Markham, Patrick
Lab 1 – Don't Forget Me Product Description
Patrick Markham
CS411
Janet Brunelle
February 4, 2008
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Markham, Patrick
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Table of Contents
1
INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................4
2
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION ....................................................................................................6
3
4
2.1
Key Product Features and Capabilities ........................................................................6
2.2
Major Components (Hardware/Software)....................................................................8
2.3
Target Market/Customer Base ...................................................................................10
PRODUCT PROTOTYPE DESCRIPTION ..........................................................................11
3.1
Prototype Functional Objectives ................................................................................11
3.2
Prototype Architecture ...............................................................................................12
3.3
Innovative Features ....................................................................................................13
3.4
Challenges and Risks .................................................................................................13
PROTOTYPE DEMONSTRATION DESCRIPTION ..........................................................14
GLOSSARY ..................................................................................................................................16
REFERENCES ..............................................................................................................................17
List of Figures
Figure 1. Nontraffic fatalities involving children and automobiles, 2002-2006 ............................5
Figure 2. Major Functional Component Diagram (MFCD). ..........................................................8
List of Tables
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Figure 3. Annual U.S. Motor Vehicle Production ........................................................................11
Figure 4. Prototype Architecture ..................................................................................................12
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Lab 1 – Don't Forget Me Product Description
1
INTRODUCTION
In 2007, 804 children were involved in 652 automobile incidents, resulting in the
deaths of 202 of America's future youth. This figure includes both traffic and nontraffic
related incidents. A further 9,100 children received emergency room treatment, also in
nontraffic related incidents. Numerous factors contribute to this problem. Leading
factors include, among others, both hyperthermia and hypothermia, strangulation (e.g., in
a car window or by a seatbelt), inhalation of vehicle-generated carbon monoxide and
collision (i.e., backovers and frontovers). DFM Inc.'s board of directors performed the
necessary market research, led by Marketing Director Daniel Holloway, and narrowed
the contributing factors to just two causes for which no commercially accepted solution
has yet arisen. Neglect of a child who has been left unattended in a vehicle is the root
cause in each case.
Twenty percent of all non-traffic fatalities involving children and automobiles in
the years 2002 through 2006 were a direct result of neglect during excessively hot
temperatures. While 62.9% of all nontraffic fatalities involving children and automobiles
in the same years resulted from backovers and frontovers, numerous commercially viable
systems which address this cause have since been introduced into the market. As a result,
DFM Inc.'s board of directors expects data will, in several years' time, reflect this
introduction in the form of a drastic decline in this percentage. At the same time, the data
will show a dramatic increase in the other percentages. The figure below clearly shows
hyperthermia to be, after backovers and frontovers, the leading cause of nontraffic
fatalities involving children and automobiles by far. Minus backovers and frontovers,
Markham, Patrick
hyperthermia was the cause of 52.8% of these fatalities.
Figure 1. Nontraffic fatalities involving children and automobiles, 2002-2006.
Therefore, after much deliberation, DFM Inc.'s board of directors proposed a
solution to non-traffic incidents involving children and automobiles, both fatal and nonfatal, due either to extreme temperatures or pre-existing health conditions resulting
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ultimately from children being left unattended in vehicles. The solution has been dubbed
"Don't Forget Me," or DFM, for which DFM Inc. is named.
Conceived by the Old Dominion University (ODU) CS410/411 Blue Team, DFM
is a sensor-based child protection (SBCP) system that can be installed in any vehicle. It
is a combination of sensors and software which, in cooperation with a standard car alarm,
attempts to prevent a child from being left unattended in a vehicle for any period of time.
Additionally, DFM notifies the parent or legal guardian (i.e., the driver) that the child is
in danger, in the event that, in spite of the system's attempt to prevent neglect in the first
place, the parent or legal guardian has left the child in the vehicle unattended and
conditions subsequently suggest that the child's life is in danger. Due to the nature of the
solution, and in light of extensive market research, DFM Inc.'s board of directors
determined that such a solution would best be implemented as a before-market add-on at
the vehicle manufacturing level. As a result, rather than manufacture DFM units inhouse, DFM Inc. will simply license the use of patented software to vehicle
manufacturers and provide the necessary specifications and documentation along with the
licenses.
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2.1
PRODUCT DESCRIPTION
Key Product Features and Capabilities
The DFM "intelligent" software is the cornerstone of the solution. From the beginning,
DFM Inc. recognized that any solution would require software capable of determining the
appropriate response to each of the many and varied scenarios which will require the system to
act. The DFM system therefore determines not only whether or not a child has been left alone in
the vehicle (based on seat pressure and the presence of a heartbeat), the temperature inside the
vehicle, how far away the driver is from the vehicle and how long the driver has been away, but
also, among other things, if one or more sensors is not functioning, if the heartbeat is abnormal, if
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the heartbeat is too fast or too slow, if the temperature is too hot or too cool, if the temperature is
approaching too hot or too cool, and then, based on this input, determine whether or not to set off
the keychain alarm, to set off both the keychain alarm and the car alarm, or to stop the alarm(s)
entirely (e.g., if conditions have returned to normal). In fact, there are a host of decisions which
must be made in order to determine the appropriate response. The decision-making process is
rather detailed, and a more elaborate explanation of this process will be compiled in the near
future.
Additionally, it should be noted that the truly innovative characteristic of the DFM solution
is that, although the various sensors, the processor, the embedded operating system and the
wireless communication devices (i.e., the keychain and related devices) have existed for years,
never before has anyone combined them all into one comprehensive system –together with
advanced software–so as to actually address the problem outlined in section 1 of this document.
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2.2
Major Components (Hardware/Software)
Figure 2. Major Functional Component Diagram (MFCD).
Figure 2 illustrates the major functional components of the Don't Forget Me system. It
identifies ten major functional components.
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The first component is the pressure sensor. This sensor, combined with the heartbeat
sensor, determines whether or not a child is present in the vehicle.
The second component is the heartbeat sensor. As mentioned, this sensor, in
combination with the pressure sensor, determines whether or not a child is present in the vehicle.
Additionally, it determines if the child is experiencing any sort of heart condition, trouble breathing
or other problem which would result in a particularly fast or slow heartbeat.
The third component is the motion sensor. This sensor essentially services as an
alternate means of verifying the presence of the child. No motion is not verification that no child
is present, but the presence of motion clearly verifies the presence of the child.
The fourth component is the temperature detector. This sensor determines the
temperature of the interior of the vehicle only.
The fifth component is the accelerometer. The accelerometer determines the total
external force on the vehicle. The nearest comparison to the DFM system's use of this device is
in airbag deployment systems.
The sixth component is the car alarm. The DFM system works in conjunction with a
vehicle's existing car alarm. For our purposes, this alarm serves primarily to prevent the child
from being left unattended in the first place, although the alarm will also go off anytime the
keychain alarm goes off.
The sixth component is the keychain alarm. This device is actually a combination of an
alarm and a receiver, as it must be able to communicate with the CPU. If the driver steps too far
away from the vehicle, if the driver remains away from the vehicle for too long a period or if
conditions inside the car demand it, both the car alarm and the keychain alarm will go off.
The seventh component is the remote detector. This device determines if the keychain is
in proximity for communication.
The eighth component is the transmitter device. This is the wireless technology
necessary for such communication.
The ninth major functional component is the reset switch. As with any alarm system, a
reset switch is necessary in the event that the "child" is actually an adult (i.e., someone who is
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quite capable of ensuring his own safety), in the unlikely event that the system malfunctions or
other scenarios in which the driver deems it necessary to temporarily disable the system.
Importantly, this switch is placed in the backseat–not in the front–to mitigate any risk of the driver
disabling the system and walking away from the vehicle with the child still inside.
The final major functional component is the Central Processing Unit (CPU). The CPU
includes a central processor (i.e., the computer hardware component), an embedded operating
system and the DFM software.
2.3
Target Market/Customer Base
DFM Inc. will target one market in particular: vehicle manufacturers. Vehicle
manufacturers produce over five million passenger cars and more than seven million commercial
vehicles annually. From 1997 through 2005, the total number of vehicles manufactured, both
passenger cars and commercial vehicles, averaged 12,181,000 annually. The goal is to capture
1-2% of this market in the first two years. In other words, the goal is to have the Don't Forget Me
system installed on 1-2% of all vehicles manufactured in the second year. Further expansion,
although difficult to project, is expected to result from natural growth. Alternatively, if federal
legislation is introduced that requires manufacturers to install safety measures meeting the
general description of the DFM system in their vehicles, DFM Inc. has the opportunity to dominate
the market decisively for years to come. Revenue will be derived from the sale of licenses to
install the system in the vehicles a manufacturer produces. The anticipated cost of a single
license to the manufacturer is fifty U.S. dollars. The figure below details the number of vehicles
manufactured annually for the 1997-2005 period.
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Table 1-15: Annual U.S. Motor Vehicle Production (Thousands of units)
1997
1998
1999
2000
2001
2002
2003
2004
2005
12,131
12,003
13,025
12,774
11,425
12,280
12,087
11,960
11,947
5,934
5,554
5,638
5,542
4,879
5,019
4,510
4,230
4,321
6,197
6,448
7,387
7,231
6,546
7,261
7,577
7,731
7,625
Production,
total
Passenger
cars
Commercial
vehiclesa
Figure 3. Annual vehicle production, 1997-2005.
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PRODUCTION PROTOTYPE DESCRIPTION
The prototype of the Don't Forget Me system will demonstrate the feasibility of
combining multiple sensors, advanced software and an alarm in order to prevent drivers
from leaving children in their vehicles unattended, as well as to alert drivers when
unattended children in their vehicles are in danger.
3.1
Prototype Functional Objectives
The first objective is to successfully demonstrate the ability of the DFM software
to determine appropriate responses to the most common scenarios involving unattended
children in automobiles. These scenarios include, among a host of others, when the
driver first walks away from the vehicle with the child left inside; when an unattended
child is exposed to extremely hot or cool temperatures; and when an unattended child's
heartbeat can nolonger be detected. The ability of the software to determine the
appropriate response can actually be demonstrated without the use of any sensors, vis-àvis software simulation of the input from such devices (i.e., such devices as the heartbeat
sensor, the temperature detector, etc.).
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The second objective is to successfully demonstrate the ability of the software to
function in cooperation with the actual sensors, whereby input such as a heartbeat or a
dramatic increase in temperature is not simulated at all, but detected by physical devices.
Third, in an effort to show the full capability of the DFM system, we will
demonstrate that we have successfully incorporated the use of a keychain alarm into the
prototype.
3.2
Prototype Architecture
Figure 4. Phase I Prototype Major Functional Component Diagram (MFCD).
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Figure 4 illustrates the major functional components of the Don't Forget Me
prototype in Phase I, and the relationship between the devices. It is a simplification of
the MFCD shown in Figure 2, with the addition of the USB-600x Data Acquisition Kit,
developed by National Instruments. The Data Acquisition Kit includes the USB-600x
Data Acquisition (DAC) unit, the LabVIEW software and the necessary analog outputs
for accurate output signals. The DAC unit will allow us to read the output of the
heartbeat sensor and the temperature detector. Additional sensors may be added to the
prototype as determined by DFM Inc.'s board of directors. The DAC unit will connect to
a student laptop or ODU-provided PC. The LabVIEW software will allow us to read the
output from the sensors. Output will be fed as input into our own software, the DFM
software, which will then determine the appropriate response based on the input. When
necessary, the DFM software will set off an alarm on the computer (i.e., the "car alarm"),
or it will set off both the car alarm and the keychain alarm.
3.3
Innovative Features
As previously mentioned in section 2.1, the truly innovative characteristic of the Don't
Forget Me solution is that, although the various sensors, the processor, the embedded operating
system and the wireless communication devices (i.e., the keychain and related devices) have
existed for years, never before has anyone combined them all into one comprehensive system –
together with advanced software–so as to actually address the problem outlined in section 1 of
this document.
3.4
Challenges and Risks
A number of challenges and risks must be overcome during the development of
the Don't Forget Me prototype.
First, a set of scenarios (i.e., set of inputs) to which the DFM system should
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respond must be clearly defined. The appropriate response to each scenario must also be
clearly defined. This task represents a challenge because the result should be
comprehensive.
Second, for each of the sensors to be incorporated into the prototype, as well as
for the receiver for the keychain alarm, we must find an off-the-shelf product which will
work with our particular DAC device, National Instruments' USB-600x. This may take
some time.
Last, the failure of the DFM software or of any of the devices during the
prototype demonstration must be prevented at all costs. This can and will only be
mitigated by repeated testing and re-testing of the final version of the Phase I prototype.
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PROTOTYPE DEMONSTRATION DESCRIPTION
The Don't Forget Me prototype demonstration will require each of the
components found in the Phase I MFCD from Figure 4. Additional sensors (e.g., the
pressure sensor) not found in the Phase I MFCD from Figure 4 may be added to the
prototype as determined by DFM Inc.'s board of directors. In addition to the components
found in the Phase I MFCD and any/all additional sensors, the demonstration will require
a volunteer to provide a heartbeat, a heater to simulate extremely hot conditions inside
the vehicle and a bucket of ice to demonstrate extremely cool conditions inside the
vehicle. Both the LabVIEW software and the DFM software will be pre-installed on the
laptop, and all other devices will be identical to the devices used in prototype
development.
The demonstration will begin with an overview of the major functional
components of the prototype and an explanation of how the DFM software processes the
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input and determines the appropriate response. We will then provide an outline of the
common scenarios in which the prototype is designed to respond, as well as the expected
appropriate responses. Finally, we will demonstrate the effectiveness of the prototype by
simulating the most common scenarios and watching as the prototype responds as
expected.
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GLOSSARY
DAC: National Instruments' USB-6008 or -6009 Data Acqusition device.
DFM: Don't Forget Me. Usually the Don't Forget Me system or the Don't Forget Me
software.
DFM Inc.: The Don't Forget Me company.
LabVIEW: Software included in National Instruments' Data Acquisition Kit for use
with the DAC.
MFCD: Major Functional Component Diagram.
ODU: Old Dominion University.
SBCP: Sensor-Based Child Protection system.
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REFERENCES
National Instruments. (n.d.). NI USB-600x Student Kits. Retrieved January 21, 2008,
from National Instruments Website:
http://sine.ni.com/nips/cds/view/p/lang/en/nid/14681
KIDS AND CARS DATABASE. (n.d.). U.S. Fatalities by Type (2002 - 2006):
Nontraffic Fatalities Invovling Children < 15 Years Old. Retrieved January 21,
2008, from KIDS AND CARS website: http://www.kidsandcars.org/