The aLife Home System

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The aLife Home System
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The aLife Home System

• Home automation with a different approach
• Market flooded
• The all take the same approach GUIs that wait
  for user input
• aLife is even driven based on
• Temperatures
• Security
• Energy

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aLife Example Event
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Project Goals And Objectives

• Create a smart, customizable, all-in-one system
• Little to no learning curve
• Focus on passive user control
• Can integrate with most homes
• Simple configurations
• Easily integrates with existing smart home
  technologies
• Low cost

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Project Block Diagram
Zigbee Base
Base Station
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Remote Module
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Remote Modules - Communications

• Module Communication Network Wireless Zigbee
• More reliable, robust than wired
• Flexibility in module installation location
• Acceptable data rate (up to 250kbps)
• Acceptable transmission range (up to 75m)
• Open source, abundance of cheap hardware and
  software available

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Remote Modules Block Diagram
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Remote Modules Schematic pg1
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Remote Modules Schematic pg2
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Remote Modules Schematic pg3
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Remote Modules Power Supply

• Power Supply Requirement Specifications
• 3.3VDC output
• 9-15VDC input range
• Source gt 250mA
• Output ripple lt 20mV peak to peak
• Work off of both 120VAC and battery
• Efficiency gt 80
• Transient protection

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Remote Modules Power Supply

• Power Supply Implementation
• National Semi LM2841XMK-ADJL switching buck
  DC-DC converter
• 3.3VDC output voltage
• 4.5VDC 42VDC input range
• 2mV peak to peak output ripple (simulation)
• 83 efficiency under simulation
• 120VAC to 12VDC step down
• SMBJ12A TVS, breakdown at 13.3VDC

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Remote Modules Power Supply
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Remote Modules MCU

• MCU Requirement Specifications
• Operate at gt 15MHz
• Have gt 32kB built in FLASH, gt 2kB built in RAM
• Have at least 2ADC, 1 UART, 1 12C, 2 PWM, 2
  digital inputs, 2 digital outputs
• Built in ZigBee transceiver
• Available ZigBee Consumer protocol stack

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Remote Modules MCU

• MCU Design Implementation
• Freescale MC13213R2
• 20 MHz
• 60kB FLASH, 4kB RAM
• Built in ZigBee transceiver
• BeeStack Consumer RF4CE compliant ZigBee protocol
  stack available for free from Freescale
• 8x ADC, 2x UART, 1x I2C, 5x PWM, 22x GPIO
• Program firmware in C using CodeWarrior IDE

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Remote Modules MCU
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Remote Modules Base Comms

• Communication with Android Base Requirement Specs
• Must use a standard that is compatible with both
  Android base and remote module hardware
• Implementation
• RS232 using TI SN65C3221EPWR transceiver
• Up to 1M baud rate
• 15kV ESD protection
• No hardware handshaking

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Remote Modules Base Comms
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Remote Modules Type 1 Functions

• 120VAC Power Sensor Requirement Specifications
• Measure up to 1800W (max power rating for a
  standard wall outlet)
• Resolution down to 5W at 3 accuracy
• Less that 0.1 Ohm impedance on AC line
• Electrical isolation between AC and digital side
• Surge protection on AC side
• Simple firmware calculation of power

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Remote Modules Type 1 Functions

• Power Sensor Design
• Allegro Micro ACS709LLFTR-20BB-T Hall effect
  based AC current sensor
• Measures up to 3200W
• 1.1 mOhm series AC impedance
• AC isolation, 2100VAC surge protection
• Theoretical resolution down to 3W at 2 accuracy
  (still needs to be tested)

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Remote Modules Type 1 Functions

• AC peak detector circuit on output of power
  sensor makes power calculations in firmware
  simple
• On Semi MC33072ADR2G instrumentation amplifier
  for precision performance
• Gain controlled via ADI AD5241BRZ1M 1M Ohm, 256
  step digital Pot for power ranging from 3W up to
  1700W

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Remote Modules Type 1 Functions
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Remote Modules Type 1 Functions

• Temperature Sensor Requirement Specs
• Accurate to within /- 2 degrees Celsius
• Range of -30 to 100 degrees Celsius
• I2C interface
• Remote temperature sensor loop
• Implementation
• NXP SA56004ED,118 temperature sensor
• Meets the above requirements

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Remote Modules Type 1 Functions
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Remote Modules Type 2 Functions

• Digital to Analog Converters Requirement Specs
• Be able to change from gnd to 3.3V in 5ms
• Output can drive at least /- 50mA
• DAC Implementation - PWM fed into low pass op amp
  circuits using Micron MCP665-E/UN dual op amp
  chip
• Can change from gnd to 3.3V in 3ms
• Output can drive /- 90mA

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Remote Modules Type 2 Functions
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Remote Modules Type 2 Functions

• Terminal Block and Relay Requirement
  Specifications
• PTC protection for all outputs and power
• TVS protection for all I/O except relay
• Relay that handle 10A
• Implementation
• 70mA hold, 130mA trip PTCs
• 400W TVS, clamp at 7.3V
• 10A relay

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Remote Modules Type 2 Functions
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Remote Modules ZigBee Transceiver

• ZigBee Transceiver Requirement Specifications
• Transmission range of gt 30m
• ZigBee Consumer RF4CE compliant protocol
• ZigBee Transceiver Design
• Transmission range still unknown pending antenna
  development
• Will use Freescales BeeStack Consumer RF4CE
  compliant protocol stack, specifically designed
  for this MCU
• Single port antenna design to minimize components

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Remote Modules ZigBee Transceiver
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Remote Modules PCB

• PCB implementation
• We will generate a layout from our schematic in
  Altium and manufacture our own custom PCBs with
  the following target specs
• 2-4 layer boards
• 3x3 or smaller outside dimensions
• Double sided component placement

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Remote Modules Successes

• Remote Module Successes
• Successfully simulated power supply design
• Successfully tested DACs
• I have experience successfully working with
  Freescale CodeWarrior IDE and HCS08 MCUs (same
  core as MC13213)

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Remote Modules Difficulties

• Remote Module Difficulties
• Due to the size and complexity of the surface
  mount ICs, it is impossible to prototype the
  modules before ordering PCBs
• Wanted to implement MCU controlled light dimmer,
  turned out not to be worth the time, effort, and
  cost
• The current sensor may not have accurate output
  response at low power (lt100W)
• Working with the ZigBee protocol stack is an
  unknown process

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Base Station Hardware
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Design decision - Functionality

• Need a board to be able to run the android
  operating system.
• Has to be able to handle multiple clients
  accessing it at the same time (up to 5).
• Supports serial communication to interact with
  the Zigbee devices on the network

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Design decision - Practicality

• Its a wall mounted unit, so the overall weight
  should be less than 5 pounds
• Dimensions should be less than 50 cm x 50 cm x 10
  cm
• Needs to be powered off a wall outlet
• LCD should be bigger than 2 inches to be
  considered easy to interact with

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Microcontroller

• NXP LPC3250

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NXP LPC3250 Specifications

• Processor ARM926EJ-S core
• Runs at 266 MHz
• Meets the minimum android system requirements of
  200 MHz
• Memory Find data
• Ethernet Connectivity
• Serial Interfaces
• 7xUART, 2xI2C, 2xSPI, 2xSSP, 2xI2S

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Picture

• Need to add dimensions
• 66 x 48 mm
• 3.15-3.3V powering

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QVGA Base Board

• Embedded Artists LPC3250 Base Board
• 240 x 150 mm

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LPC3250 Baseboard specifications

• 3.2 inch QVGA TFT LCD with touch screen panel
• Ethernet connector
• Powering
• Can be USB powered
• 9-15V DC
• Other random ones
• Built in speaker

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Serial Communication

• Main way of transferring data from the base
  station to the network
• Problem native android doesnt support the
  communication over serial ports
• Had a few choices for solving the problem, using
  either C or Unix.

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Serial Communication C vs. Unix
Final Decision C, because we can make use of a
program called JNI which can add C programs as
libraries to a Java program and allows us to
import the serial data directly into Java
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Format for the C code
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Difficulties/Successes

• Difficulties
• Serial communication not native to android
• Dealing with the Zigbee protocol stack formatting
  when reading and processing incoming data
• Finding a way to case and mount the board
• Successes
• Our board contains a bootable version of android
  on it

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Base Station Software
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Specifications and Requirements

• Functional
• Base station must be able to accept up to 5
  simultaneous service request on a first come
  first serve basis
• Multiple request to service the same notification
  must only be serviced once
• Must be able to add/remove/update a row in
  database with 98 reliability
• Security
• All user must have unique login Allowed 5
  unsuccessful attempts before lockout
• Only registered remote client devices may have
  service request fulfilled by the base station
• Notifications
• All notifications must have a unique notification
  ID
• Users shall only receive notifications that they
  are registered to receive

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Design Approach and Implementation

• V-Model
• Proven and well structured
• Allows for redesign
• Android Operation System
• Supports notifications
• Supports secure socket communication
• Database support
• Eclipse IDE w/ Android Development Tools (ADT)
  Plug-in
• Free
• Best support for Android Development

V Model
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Research and Design DecisionsDatabase Management
System (DBMS)

• IBM's DB2 Express-C
• Free
• XML database and relational database server
  system
• Available for Linux (32/64 bit), Windows (32/64
  bit), Solaris (64 bit Intel), and Mac OS X (64
  bit Intel)
• Allows your server to use up to 2 Cores on your
  computer (1 CPU), up to 2 Giga Bytes of RAM,
  places no database size limits, no connection
  limits, and no user limits

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Research and Design DecisionsDatabase Management
System (DBMS)

• SQLite
• Free
• Embedded relational database management system
• Not a standalone process, it is an in-process
  library that implements a self-contained,
  serverless SQL database engine
• Avoids inter-process communication making it
  faster than the more traditional models
• Natively supported by the Android Platform

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Research and Design Decisions Database
Management System (DBMS)

• Why SQLite?
• Extensive native support provided by Android
  platform.
• Will run on Base Station, no need for additional
  hardware
• No need for purchase server space.
• Relatively fast compared to other DBMS

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Software Block Diagram
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Software Block Diagram Background Services

• Fields
• PowerNotif (Bolean)  Field tells whether a
  powered device notification is set up
• SecurityNotif (Bolean)  Field tells whether a
  security device notification is set up
• ControlNotif (Bolean)  Field tells whether a
  control device notification is set up
• ActiveDevices(Device )  Array of active
  devices in the network
• RequestedService (String)  String representation
  of a request
•  
• Methods
• BaseStation ()Constructor to create the GUI
  interface for our system.
• getActiveDevices()  Takes in no parameters.
   Returns all active devices in database.
• addDevice(Device X)  Adds specified device to
  network and database.  No return.
• removeDevice(Device X)   Removed specified
  device from network and database.  No return.
• setNotifications()  Takes no parameters.  Sets
  all initial notifications booleans.  These will
  dictate which notifications will be checked for
  continuously throughout the program.
• pollDevices(ActiveDevices)   Takes in all active
  devices and updates their information in the
  database tables.  Returns nothing.
• socketParser (ByteStream)  Takes in a socket
  byte stream and returns the requested service in
  string format.
• requestService (Device X, RequestService)  This
  method will take in a device and service request
  and will fulfill the said service.  Returns
  nothing.

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Software Block Diagram Devices Class

• Fields
• ID (Int)  Device's ID
• Name (String) Name provided by user for device
• Status (Boolean)  Provides status of device, on
  or off
• Methods
• getID() Takes in no parameters.  Returns an Int,
  the value of the devices ID.
• setID(Int ID)  Takes in an Int and updates ID
  field.  Does not return anything.
• getName()  Takes in no parameters.  Returns a
  String, the value of the devices Name.
• setName(String name)  Take in a String and
  update Name field.  Does not return anything.
• getStatus()  Takes in no parameters.  Returns
  Status of device
• setStatus(Boolean Status)  Takes in a boolean
  and updates Status of device.  Does not return
  anything.

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Software Block Diagram PowerDevice

• Fields
• TotalWatts (Int)  Provides total watts used by
  device
• SetWatts (Int)  Provides user defined limit for
  watt usage
• CurrentTemp (Int)  Provides current temperature
  information
• SetTemp (Int)  Provides user defined limit for
  temperature
• PollTime (Int)  Time the information was polled
• SetTime (Int)  Set time for notification
  purposes
• Timeframe (Int)  Timeframe for power information
  i.e. 7 days or 30 days
• Methods
• PowerDevice()  Constructor to create object.
   Will have generic and specific constructors.
• turnOn()  Takes in no parameters.  Sends message
  to ZigBee device to turn on
• turnOff()  Takes in no parameters.  Sends
  message to ZigBee device to turn on
• getTemp()  Takes no parameters.  Polls ZigBee
  device for temperature.
• setTemp(Int Temp)  Sets ZigBee device with
  provided temperature.  Does not return anything.
• getWatt()  Takes no parameters.  Polls ZigBee
  device for wattage.
• getTimeframe()  Takes in no parameters.  Returns
  the timeframe field.
• setTimeframe(Int Timeframe)  Sets the timeframe
  field.  Does not return anything.

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Software Block Diagram SecurityDevice

• Fields
• PowerNotif (Bolean)  Field tells whether a
  powered device notification is set up
• SecurityNotif (Bolean)  Field tells whether a
  security device notification is set up
• ControlNotif (Bolean)  Field tells whether a
  control device notification is set up
• ActiveDevices(Device )  Array of active
  devices in the network
• RequestedService (String)  Integer
  representation of a request
•  
• Methods
• BaseStation ()Constructor to create the GUI
  interface for our system.
• getActiveDevices()  Takes in no parameters.
   Returns all active devices in database.
• addDevice(Device X)  Adds specified device to
  network and database.  No return.
• removeDevice(Device X)   Removed specified
  device from network and database.  No return.
• setNotifications()  Takes no parameters.  Sets
  all initial notifications booleans.  These will
  dictate which notifications will be checked for
  continuously throughout the program.
• pollDevices(ActiveDevices)   Takes in all active
  devices and updates their information in the
  database tables.  Returns nothing.
• socketParser (ByteStream)  Takes in a socket
  byte stream and returns the requested service in
  string format.
• requestService (Device X, RequestService)  This
  method will take in a device and service request
  and will fulfill the said service.  Returns
  nothing.

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Software Block Diagram ControlDevice

• Fields
• SetTime(Int)   Set time for notification
  purposesMethods
• ControlDevice()  Constructor to create object.
   Will have generic and specific constructors.
• turnOn()  Takes in no parameters.  Sends message
  to ZigBee device to turn on
• turnOff()  Takes in no parameters.  Sends
  message to ZigBee device to turn on

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Database Structure

• The SQLite database will be utilized to store
  information about current users, devices, power
  history, notification history, and notification
  set ups.  Each of these elements will be have
  their own table in our database with their own
  specified fields.  

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Successes and Difficulties

• Current Difficulties
• Need to move background services from threads to
  background activities
• Communication with low level serial ports
• Current Success
• Successfully able to connect TCP Sockets and pass
  information
• Creating the user interface for the base station
  software

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Remote Client Device (RCD)
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Specifications and Requirements

• Reliability
• No crashes
• 90 Notification Rate with connection
• 100 over time
• Usability
• Easy to navigate menus
• Unobtrusive
• Notifications only when needed

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Specifications and Requirements

• Android Phone
• Secure Connection
• Fast notifications
• lt10 sec with a connection
• Data over WiFi or Cell Network

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Research and Design Decisions

• Minimal focus on control
• Notifications based on events
• Untapped market
• Cost savings

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Notifications Packet Structure
Type 1 (Power) Type 2(Power) Type (Power) Type 4 (Temperature) Type 5 (Temperature)
Notification type Notification type Notification Type Notification Type Notification Type
Notification Level Notification Level Notification Level Notification Level Notification Level
Notification ID Notification ID Notification ID Notification ID Notification ID
Button 1 Text Button 1 Text
Button 2 Text Button 2 Text
Button 3 Text Button 3 Text
Current Temp
Current Set Point
Current HVAC Mode
Page Flip Page Flip Page Flip Page Flip Page Flip
Display State with Control Options Display History with Notification Options Display History with Notification Options Display State with Control Options Display History with Notification Options
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Class Structures

• Android
• Notification
• Service

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Class Structures

• aLife
• Menu
• System

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Design Approach and Implementation

• GUI

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Successes and Difficulties

• Tracking of phone IP Address
• Android version of Java

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stuff

• Jake

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Budgeting

• Base Station
• Embedded Artists LPC3250 OEM and QVGA base board
  0.00 (on loan from Advantor Systems)
• Remote Client
• HTC Dream Android smartphone 0.00 (owned by a
  group member)
• Remote Modules per module costs on following
  table

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Budgeting Per Remote Module
Item Type Manufacturer Part Number Cost/1 Multiple
MCU Freescale MC13213R2 0.00
Dual op amps Micron MCP665-E/UN 1.46
Temp Sensor NXP SA56004ED,118 0.85
Relay Tyco PB114006 1.18 2
Terminal Block Tyco 1-284093-0 2.21
DC-DC Converter National LM2841XMK-ADJL 3.90
Transformer Pulse BV030-7136.0 3.36
Current Sensor Allegro ACS709LLFTR-20BB-T 4.46
Instrum Amps On Semi MC33072AD 1.10
Digital Pot ADI AD5241BRZ1M 2.33
Balun Murata LDB212G4005C-001 0.42
Crystal AVX CX3225SB16000E0FPZ25 3.30
Misc 5.00

• Remote Modules
• Freescale MC13213 0.00 (sampled from
  Freescale)

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Budgeting Remote Module Component Costs

• Total per module 30.75
• Additional costs for ZigBee base module
• RS232 transceiver TI SN65C3221EPWR, 2.63
• DB9 connector - Norcomp 171-009-113R911, 3.00
• No terminal block -2.21
• Bare PCBs (6 sq inch) 42.75 each
• Total cost of 4 remote modules 297.42
• Doesnt include manufacturing costs!!

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Budgeting - Summary

• Total budge allowance - 600
• Base Station - 0.00
• Remote Client - 0.00
• Remote Modules - 297.42 (mfr costs)
• Total 297.42 (plus mfr costs)
• Remaining Budget 302.58
• ? Still way under budget!!

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Current Progress
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Immediate plans for success

• Construct the Zigbee interface to the base
  station and start working on the peripheral
  devices
• Finish Zigbee layout and get boards manufactured
• Finish up with the GUI (Remote Client) and start
  working on formatting notifications
• Start setting up user accounts and formatting the
  database
• Work on TCP connection between remote client and
  basestation

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Questions

• Any questions or comments?