Final Project: CSC Visit and Brainstorming

The semester is coming coming to a close, and with it comes the final project of this course. The goal of this project is to utilize what we've learned about feedback and control these past few weeks, as well as the technical/building experience we gained at the beginning of the course to create a device that utilizes feedback and control mechanisms to aid in the learning/classroom experience of young children between the ages of 2 and 6.

Ultimately we hope that the devices we will create can be realisticlty implemented in the classroom/school. For this reason we have budget limit of $100.

CSC Visit/Brainstorming

This week we kicked off our final project of the course by visiting a local school for children age 0-6. This visit was to find out more about the classroom environment in order to gain insights into what areas of the experience could be improved upon.

After talking a bit with the teachers and observing the students, I found several situations in which a feedback and control device could be useful.

1) Toilet Flushing Device

One issue that the teachers mentioned on visit was that the flushing of the toilets in the bathroom was too loud and sometimes scared the children. After hearing this I thought of several ways to remedy this problem using a feedback and control device. The first was to create a device that triggered a musical response whenever the toilet was flushed. The issue with this is that the musical response would increase the overall noise of the flushing and possibly be distracting to the children. Another idea was to delay the flush of the toilet until the individual has left the stall. This could be achieved using an ultrasonic sensor to determine wether or not someone is in the stall, and a motor device to autonomously flush the toilet.

2) Hand Washing Timer

Another issue in the school was that the children did not always remember to wash their hands/ wash their hands for the proper amount of time. I thought that a device that both reminded the children of the proper amount of time to wash one's hands and also displayed minimally engaging images to keep  them there during that time would be helpful. This device would use an ultrasonic or touch sensor to judge when the faucet has been turned on. When turned on, the device will begin to display an LED pattern of some kind for about 15 seconds (the time you should wash your hands), after which it would turn off and reset for the next time the faucet is turned on. 

3) Greenhouse Heater Control

I love gardening, so I was sad to hear that the plants in the school's greenhouse did not fair so well during the winter due to the cold air let in when the door was opened. I think an easy way to remedy this problem is to create a device that senses when the door has been opened via either touch switch or temperature sensor, and then communicates the the greenhouse's heater to turn on. 

Group Brainstorming 

For this final project I will be working together with Helena Maurer. We met together to brainstorm some more, and narrowed our ideas to the following two to pitch to our instructor.