> DESIGN

Building Automation

We have developed a wireless fire security system. The system comprises of a node unit and a master unit. Node unit is to be installed in fire prone areas in the building. When fire breaks out the smoke sensor starts beeping, the node unit detects the beep and after validation sends the fire area ID to the master unit on RF media. Master unit will display the ID and inform the Security person to take action.

Now a days the growth of huge buildings in big cities is going to define the new ways of security system. It is a sheer improbability for one or two security personnel to keep an eye on 500 flats in a building. This is about time to equip all flats with wireless Security systems to monitor flats from a security room.

Each flat will be equipped with

three to four wireless sensors to monitor the hazards such as Fire, Door break, Glass break, Gas leakage, Panic switch etc. In an event of an emergency the sensor will transmit the information to base unit without wires on real time basis.

Base unit is nothing but a small handheld paging system, which displays the information of a particular flat or flats to ensure speedy action.

Those who have owned a digital still camera can appreciate what USB OTG technology can accomplish. Rather than having to upload images into a PC, and then send them from the PC to the printer, a USB OTG-enabled digital   camera   can   connect

directly to a printer and host the transaction. When most people think of USB, they think of connectivity between a host system and external USB devices. While the bus is typically used for this purpose, it is by no means the only way to implement USB in an embedded system. 

In fact, embedded system designers are increasingly using USB as an internal bus that connects components within a product. For example, it is becoming more and more common for products with wireless capabilities to use USB to connect the CPU with a Bluetooth radio. In these products, USB replaces traditional interfaces such as UART (RS-232), which are slower and less flexible. By incorporating USB internally, system designers provide themselves with a flexible, cost effective technology that can be used to connect additional internal components designed into future versions of the product, as well as a variety of external USB devices if the bus is exposed outside the product.

USB holds the promise of bringing connectivity to the world's multi-function embedded systems and their peripheral devices in the same way that it's made simple, low-cost connectivity.

The development of network technologies has prompted sensor folks to consider alternatives that reduce costs and complexity and improve reliability. Early sensor networks used simple twisted shielded–pair (TSP) implementations for each sensor. Later, the industry adopted multidrop  buses (e.g., Ethernet).

Now we’re starting to see true web-based networks (e.g., the World Wide Web) implemented on the factory floor.

Network routing is a serious concern in web architectures. Because all nodes can’t reach all other nodes in a single hop, a repeating mechanism is required. The assigned input and output channels dictate to each node which signals are meant for its own use and which should be passed on to the next node. The routing is one of the things that make web architectures more complicated to implement than the others.

In wireless sensor networks, nodes can come and go frequently. How the network responds to the reconfiguration has a severe impact on performance and reliability. ad hoc networking is a hot topic in the research community because reconfiguring on the fly makes all networks better.Watch for them.

Digital Acoustic Interface

It is an apparatus for interfacing / detecting / recoganization of sounds from different sources via microphone and processing it using (DSP) Digital Signal Processing techniques.

Acoustic interface can cover various applications by recognizing typical sounds from physical phenomena. i.e. Detection of Emergency Alarms, telephone ringing bell, door knocking, dog barking, breathing patterns in patients, Glass break, Door break, short circuit in wiring, bomb blast, fault in mechanism (engine, bearing, motor, break drum), crash /accident in vehicles, Overload in motors and engines.

Environmental analyses (Thunder, storm, rain).

A new generation of speedometer without moving parts, No wear and tear hence no maintenance.

But retains the favorite look and feel of mechanical meter. It picks up the pulses from moving wheel of a vehicle using non-contact sensor and displays the speed on dial with a moving pointer.

This  meter  will   give  you  a

reminder for servicing. While servicing of a vehicle, the next due date/Km can be fed to meter through IrDA port. The same IrDA port can be used to define the top speed limit to make sure that the person is driving the vehicle within the speed limit. This meter can also store the top speed peak during an accident.

USB Host

USB Host, as the name specifies that the USB Host is master unit. The requirement for the host is due to the fact that the USB devices do not communicate to another device without other than a HOST. Host always initiates the transfer.

We would have seen USB on computers and mobiles; it is time for USB on Control Systems and Instruments. The Advantage being that we can download the data to the USB device and freely carry it at will to any place required avoiding the bulk devices used today in the industry. For e.g a USB Biometric device could be used for both data storage and access control system in biometric access controlled area.

• Zigbee (IEEE.802.15.4)
• Firewire