Remote Pantry Door Alarm

Group 216

Adrian Freidel

Jon Hanson

Project Background

The SVEE home program was started in Fargo in October of 2001. The program is designed to provide residential living for adults with developmental disabilities. The ultimate goal of the program is to prepare its residents for an independent life of their own. Recently, the program moved out of its original home and into four new homes: two duplexes in West Fargo. Their new office address is 1689 6th St W. On the cover page there is a picture of one of the duplexes.

The SVEE home has asked that a senior design group create a device to alert staff when a pantry door has been opened. If the system design is a success, the device could be expanded to monitor several doors. While products exist on the market that would sound an alarm when a door is opened, the SVEE staff would like a device with a discrete alarm, namely a pager type device with a vibrating alert.

The system will consist of two main components. A transmitting unit will be mounted to the pantry door to detect when it has been opened. The transmitter should be mounted discretely inside the pantry door so that it is not readily apparent that the door is being monitored. The second unit will be the receiving unit. This device will be worn by the staff member, much like a pager. It will be equipped with a vibrator and an LED to alert the staff of the situation. Since there is no AC power available in the pantry, both units will run on battery power.

Previous Work

There are several products available on the market similar to this project. As previously mentioned, these products all use audible alarms and are not mobile. Three such products are developed by Poolguard, Simtech and Dimango. Pictures of their products are shown below:

            There is also currently a second semester Senior Design (ECE403) group working on a similar project for the SVEE home.  Their design is slightly different, monitoring both a door and a window.  We hope to collaborate with their group and build on the knowledge that they have already obtained.

Requirements Listing

The design requirements for the two units are laid out below.

Alarm transmitter unit:

• Power Supply: batteries, lasting no less than a month
• Sensor: to detect when the door has been opened
• Transmitter: capable of transmission within all areas of the house
• Discreet: the design should not hinder aesthetic quality of the new homes

Alarm Receiver unit:

• Power Supply: batteries, lasting no less than a month
• Switch: to power the unit down when not in use
• Receiver: capable of reception within all areas of the house
• Alarms: vibrating and visual alarms

Block Diagram

Project/Design Testing

To ensure that the project design will be an acceptable solution, a number of tests will need to be performed:

• Sensor test: to ensure detects door opening

·        Transmit & Receive test: to ensure alert is being received throughout the building

• Vibrate test: to ensure vibrating alarm works correctly and will be noticed by staff
• Light test:  to ensure that correct LED indicator is turned on
• Both Buzzer & Light test:  to ensure both alarms operate correctly together
• Power level test:  to ensure than the batteries will last at least a month
• Power switch test:  to ensure staff can turn system on or off as desired

·        Durability test:  to ensure that design will withstand everyday wear and tear