Progress Report

Below is the breakdown of the hardware that we use for Prototypes I & II. Hardware Demonstrated on Prototypes I & II Cerebot II Microcontroller PmodHB5 Motor Driver Module Digilent DC Motor w/Gearbox PmodTMP Temperature Sensor Accesst Port for displaying Temperature New Hardware for Prototype II Parallax Passive Infrared (PIR) Sensor Vent with motor mounted and operational flap Switches for stopping the motor To this point, we have successfully implemented each piece of hardware for our system except for the buttons for user input. As for the software implementation, we finished the code that demonstrates our ability to make use of each of the sensors and other hardware that we need for our complete system. We successfully implemented the wireless communication hardware (PmodRF1), and we have the LCD working to display various user feedbacks. We have the motor turning at different speed to open and close the vent flap, we used switches and polling to stop the motor after the vent flap is close, and we used the PmodTMP to read temperature. We also plan to order the buttons that will work with the LCD for user input. We started considering allocation of pins for all that the peripheral modules require. As far as the Gantt chart is concerned, we remained on schedule up to this point. Paths we decided not to take Microcontroller Initially, we decided to use a smaller microcontroller for our Smart Vents than the one we chose for our Base Station, and the Cerebot Nano, powered by the ATmega168, was deemed suitable for our purposes. Since then, we have decided that because the ports on the Cerebot Nano are limited, and because our Cerebot Nano microcontroller has become rather crowded as we have added our hardware to it, to use Cerebot IIs, with the ATmega64 chip, as our microcontroller for the Smart Vents, as well as for the Base Station.

System Operation Initially, we planned for each vent to operate in one of several modes; the modes were EnergySaving, Master Vent Status, Open, and Closed. When a vent was designated as the Master Vent, it replaced the thermostat as the device that detected temperature and requested that the AC or heater work to condition air. Instead of having one vent at a time that is designated as a Master Vent and requesting conditioned air to be sent throughout the building, we have decided to have no Master Vent, but instead to have each vent use its temperature-sensing capability and ask for conditioned air as it is needed by each room. Furthermore, there will be no Energy-Saving mode. Instead, and similar to an Energy-Saving mode, we will have the smart vents monitor whether the room is occupied or not, and after a period of inoccupation, the vent will adopt a Smart Temperature instead of the control temperature that it had been working to maintain for the room. Once a human is detected in the room, the vent will revert to using its more energy-costly control temperature.