HOT CAR BABY DETECTOR

Group #20
Luis Pabon, Jian Gao
ECE 445
Dec. 8, 2014
INTRODUCTION

 Function of device: to detect a forgotten baby in a hot car

 Detection methods:
 Motion detection: Ultrasonic sensor
 Sound detection: Microphone with human voice-filter
 Breath detection: Carbon dioxide sensor
 How does it works?
 Temperature sensor wakes up the device
 Any one of the detection sensors can trigger the buzzer alarm
FEATURES

 Compact size (4 x 3.2 in)

 Easy installation, independent of car seat
 Battery powered (4 x AA battery)
 Loud buzzer with warning and alarm modes
 Comprehensive life detection sensors
 Power savings mode with x14 reduction in
power consumption

Completed PCB with all sensors attached

TOP LEVEL BLOCK DIAGRAM
MICROCONTROLLER

 Model: PIC24FV16KA301
 16-bits eXtreme Low Power PIC

 Main microcontroller features used in this project:

 12-bits analog-to-digital converter
 2 ports used for external interrupts
 16-bits timers used for periodic interrupts
 Internal oscillator, clocked at 8MHz
MICROCONTROLLER (SOFTWARE)
TEMPERATURE SENSOR

• Model: TI LM62

• Detection range:
• 0°C to 90°C

• Linear scale output voltage:

• 480mV + 15.6mV/°C

• Reference temperature to trigger the device:

• 27°C (901mV)

Temperature sensor circuitry with

voltage comparator on the right
 TEMPERATURE SENSOR (RESULTS)

 Green: Temperature comparator output

 Yellow: Current temperature voltage

 Verification
 Comparator outputs high when
901 mV is exceeded

Rising temperature triggers the voltage comparator

ULTRASONIC MOTION SENSOR
 Model: HC - SR04
 Distance Detection: 2cm - 400cm
 Detection Angle: 15°

 Advantages:
 Unaffected by changing temperature (compared to PIR sensor)
 Unaffected by outside motions (compared to Micro-wave sensor)
 Disadvantages:
 Narrow detection angle
 Unreliable with non-smooth surfaces

Motion sensor circuitry

ULTRASONIC MOTION SENSOR - CONTINUED
 Trigger signal width: 10 uS
 Echo signal width (uS) ∝ distance (cm)
 Distance (cm) = Signal width (uS) / 58

 Verification
 A 1100 uS pulse width was measured
when obstacle placed 20 cm away

A request(green signal) was sent to the ultrasonic

sensor for an object's distance (yellow signal)
CARBON DIOXIDE SENSOR

 Onboard heating circuit for CO2 sensing

 Current consumption: 200 mA
 CO2 detection range: 400 - 10,000 ppm

CO2 sensor circuitry

CARBON DIOXIDE SENSOR (RESULTS)

Increasing CO2 concentration Decreasing CO2 concentration

(decreasing output voltage) (increasing output voltage)
MICROPHONE
 Microphone Specs:
 Electret Condenser Microphone
 Sensitivity -47 ± 3 dB
 Operating frequency 100 to 20,000 Hz
 Signal to noise S/N 56 dBA
 Max current 0.2 mA

 Signal Amplifier Specs:

 R16 = 910 Ohm
 R1 = 33 kOhm
 Amplifier Gain = (1 + 33 k/910) = 37 [V/V]

Microphone circuitry with

signal amplifier attached
MICROPHONE (RESULTS)

Sample tapping sound before amplification Sample tapping sound after amplification
ANALOG VOICE FILTER

2 stage, 4th order Chebyshev band-pass filter

(Designed 3dB pass band: 517Hz ~ 1.358kHz)
ANALOG VOICE FILTER (RESULT)

 Verification
 Measured 3dB lower cut-off: 560 Hz
 Falls within 517 Hz ± 200 Hz
 Measured 3dB upper cut-off: 1.48 KHz
 Falls within 1.358 KHz ± 200 Hz
 Measured passband ripples < 1dB

Measured frequency response of the voice filter

DETECTION ALGORITHMS FOR THE SENSORS

• Ultrasonic motion sensor:

• Create a restricted zone (25cm from the sensor during demo).
Triggers the alarm if it detects an object within the restricted zone

• Carbon Dioxide Sensor:

• Sample the CO2 concentration once per second. If CO2
concentration is rising 5 seconds in a row, trigger the alarm.

• Voice Sensor:
• Use amplitude detection: trigger alarm if the measured voice
voltage is 5% above or below the center voltage
 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER WORK
Hardware:
 Use a more energy efficient CO2 sensor
 Add a wireless module for offsite alert
 interface the alarm to the car's horn
 implement a low battery indication circuit
 Implement a reverse battery protection
circuit
Software:
 Implement a more advanced DSP
algorithm to only detect a baby's
voice
 Implement an algorithm to detect
movement, regardless of the
distance from the sensor
CONCLUSION

 The
functionality of the baby detector device was fully
demonstrated
 Lessons learned:
 Conduct more circuit simulations before making the first PCB
 PCBprototype should be easy to test: i.e. bigger board size,
more test points
 Realize
our low power microcontroller cannot handle
advanced signal processing technique for the audio
QUESTIONS?