Square Smoke (GSM Smoke Detector)

BACKGROUND

Traditional smoke are limited in their function for they are able to indicate the presence of smoke and send a sounding alarm to the surrounding area. However, what if nobody is present in the environment where the fire has started. Square Smoke is an advanced smoke and gas detector in which not only can detect smoke or gas, but it scan the environment for any physical movement and send that information to your cellular device. The direct need of this project is very useful because unlike traditional smoke detectors, this dynamic detector provides a direct communication line between you and the device notifying you of the hazard. This wireless device works by informing its user(s) by remote alert which includes sending a text message and scanning the environment using a Ping))) Sensor in wherever area where device is placed in the building. To give an exemplify the use of this device, suppose there was fire or a leak of gas in the house or a building, the device will detect the smell and will send a text message to its user(s) with detailed information of the device’s current state. Then, the user can see the current state of the emergency by looking at the text message information. The user would be able to text the word “Status” to the device and shortly they will receive an automated reply with the gas or smoke information also with the Ping))) Sensor activity in the user’s building. The impact of this device would have a strong useful impact to the environment because of the direct notification of the hazard. Modern day smoke detectors just beep when the smoke is detected, and this can create a problem because if there is no one present to hear the sounding alarm of the fire, the fire can continue to grow and damage can be very severe. The process is the same with the gas sensors. However, with this device, hazards can be preventative. The main reason we are doing this project is because the home security companies charges many dollars each with a list 5 year contract, creating a financial burden. Our goal is to provide a very cheap, and reliable option with no contract needed. We seek to protect the user’s investment.

The Square Smoke provides the proper safety of your home with being reliable, and without having any contract and keeping this device cost friendly, this device will be strongly marketable to the public. Portability of this device is its major advantage. It only operates on 5V (could handle up to 12V) and it has a life span of higher than any other device of its kind. When analyzing the use of this device in city departments such as police use or firefighter use, this device could potentially eliminate the need for police officers or firefighters entering a dangerous environment. For example, they could just place this device inside a building with suspected gas leak without jeopardizing their own lives. Not only will our device be able to detect gas leaks but also movement around its environment such as movement from people exposed to the gas and their pets as well.

LITERATURE REVIEW

As we review the case of smoke detectors we can observe over a period of time how there is no changes made to the operations of smoke detectors. There are many studies done to evaluations of the smoke detectors. We can safely say that our project is new and we are the first one to come up with this idea of using Ping))) Sensor, MQ2 Smoke and Gas Sensor, Arduino GSM Shield Unlocked, and Arduino UNO Microcontroller Board, LEDS, Circuit Board, and Wires.

PROJECTIVE OBJECTIVE

Our goals of this project is to protect the user(s) home as well as their well-being. In this project, the achievement goal is the safety of the user(s) investment. The user(s) can alert the proper authorities such as fire department, police, and hazard control base on the instant alert from Square Detector. The expected goal of this project is sending the text messages to the user(s) upon the senor sensing the hazard present being gas or smoke. Desired outcome of this project is to ensure the proper safety for the home. Fire disasters as well as other disasters are inevitable, however the response to the disaster needs to be addressed in the shortest amount of time in order to have minimal to no damage. We would like to eliminate the hazards danger and create the safety for the user’s house as well as provide a direct communication link between the detector of the hazard and the user.

PROBLEM SOLVING PROCESS

Time and communication are the key components for this project. In order for this project to be successful, the time must be executed correctly as well as communication. Both of the team member have to divide the work equally in order to be more effective in this project. With keeping deadlines in mind, we must have open communication and each of us must take on responsibilities. We have to identify our strengths and weaknesses and formulate who will be working on what portion of this project to be the most effective. However, team members should be dynamic and flexible on any challenges we may face while establishing the requirement. The required components that we can identify is the, Arduino circuit board, Ping))) Sensor that works with the Arduino board. We have used our microprocessor programing skills we have learned in order to program the Arduino boards. With keeping the problem solving in mind, troubleshooted the components while writing the program for the microprocessor chip for the Arduino Board. This process took even more time than we anticipated. However, by having great communication as well as dividing the work and working together, we took each problem step by step and figured out and understood the output. We must always continuously keep the project goal in mind and reflect it in every step in our work. We must take notes and understand the previous troubleshooting steps to get the proper function we are looking for. Through the use of communication constantly, documentation of the problems, as well as keeping the time in mind and dividing the work as needed, we successfully were able to complete the project.

RESULTS

Throughout or project we faced many difficulties. Our initial design was to use a WiFi equipped board, but we ran into power issues. Our initial device wasn’t able to handle multiple attachments therefore we were forced to eliminate this option. The second major problem we faced was the use of a camera. The Radioshack camera module purchased for this design, was not compatible and we had to switch to a motion sensor, which turned out to work better for our design.

In the end of our design, we were able to achieve a successful result. Our sensor worked as we expected, and based on the datasheet provided by its manufacture, it worked as expected. Our code did not run into errors and our GSM shield is fully compatible with our sensor. No extensive heat is dispensed from the battery or any other component. We used Butane gas to test our device. As mentioned above safety is our main concern and due to safety and our research, Butane is the safest gas to use for testing purposes.

The MQ2 Sensor manufacture, LinkSprite , recommend us to program our sensor to alert the user if 10PPM (particle per meter) is found in the air. Our sensor did just that; once Butane gas was detected, it sent a successful text message with a custom programmed message.

Not only our GSM shield is able to send text messages, but it is also capable to receive text message. We programmed our board to receive the letter “B” for battery status (in case a battery check is necessary) and the letter “S” for a status on the gas sensor and the motion detector. Most importantly, when a possible hazard was detected, our device was successful at alerting the user. Figures 4, 5 and 6 display successful readings from our device (SEE ATTACHED PHOTOS)

Figure 7 shows the typical sensitivity characteristics of the MQ-2, ordinate means resistance ratio of the senor (Rs/Ro), abscissa is concentration of gases. Rs means resistance in different gases, Ro means resistance of sensor in 1000ppm Hydrogen. All test are under standard test conditions.

Figure 8 shows the typical temperature and humidity characteristics. Ordinate means resistance ratio of the Sensor (Rs/Ro), Rs means resistance of the senor in 1000ppm Butane under different temperature and humidity. Ro means resistance of the senor in environment of 1000ppm Methane, 20C/65%RH.

(SEE ATTACHED PHOTOS)

Structure and configuration of MQ-2 gas sensor is shown as Figure 9, sensor composed by micro AL2O3 ceramic tube, Tin Dioxide (SnO2) sensitive layer, measuring electrode and heater are fixed into a crust made by plastic and stainless steel net. The heater provides necessary work conditions for work of sensitive components. The enveloped MQ-2 have 6 pin, 4 of them are used to fetch signals, and other 2 are used for providing heating current.

Overall, the results are as we expected them to be. The sensor is reading data, our GSM shield is sending and receiving SMS correctly, and our Arudino UNO board is processing our code flawlessly. We were able to test the device fully on for 72hours and we did not face any problems with it. We strongly believe that our device will change the way people secure their homes and provide them with a peace of mind while they are away.

HEALTH AND SAFETY CONSIDERATIONS

The materials that are used to construct this project are the following: Ping))) Sensor, MQ2 Smoke and Gas Sensor, Arduino GSM Shield Unlocked, and Arduino UNO Microcontroller Board, LEDS, Circuit Board, and Wires. Once constructed, the project is safe guarded from any electrical exposure by a heavy duty plastic casing which acts as an insulator to provide safety from any electrical exposure to the user. This product does not have any harm to your health for there is not electrical or chemical exposure. It is only constructed of silicon, various metals, and plastic which can all be disposed properly. We kept the safety and the health of the user in mind when making this project. That is why we used the heavy duty plastic shield to safe guard against possible electrical exposure. Any user can simply mount the device and be safe while touching the device even while it is running due to the plastic acting as the barrier and insulator. All of the products that we use are UL and QC certified for safety. When designing this project we had to keep the environmental impact of it as well as if it will follow the EPA guidelines and rules. This project had to be designed to be environmentally friendly. The materials that are used in the design of the project must be nonhazardous as well as be able to be disposed with minimal energy required and minimal effect on the environment. This project is able to be disposed of properly with having minimal harm on the environment. The operational safety of this project is completely safe due to simplicity of the user interface of the design as well as the case shielding protecting from any electrical circuitry exposure.

ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS

One of our primary objectives for this project is maintain the upkeep the distinct code of ethics for engineering in a professional manner. In this focus we had consider the public safety, health, as well as general welfare with the design. With keeping this in mind, in addition we had to avoid any deceptive acts and to keep a strong and binding honesty with the creation of our product. We hold ourselves with complete responsibility to upkeep this code in order to serve the general public with honor. Professionalism was a key component with our ethical morality and we will present not only our product, but ourselves as well in a professional manner to the overall general presentation of our product. It is our obligation to hold our professionalism of ourselves and our product through our professional use of communication, appearance, our ways of interacting with others, as well as presenting our product.

SOCIETAL & GLOBAL ISSUES

Today in society and globally, there is a demanding need to a product that can detect hazards as well as prevent hazards as well. Fires are a very common hazard that occurs at homes, offices, buildings, and a variety of environment. There is a strong need for a senor to detect the hazard, in this case being smoke or gas, as well as that can notify the user and prevent any future hazards from developing. The Square Smoke is the answer to this need. The Square Smoke is a smoke detector that can detect smoke as well as gas in the environment and in addition will notify the user(s) of the hazard happening to any cellular device. From being notified, it will drastically reduce the response time and the user(s) can respond as quickly as possible to the hazard, in this case a fire, to alert the proper authorities from preventing it from spreading and causing further damage and minimizing the damage. The Square Smoke will address the issue of further preventing hazards from occurring and at a global scale will reduce hazards instantly. Our primary objective was to benefit society at a global scale and through the creation of this product we will be able to reduce harm as well as hazards at homes, office buildings, and any environment.

CONCLUSIONS

The primary objective of the Square Smoke design project is to create a design for a Square Smoke to be used in homes that will detect smoke as well as gas and then will instantly send a notification of the hazard to your cellular device. The Arduino UNO microcontroller board is used as the main controller for the Square Smoke. It is the foundation that integrates all platforms and communicate between each sub system for the Square Smoke. Connected to the microcontroller is first the Smoke Detector and in our results we saw that once a certain density level of smoke is detected it will send a signal to the microcontroller notifying of a smoke or gas detection which is derived from our Arduino program. Once this signal is sent, from having the Arduino GSM Unlocked connected to the microcontroller, from our code we found that it will send a signal to your cellular device notifying of a custom message that alerts you of the hazard. The Ping))) Sensor shield is connected to the Arduino microcontroller and from our code we programmed it so that once a smoke or gas is detected it will takes measure the distance to the nearest moving object. Our primary objective was achieved and our goals were met with this project of creating the Square smoke through testing and having successful results which it was able to not only detect smoke or a gas in the environment, but will also send an instant notification to the user(s) cellular device and measure the distance from the device to the nearest moving object. Our personal goals were met through making this project small, portable, as well as cost friendly and adaptable to any environment which will make it available to any person. Through our heavy duty plastic shielding, we are able to reach our goals of keeping the user(s) safe from safeguarding them against any electrical harm or exposure. Our main focus was to create a product in which will aid in keeping our user(s) safe and protecting their environment. This was accomplished for the Square Smoke will provide a direct safety to the user(s) through detecting a hazard and through the instant cellular notification it will prevent as well as reduce minimal damage to one’s environment.

REFERENCES

[1]. Arduino-ArduinoGSMShield.(n.d.).Retrieved December 15, 2014, from http://arduino.cc/en/Guide/ArduinoGSMShield

[2]. MQ2 Smoke Detector Shield for Arduino. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2014, from http://linksprite.com/wiki/index.php5?title=MQ2_S...

[3]. Arduino - GSMExamplesReceiveSMS. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2014, from http://arduino.cc/en/Tutorial/GSMExamplesReceiveS...

[4]. Measuring DC Voltage using Arduino. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2014, from http://startingelectronics.com/articles/arduino/m...

[5]. IEEE IEEE Code of Ethics. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2014, from http://www.ieee.org/about/corporate/governance/p7...

[6]. PING))) Ultrasonic Distance Sensor. (n.d.). Retrieved December 15, 2014, from http://www.parallax.com/product/28015

APPENDICES

PING))) Sensor, Measures Distance

Arduino GSM Shield Unlocked

Arduino Board