Wireless Item Label Locator (WILL) The Third Eye Ltd. Tongxin Feng, CEO Jieun Choi, VPRD Sieun Lee, VPRD April 21, 2008 ENSC 440 Project Presentation/Demo

Presentation Outline Introduce the Team Introduce the Team Why WILL? : Project Background & Motivation Why WILL? : Project Background & Motivation System Overview & High Level System Design System Overview & High Level System Design Business Case Business Case Project Specifics Project Specifics Lesson Learned Lesson Learned Conclusion & Future Works Conclusion & Future Works Sources & Acknowledgements Sources & Acknowledgements Questions & Some System Details Questions & Some System Details

The Third Eye Team Tongxin Feng ( President/CEO) Tongxin Feng ( President/CEO) - 5 th year Electronics Engineering - MC Programming / User Interface Design & Construction - Tasks & Schedule Management Jieun Choi ( VP Research & Development) Jieun Choi ( VP Research & Development) - 6 th year Systems Engineering - Overall RFID research / Reader – MC Communication & Programming / User Interface Design & Construction - Resource & Budget Management Sieun Lee ( VP Research & Development) Sieun Lee ( VP Research & Development) - 6 th year Engineering Physics - Antenna Modification and Performance Test / Reader – MC Support / Power Supply and Delay Unit Design & Construction - Documentation Management

Why WILL? Motivation Motivation How much time do I spend searching for my key/wallet/cell phone/etc. in my room? How difficult would it be for a blind person to find a misplaced item? The leading cause of blindness is aging – which often comes with memory loss as well. Further User & Market Research Further User & Market Research There is a need/want, but no satisfying product. The Problem: Tag Battery Life

System Overview What WILL does What WILL does Features Features - Intuitive user interface, direction/range detection - Tags do not require batteries - Portable

System Overview Design Overview Design Overview

High-Level System Design (T)

High-Level System Design (J) Reader and Microcontroller module Reader and Microcontroller module TTL response request TTL request Reader Protocol Microcontroller User interface Reader communication Reader Module Protocol Communication Antenna response requestresponse request

High-Level System Design (J) User Interface and Microcontroller User Interface and Microcontroller Microcontroller Reader Comm User Interface Button 1 Buzzer Button 2 Button 3 LED Request Response User Interface

User Interface Braille

Antenna Linearly polarized, UHF monopole antenna Linearly polarized, UHF monopole antenna Problems Problems i) Polarization & Directionality ii) Size Why still this antenna? Why still this antenna?  Most marketed directional antennas are large, especially in UHF range. Most RFID devices are omni-directional.  Must design & build an antenna - time and budget constraints How we compensated How we compensated  Somewhat directional – strongest signal in the direction of the tag  Add a parabolic dish and metal back plate for better gain & directionality. (Bigger size though)

Reading Range Tests

Business Case Market Market million in North America with visual impairment - Item locating function also marketable to healthy population Cost Cost - Active tags are around $10 -$ 50 dollars. But for each tag, users require to change battery from 1 month to 6 months depends on how much they use - WILL costs around $350 and need rechargeable batteries for the reader. - UHF reader and antenna are expensive, so instead lowering the cost, expanding the feature such as UHF RFID home security can be an option.

Business Case Financing Financing - Investors - International funding sources to develop assistive devices Competition Competition - Other assistive devices for the visually impaired (Direct/indirect) - RFID products

Budgets and Funding ComponentActual CostEstimated Cost RFIDRFID Development Kit MicrocontrollerAVR Starter Kit and chips ElectronicsSwitch10100 Cables and others600 MiscellaneousPhone calls and etc5200 Total FundingAmount Departmental Funding50 Engineering Science Student Endowment Fund335 Total385

Time Line TaskJanFebMarAprMay Research Parts Hardware Software Construction Testing Expectation Actual time

Lesson Learned Not to overload oneself Not to overload oneself Do ample research before choosing a project - simplest ideas can be the most difficult to implement Do ample research before choosing a project - simplest ideas can be the most difficult to implement If you run into a problem, it is highly possible someone else run into the same problem If you run into a problem, it is highly possible someone else run into the same problem Even if you don’t seem to progress, you are actually learning Even if you don’t seem to progress, you are actually learning

Conclusion We were able to achieve the significant part of the two important functions that were proposed only for the product stage : indicating the direction and relative range of the tag! We were able to achieve the significant part of the two important functions that were proposed only for the product stage : indicating the direction and relative range of the tag!

Future Works Design and build a small, directional antenna Design and build a small, directional antenna Make more user friendly interface using speaker to let user know the stage of the process and use lock in buttons Make more user friendly interface using speaker to let user know the stage of the process and use lock in buttons Build more stable circuit for power module and user interface Build more stable circuit for power module and user interface Reduce the size and the increase the battery life Reduce the size and the increase the battery life

Sources & Acknowledgement Dr. Patrick Leung and Steve Whitmore, Instructors Dr. Patrick Leung and Steve Whitmore, Instructors Brad Oldham and Jason Lee, TAs Brad Oldham and Jason Lee, TAs Fred Heep and Marius Haiduku, Lab Technicians Fred Heep and Marius Haiduku, Lab Technicians Dr. Rodney Vaughn, Dr. Shawn Stapleton and Jane Yun, RF/Microwave Mobile Communication Laboratory Dr. Rodney Vaughn, Dr. Shawn Stapleton and Jane Yun, RF/Microwave Mobile Communication Laboratory Derek Pyner, Pacific Design Engineering Derek Pyner, Pacific Design Engineering Andrey Gleener, Andrey Gleener R&D Services Andrey Gleener, Andrey Gleener R&D Services

Questions?

Thank you!

Demo Item 1 Item 1

Demo Item2 Item2

Demo Item3 Item3

Tag Type Class Gen 1Class Gen 2ISO B Available Operations Only select Select, read, write, tag password Select, read, write, lock Unavailable Operations It can not write any data or lock it N/A Can not detect only one specific tag with unique ID WILL operations Only one tag is detected with selected tag ID. It doesn’t not cause any problem. Different algorithm is required to only detect specific tag Id.

Extension Why did we need one month extension? Why did we need one month extension? Looking for parts – 2 weeks delay Looking for parts – 2 weeks delay Late January and early February, we were not able to find the right UHF RFID development product. Required long range but small size product Required long range but small size product Fully assembled products – therefore, not much room for development and mostly software development was encouraged for UHF Fully assembled products – therefore, not much room for development and mostly software development was encouraged for UHF No schematic or source code provided No schematic or source code provided Reader and Microcontroller connection – 1 month delay Reader and Microcontroller connection – 1 month delay

Reader Module Connection Problem 1 – Late February until early March Problem 1 – Late February until early March Reader module cannot be program at all except changing some settings; therefore, we were not able to control the reader module directly Problem 2 – Early March until end of April Problem 2 – Early March until end of April Reader module and Microcontroller cannot communicate to each other using UART or TTL signals

Reader Module Connection Trial 1 : Connect each module separately to computer using RS232 signals Trial 1 : Connect each module separately to computer using RS232 signals Result: Both modules communicate successfully Result: Both modules communicate successfully Reader module on interface board Microcontroll er on interface board RS232 Computer

Reader Module Connection Trial2: Connect reader module and MC together using RS232 signals via null modem cable Trial2: Connect reader module and MC together using RS232 signals via null modem cable Result: auto shutdown occurred Result: auto shutdown occurred Reader module on interface board Microcontroll er on interface board Null modem Cable

Reader Module Connection Null Modem Cable Null Modem Cable RS232 RS232 DCE-DCE DCE-DCE How about Direct Connection? How about Direct Connection? Auto shutdown did not occur however, the signals are not delivered Auto shutdown Auto shutdown The level shifter chips believe that the input signals on both side The level shifter chips believe that the input signals on both side Possible problem occurred due to level shifter chips, so we decided to use TTL signal directly

Reader Module Connection Trial 3: Connect Two module using TTL Signal Trial 3: Connect Two module using TTL Signal Result : no response occurred Result : no response occurred Signals may not be correct Readermodule MC TTL

Reader Module Connection Checked TTL Signals on both side Checked TTL Signals on both side Microcontroller Microcontroller It seems like a proper signal It seems like a proper signal as mentioned in data sheet Reader module Reader module It is not a correct signal It is not a correct signal as mentioned in data sheet ( Low: ~0V High:~4.5V) Reader module seems to cause a problem (later, we found out oscilloscope is very senstive to this reader module signals)

Reader Module Connection Trial 4 : Generate TTL signal from the Computer RS232 signal Trial 4 : Generate TTL signal from the Computer RS232 signal Because RS232 signals from computer transmits correctly to the reader module, we used MAX232N chips to convert RS232 signals back to TTL signal and feed into Reader module and see what happens Because RS232 signals from computer transmits correctly to the reader module, we used MAX232N chips to convert RS232 signals back to TTL signal and feed into Reader module and see what happens Result: No response Result: No response Reader modul e MAX232N RS232 TTL

Reader Module Connection Continued from Trial4 Continued from Trial4 Used Loop back system to see whether the signals from MAX232N chips is distorted Used Loop back system to see whether the signals from MAX232N chips is distorted Result : Correct. Input and output are the same Result : Correct. Input and output are the same No problem in the signals from the chip. Reader module only understands the RS232 signals from computer but anything else TTL Input signal loop backs to output signal RS232 MAX232N

Reader Module Connection Reader module communication trials Reader module communication trials All methods did not work Reader on interface board Reader MC MAX 232N MC on interface board MAX 232N RS232 TTL RS232 TTL

Reader Module Connection -Solved How did we solve this problem? How did we solve this problem? Check all the basics! After we used the right handshaking and all the right settings one of the setting was not fixed correctly.  The MC stop bit was set as 2 bits where the reader module is set default to 1 bit. Until mid April, the setting was correct, however, it was changed during our trials, and we did not double check this setting later. We found it using logic analyzer.

Problems confronted Power supply generates noise in Microcontroller TTL signals Power supply generates noise in Microcontroller TTL signals - Not enough time to investigate circuit. - We believe the problem occurred from input and output devices connected the Vcc. - Why are they connected to Vcc?  We used the STK500 development board and to make it work without the development board, we used STK500 schematic to make the hardware environment as similar to do debugging