Team Impact
Intelligent Helmet Impact System
Preliminary Design Review
January 29th, 2008
Amanda Brodbeck
Wei-Chu Liao
Wei-Shen Liao
Chris Mintle
Project Summary
Design and prototype an intelligent helmet that
wirelessly transmits real time sensor data for
collection and processing by a base station
Project Purpose
• Potential use in medical surveillance
– Monitor impacts to see if forces exceed safety limits
– Visually help medical staff determine if player needs
medical attention after an impact
• Has potential to be expanded to monitor
physiological statuses
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Pulse
Temp
Blood Oxygen Level
Brain Activity
System Diagram
Analog
SPI
LabVIEW
GUI
SPI
Implementation of the Various
Sub-Systems
Helmet
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Sensors
Control system
Power
Transceiver
Base Station
• Transceiver
• Power
• Interface
• Computation
• Visual Display
Sensors
• Accelerometers
– Dual axis high impact: ADXL278 (+/- 50g)
– Single axis high impact: ADXL78 (+/- 50g)
– Analog output
• Temperature -Analog or Digital
• Others
*
Control Systems
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TI MSP430F169
Communicates with each sensor
Records sensor data
Processes sensor data
– Build in A/D Converter
• Continuous sampling of data
• Package data for transceiver
Power System
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Battery
Portable/low profile
Switching converter
Rechargeable
Long lasting
3.3V for all digital components
Helmet DC only
Base station power from USB
Transceiver
• Surface mount
• Hardware layer integrated protocol
– Preferred
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Long range
Up to 2Mbps
Low power
SPI connection to microcontroller
Time-stamped packets
Nordic nRF24L01
Base Station
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Transceiver is the same
Microcontroller
Interface to PC using USB
Visual Display
– LabVIEW
– GUI
– Data processing
GUI
Budget
Items
Poster
Helmet
Foam head
PCB Fab
Total
Cost
$80
$100
$20
$150
$350
Total Cost
Number Cost
Parts
$100
$10
10
Accelerometers
$60
$20
3
Microcontroller
$100
$50
2
Microcontroller Dev Board(MSP430 F169)
$40
$20
2
Power Supplies(battery)
$60
$60
1
Passive Elements
$50
$50
1
Cables+Connectors
$75
$25
3
Transceiver Dev Board(nRF24L01)
$75
$25
3
Antenna
$20
$5
4
Max3232 Chip
$75
Buffer budget
Total
Total Budget
$655
$1,005
Division of Labor and
Responsibilities
• Software
– Microcontroller and peripherals => Amanda, Ben
– RF Link => Chris, Tom
– Base station GUI => Chirs, Tom
• Hardware
– Part selection => Everyone
– PCB =>Everyone
Schedule Overview
Project Milestones
• CDR- part selection, system schematics, and basic
microcontroller functionality.
• Milestone I - basic RF link, sensors communicate
with microcontroller, and revision 1 of PCB
completed and integrated.
• Milestone II – basic GUI, RF data transfer, and
revision 2 of PCB completed and integrated.
• EXPO- working prototype.
Risks and Contingency Plan
1. Wireless Link between Helmet and Base Station
adds complexity to project
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Contingency: serially link nodes and base station
2. Number of helmets in network adds complexity
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Contingency: decrease number of helmets or have
only one helmet in network
3. Battery powered
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Contingency: hard wired power supply
Risks and Contingency Plan
4. Long Range Communication Distance (>80m)
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Transceiver require too much power draw to transmit
over large distances
Contingency: Scale back required distance of
communication
5. GUI with Advanced Helmet information
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Contingency: Simplify GUI
Questions?