1. User Needs/Design Input
Automatic Fall Alert System
Main unit
Holds all of the electrical components of the device: heart rate monitor, accelerometer, raspberry pi chip, battery, etc.
Will be molded out of ABS plastic
5 LED lights on top to signal remaining battery life of device
Small button on side to cancel a unnecessary or unwanted call
Micro USB port on side to allow for a charging cord to be connected
Wrist Straps
Will be made using santoprene rubber
Each band has a small rectangular indent which allows for the attachment of a magnet
Magnets allow for an easy, yet secure, closure for the ban
Professor Brian Mundo
Darpan Sodhi, Patricia Donnelly, Kamil Abu-Shaban, Jeremy Bojnowski
Design Verification
User Needs Statement
Design Output
Component
Price
Arduino Uno [1]
$24.95
Pulse Sensor[3]
$3.97
Adafruit ADXL Accelerometer [4]
$14.95
IO pins [5] $4
IO pin header [5] $5
Solder [6]
$15
Bluetooth Adapter[7]
$7.99
Outsourcing of 3-D Printing
$17.72
Jumper cables
$0.00*
Total
$93.58**
Design a device that will contact emergency personnel in the event that the user is in need of them, but unable to contact the personnel themselves, specifically following a fall or collapse.
User Needs/Design Input
User needs
Design Input
Detects fall
A component that can detect instantaneous changes in movement
Alerts emergency services
Connects to a land line via Bluetooth to make a call within a 600 foot radius
Functions in water
Water resistant to at least 5 feet for 1 hour
Affordable
Prototype costs less than $100
Long Lasting Battery
Battery lasts 5-6 days on one charge cycle (4-6 hours)
Option to cancel false alarm
Uses a system of fail safes
*Already in our possession so did not need to purchase new ones.
**Since custom-boarding after creating the prototype will be costly due to the size, it is estimated that the total price when creating the actual device will be 2 to 3 times that necessary for the prototype.
Future Development
Currently our device is set to work with a land line, but in the future we would like to have it connect via Bluetooth to a smartphone app. This would allow for several new features including:
Ability to use device outside of house
Allows user to add in a secondary contact besides EMS
Provides health information to user (i.e. heart rate)
Provide information to hospital about patient injury
Add other fail safes or equipment
Gyroscope
Heart Attack Patches
Design Development
Accelerometer & Gyroscope
Heart Rate Monitor
Detects rapid acceleration and deceleration
Heart Rate Present Before
Fail Safe
Fail safes are a unique feature of our design which differentiates it from similar devices on the market. Their purpose is to protect against false alarm calls. Fail safes in our device include:
Heart Rate Monitor
30 seconds preceding fall
Time gap between decision and call
Order of code steps
Button*
*In the event that a call is made but not needed, the button can be used to cancel the call. It is also a last-ditch effort if other fail safes do not function properly.
Detects Magnitude of Motion
Arduino Uno
No input from Heart Rate Monitor
No input from Button
Fall Detection
References
"Arduino UNO Rev3." Arduino Store USA. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr
"Microtivity IB point Experiment Breadboard." Vehicle Amplifier Wire And Wiring Kits: Amazon.com: Industrial & Scientific. Amazon, n.d. Web. 11 Apr
"Business & Industrial." EBay. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Apr
"BerryIMU - An Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Magnetometer and Barometric/altitude Sensor."Ozzmaker.com. Ozzmaker, n.d. Web. 18 Feb
"Adafruit Accessories GPIO Stacking Header for Pi A+/B+/Pi 2 - Extra-long 2x20 Pins (1 Piece)." Amazon.com: Adafruit Accessories GPIO Stacking Header for Pi A+/B+/Pi 2 - Extra-long 2x20 Pins (1 Piece): Electronics. Amazon, n.d. Web. 18 Feb
"Robot Check." Robot Check. Amazon, n.d. Web. 18 Feb
"Bluetooth Adapter." Amazon.com. Amazon, n.d. Web. 11 Apr
Check Heart Rate Monitor Again
Make Call
Acknowledgements to the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Professor Brian Mundo, Yang Zhou