Citation

Boodram P, Brown TR, McNeilly RA, Mohammed M, Mahesh R, Attarzadeh F. Comput. Edu. J. 2006; 16(4): 68-75.

Affiliation

Department of Engineering Technology, University of Houston

Copyright

(Copyright © 2006, American Society for Engineering Education, Computers in Education Division)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

This paper considers the design of a safety alarm system called High Temperature Automobile Protection System (HiTAPS) for ensuring the safety of children and pets locked in a parked automobile during extreme temperatures. The HiTAPS circuit consists of a Mini-Max/51C-2 microcontroller board manufactured by BiPOM Electronics along with pressure and motion sensors for detecting the presence of children and pets inside the automobile. Whenever the microcontroller detects that the temperature inside the automobile reaches extreme values, in this case above 100 degrees F, and either a child or pet is detected to be present in the automobile, it activates the Radio Frequency (RF) transmitter unit that sends a signal to the owner of the automobile via their handheld receiver. If there is no response within two minutes, the windows are automatically lowered and an alarm is turned ON to alert others present in the area. HiTAPS project developed as part of the senior project course where a team of four students under the supervision of a faculty mentor and three graduate assistants.

Language: en