Interview with professor #1 :
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Suggested combining solar power with rain sensor (refer to diagram drawn)
Connect battery beside the solar panel so the energy obtained by the solar panel can be
stored into the battery ready for use by the sensor.
Or device can be obtained by the mains power but that defeats the purpose of the solar
panel.
Wiring system is easy to handle, highly feasible.
Suggested to have a big solar panel at the roof of the flat to cut costs that connects down to
every household
Suggested to have a touch sensor at the edge of window (adopted from MRT doors or lift
doors) the technology used is when the infra ray gets blocked by an object in its path, the
sensor triggers the door to stop closing. The purpose is to make sure hands of kids don’t get
stuck while window is closing ---optical sensor
How the rain sensor works: technology behind it is the infra ray and total internal reflection
of it. When rain droplets are formed on the surface of the rain sensor, it causes the ray to
refract out, signaling presence of rain hence activating our device.
Add on switch near windows to allow household members to deactivate our device
whenever they prefer
Suggest the possibility of fire in the house so when fire engines spry water into the house,
the windows will close during the attempt, hindering the rescue. Suggested solution: smoke
sensor added too.
Suggested possibility of clothes still hung out to dry outside, and when it started raining the
windows closed before household members could take the clothes back in. suggested
solution: place an object sensor in the cylindrical tube used to hold up the bamboo poles.
When there are clothes hung out, the system can be automatically deactivated. So windows
will only close when there is nothing hanging outside.
Suggested experiment to be carried out to determine how much rain needed to activate
device. Intensity of rain. How long is the rain?
Try to make device less obvious
Find out price of solar panel from distributor (could be in the hundreds, bigger the cheaper)
Speed of window to be determined (suggested that the user can chose the speed
themselves)
The more sensors involved, the more expensive.