes the Gas Bot a small sized and portable device. The Gas Bot will cost $408.44. This device will reduce the rescuers exposure to toxic gases and will also be able to provide timely assistance to those in need. The benefit for the Gas Bot is that it will eliminate the possibility of a human having direct contact of the toxic gas.

Project Title List codes and standards that significantly affect your project. Briefly describe how they influenced your design.

Gas Bot 1. 2. Gas sensor: Carbon monoxide level: EPA standards as shown below.
EPA Action Acceptable Level Public Alert Public Warning State of Emergency Significant Harmful Level (serious and widespread health effects to the people)

CO level 9 ppm (averaged over 8 hours) 15 ppm 30 ppm 40 ppm 50 ppm

3. 4. 5. 6. 1. 2.

List at least two significant realistic design constraints that applied to your project. Briefly describe how they affected your design.

3.
4.

IEEE 802.11: for wireless communications from robot to robot, and robot to command station USB 2.0 RS-232: standard for connector from eBox to iRobot Create robot SPI: needed in order to interface sensors to Phidgets board Development Cost: limited budget of $440 forced us to use the iRobot Create and inexpensive gas sensor Internet Connection: the robot is controlled wirelessly with a remote computer. Without internet connection, the user cannot control the robot. iRobot Create: The iRobot Create is inherently slow compared to the RC car which offers faster speed Weight: additional weight will be added to the gas bot due to the eBox, webcam, and safety box which will decrease the speed of the robot

Briefly explain two significant trade-offs considered in your design, including options considered and the solution chosen. Briefly describe the computing aspects of your projects, specifically identifying hardware-software tradeoffs, interfaces, and/or interactions. Complete if applicable; required if team includes CmpE majors.

1. 2.

RC car vs. iRobot Create: The RC car offered better terrain maneuverability than the iRobot Create, but the RC car costs more money and we can get the iRobot Create from the ECE lab. Gas sensor module: We chose a less expensive microcontroller-interface gas sensor instead of a more expensive USB-interface gas sensor, but the microcontroller-interface sensor requires more time to develop than that of the USB sensor.

We have to implement our own operating system for the eBox and the graphical user interface (GUI) for the remote computer that controls and monitors the gas bot. The GUI will be programmed in C#. The gas sensor has to interface with a phidget board and the phidget board communicates to the eBox via USB. The eBox interacts with the iRobot via a serial cable. The remote user, with a personal computer, will control the robot wirelessly/Wi-Fi.