"Junk" Garage Guidance System

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Project Overview

This project is a home garage home system, which will be used to guide a vehicle into our out of a garage.  In many homes, the garage is used for storage of miscellaneous items along with the family vehicle.  The miscellaneous items often become obstacles when the driver is attempting to enter or exit the garage.  In today's world, vehicles are expensive, as is the cost of repairing them.  The real-time guidance system we are constructing will aid the driver in maneuvering their vehicle into or out of their garage.

The guidance system will be composed of junk material, which may or may not include some of the miscellaneous items found in a typical garage.  Some components will have to be purchased or donated in order to meet design requirements.  The team will have to look at existing hardware and software in order to create a new product or useful tool at a reasonably low cost.  The target cost for all the materials should be less than one hundred and fifty dollars.

Requirements & Specifications

Mechanical Requirements:

The product will be made up of two parts.  The first part is the display screen with the interface placed inside a box.  The display screen and interface box must be small enough and lightweight enough so that it can be hand-held by the user inside the vehicle.  The interface box must be strong enough to protect the interface board inside it. 

The second part will be the sensors that will be placed outside the vehicle but inside the garage.  The sensors will be small enough to be placed inside the garage without creating any further obstacles.  The sensors will be lightweight as well, in order to give the consumer the freedom to place them virtually anywhere inside the garage. 

Mechanical Specifications:

• The display screen and interface box will be no larger than 12 in. x 6 in. x 3 in.
• The display screen and interface box weight will not be over 3 lbs. including batteries.
• The screen size will be approximately 2.3 inches diagonally.
• The sensors will be no larger than 6 in. x 6 in. x 3 in.
• The sensors will weigh no more than 1 lb. each.

Electrical Requirements:

The product will be able to use batteries or vehicle power.  The product will have a delay time that is short enough that the user will have time to react to any possible obstacles.  The sensors will send wireless signals to the interface logic, which must not interfere with any other electrical devices that could be present inside the garage or vehicle.  The interface logic will decode the sensor signals to be sent to the display device for programming.

Electrical Specifications:

• The product will be able to use either AA Batteries or the cigarette adapter, preferably a cigarette adapter.
• The interface logic will be a combination between microchip and gate logic.
• Sound output will be through a small speaker.
• Delay will be no greater than 1 second, although we desire less than .2 seconds.

Environmental Requirements:

The temperature will have an effect on the product performance if it is too high or low.  The temperature range allowed for the product to function properly should be between wide enough to allow for both high and low temperatures.  The sensors, interface logic and display screen should be isolated from high humidity and extreme temperatures to insure better performance.  Placed inside the car and the garage, the temperature and humidity should not cause the system to malfunction, regardless of the outside weather conditions.  The sensors will be fixed in place, which should protect the sensors from any high vibrations.  If the sensors are too sensitive to weather conditions, additional protection may have to be added to protect them.  The product should not have any effect on the environment.

Environmental Specifications:

• The interface logic and the sensors function at temperature between -30°C up to 60°C.
• The sensors should be placed where they will not be exposed to high moisture.

Documentation Requirements:

Included with the product will be an operator’s manual, maintenance manual, user’s guide, and coding for the display device.  The operator’s manual will tell the user how the system operates and the requirements needed to operate the system.  The maintenance manual will guide the user step by step to solve any problem that could occur during processing, as well as how to fix any mechanical or electrical problem.  The user’s guide will include a step by step procedure on how to operate the system and how to make the product function in the best way that it can.  The coding will be included, as well as a brief explanation of what each piece of code does in relation to its overall operation and some improvements that could be made.

Documentation Specifications:

Included with the final product will be:

• Operator’s Manual
• Maintenance Manual
• User’s Guide
• Coding

Testing Requirements:

To test for the correct operation of the system, a number of different vehicle types and garages must be tested for.  Each vehicle will enter a garage several times at different angles.  The user will be looking at the display device while driving, and another person will look at the vehicle and ensure that it does not come in contact with any obstacles.  If the display or the other person warns that an object is near, the user shall stop the vehicle and correct in the proper direction.  The delay should be calculated by the other person using a stopwatch, while the user maneuvers the vehicle into the garage slowly.  As the vehicle passes near an obstacle that is close to the vehicle, the warning on the display screen should appear.  The time between the vehicle passing near the object and the display screen’s warning is the delay time.  After this is done, the user will then compare the data shown on the display device to what the other person witnessed, and if they match every time, then the system should be acting properly.

Testing Specifications:

In order to test this system, the following are required:

• Several different garages.
• Several different-sized vehicles.
• User to drive the vehicle and observe the display screen.
• Another person inside the garage to observe the vehicle and warn the user of any obstacles.
• A stopwatch, to be used by the other person to time the delay of the system.

General Requirements:

The system should be reliable enough as to not malfunction under any reasonable operating conditions.  The sensors should not have to be calibrated, as this system is designed for all four-wheeled vehicles.  We must also obtain components keeping in mind our budget of $150. Donated or sample parts will be preferred over purchased components in order to stay within our budget.

General Specifications:

• System Reliability under reasonable operating conditions:  99.9%
• Overall budget:  $150

 
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