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ECE4007 Project Summary

Project Title Gas Bot

Team Members

(names and majors)

Amrinder Chawla, EE

Robert Brown, CompEEnkuang Wang, EE

Gowtham Thamilselvan, EE

Saurabh Pandey, EE

Anurag Kadasne, EE

Advisor / Section Dr. Erick Maxwell/L03

Semester 2010 Fall Intermediate

Project Abstract

(250-300 words)

The Gas Bot will allow emergency response teams to detect and measure thetoxicity levels of carbon monoxide (CO) wirelessly and will provide assistance tothose 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 onboardgas sensors will send gas concentration values to the remote computer that willallow the user to identify areas of high toxicity. The safety kit will encompass firstaid 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 accumulatedand processed on a Windows CE 6.0 platform. The sensor and the camera will beconnected using a Universal Serial Bus (USB) wire to the eBox. Both these deviceswill 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 theeBox via a programmable controller (Phidgets) board. A graphical user interface(GUI) based software will be programmed using C#. This software will enable theuser to wirelessly control the Gas Bot and read the concentration levels. The GasBot 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 Botwill cost $408.44. This device will reduce the rescuers exposure to toxic gases andwill also be able to provide timely assistance to those in need. The benefit for theGas Bot is that it will eliminate the possibility of a human having direct contact ofthe toxic gas.

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Project Title Gas Bot

List codes andstandards that

significantly affectyour project. Brieflydescribe how theyinfluenced yourdesign.

1. Gas sensor:2. Carbon monoxide level: EPA standards as shown below.

CO level EPA Action

9 ppm (averaged over 8 hours) Acceptable Level15 ppm Public Alert

30 ppm Public Warning

40 ppm State of Emergency

50 ppm Significant Harmful Level (serious and widespread health effectsto the people)

3. IEEE 802.11: for wireless communications from robot to robot, and robot tocommand station

4. USB 2.05. RS-232: standard for connector from eBox to iRobot Create robot6. SPI: needed in order to interface sensors to Phidgets board

List at least twosignificant realistic

design constraintsthat applied to yourproject. Brieflydescribe how theyaffected your design.

1. Development Cost: limited budget of $440 forced us to use the iRobot Createand inexpensive gas sensor

2. Internet Connection: the robot is controlled wirelessly with a remote computer.

Without internet connection, the user cannot control the robot.3. iRobot Create: The iRobot Create is inherently slow compared to the RC car

which offers faster speed4. 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 twosignificant trade-offs

considered in your

design, includingoptions consideredand the solutionchosen.

1. RC car vs. iRobot Create: The RC car offered better terrain maneuverabilitythan the iRobot Create, but the RC car costs more money and we can get theiRobot Create from the ECE lab.

2. Gas sensor module: We chose a less expensive microcontroller-interface gas

sensor instead of a more expensive USB-interface gas sensor, but themicrocontroller-interface sensor requires more time to develop than that of theUSB sensor.

Briefly describe thecomputing aspects

of your projects,specificallyidentifying

hardware-softwaretradeoffs, interfaces,and/or interactions.

Complete ifapplicable; required

if team includes

CmpE majors.

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