Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Team 7 “The BeepachU” Preliminary Design Review

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Team 7 Members Eric Wagner EE David Zeifman CSE Mark Wagner EE Quanquan Han EE

3 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Problem Statement

4 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering The Problem  Millions of items are misplaced every day (i.e. keys, wallets)  Lost items = Lost time  We need an easy, cheap solution to help find lost items Where did my X go?

5 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Significance of the Problem  Lost items can cause people to be late to work and other events  Delays caused by lost items don’t just affect you!  If the average adult spends 15 minutes looking lost items everyday 15 minutes x 365 days = 5,475 minutes 5,475 minutes = 3.8 days/year 3.8 days/year = 190 days over 50 years 200+ days lost over a lifetime

6 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Context: Effect on Individuals  Losing or having your valuables stolen leads to stress Need to cancel credit cards, change locks Wastes time  Need to keep a close eye on things Distracts from more important tasks

7 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Context: Effect on Groups  Lost items can delay group meetings  Sometimes requires third party intervention  i.e. Police or Banks  Wastes everyone’s time and money  Fewer lost items  Less stress  Less stress  Happier communities!

8 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Broader Impacts

9 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Broader Impacts: Moral Implications  A product that helps locate items could be used to locate people  This raises privacy concerns  Sometimes helping to find people isn’t a bad thing  Could be used as an anti-theft device  An alarm mode could alert individuals when lost items go out of range  If the product plays a sound to help users find an item, that sound could be customized for pranks  i.e. fart sound played at embarrassing times

10 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Broader Impacts: Special Populations  Parents  Could use product to help keep track of children  Care-Takers  Could use product to keep track of Alzheimer patients who may wandering off

11 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Design Considerations

12 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Requirement Analysis: Specifications  Helps people locate lost items  Small enough not to be a burden  Cheap  Easy to operate  Works over a wide operating range

13 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Requirements Analysis: Inputs and Outputs Inputs  Losable items  Button Press Outputs  Feedback that helps locate item  Sound  Light  Direction of lost item

14 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Possible Solutions

15 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Design Alternatives: Non-Technical Solution  Don’t Lose Item  Search All Possible Locations If either of these solutions actually worked our problem statement would not have been valid

16 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Design Alternatives: RFID We could use RFID chips as receivers and an RFID reader as a transmitter  Pros RFID tags are extremely small and cheap Passive RFID tags do not need battery  Cons Short range (6m for passive, 30.5m for active/semi-passive tags) RFID readers are large and expensive

17 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Design Alternatives: Wifi We could use make a transmitter tag that connects to nearby Wifi and uploads its position to a hub  Pros No dedicated receiver could read lost item location from a computer/phone  Cons Constantly searching for wifi signal/uploading data takes a lot of power What if lost item is outside wifi-range?

18 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Design Alternatives: Smartphone Tracking We could utilize a smartphone’s Bluetooth compatibility to communicate with a Bluetooth receiver Pros Fairly long range Transmitter power not a problem (assuming phone is charged) Easy to develop GUI Cons Similar products already exist/being developed (i.e. Tile/Treasure Tag) Need to own a smartphone

19 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Our Solution

20 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Our Solution: BeepachU  Form: Transmitter and Receiver  Technology: Bluetooth Low Energy SoC  Function: Press a button on the TX. The RX will “Beep- at-You” TX provides Hot/Cold option in case RX outside hearing range  (Possible) Extra Functionality: A directional TX antenna could give BeepachU a directionality feature Alarm mode: if transmitter/receiver are separated: “BEEP”

21 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Requirements: BeepachU Design Goals  Range: 100m (line of sight)  Battery life: 6 months for both TX and RX  Weight: TX <.5 lb, RX <.5 Ib  Response time: under 2 seconds  Size: TX < 4 square inches RX < 3 square inches  Robust RX will not be set off by interference signal  Cheap: Each unit < $30 when mass produced

22 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Our Solution: Block Diagram

23 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Individual Responsibilities

24 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Individual Responsibilities Dave Zeifman  Programming SoC Eric Wagner  Antenna + Link Budget Mark Wagner  Speakers + Team Coordination Quanquan Han  Power Supply/Power Management + UI

25 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering SoC Programming Dave Zeifman Requirements:  Generate TX signals  Interpret RX signals  Generate desired outputs from specific inputs  Store “Beep” sound bite  Drive audio section  Drive RX “sniff” mode

26 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Speakers + Team Coordination Mark Wagner Requirements  Speakers must be loud enough to hear  Small enough to meet space requirements  Speaker amplifier must be power efficient  Also responsible for managing the size/weight/cost of each item

27 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Antenna + Link Budget Eric Wagner Requirements:  Antenna must be matched to SoC’s transceiver  Antenna should have reasonable efficiency/radiation pattern  Antenna must be small enough to meet size constraints  Also responsible for managing link budget to meet 100m range requirement

28 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Power Supply/Management + UI Quanquan Han Requirements  Battery must be small enough to meet TX/RX size requirements  Must last at least 6 months  Is responsible for budgeting power use and determining duty cycle for RX “sniff” mode

29 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Power Supply/Management + UI Quanquan Han UI Requirements  Transmitter UI should include Enough buttons to allow user to activate each feature (i.e. alarm, hot/cold, beep) LED’s to indicate hot/cold  Receiver UI should include LED’s Any buttons/ports needed for customizable sounds/features

30 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Deliverables

31 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Proposed MDR Deliverables  Demonstration of working TX/RX TX and RX recognize each other and work at close distance TX and RX hardware not necessarily contained in small package (may be on a breadboard or Development Kit Module) Not battery powered  Working speakers driven by TX/RX hardware Small audio system will be operational Same transceiver SoC that drives TX/RX must be able to drive audio system. Not battery Powered

32 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Schedule

33 Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering Questions?