Wireless Elevator Remote Control

Patrick Goh Hamed Asghari ECE 445

I. Introduction Title: Wireless Elevator Remote Control There are currently several buildings on campus in which the elevators are not wheelchair friendly. The Elevator Shop put forth this idea of a transmitter-receiver system that would enable the people in wheelchairs to easily call the elevators using a remote control. Objectives: The goal of our project is to enable elevators to be controlled from a distance without using the elevator control panels. Once completed, we hope to use this device as an aid for people in wheelchairs. One of the main components of the device will be a remote control which should be small enough to be mounted on wheelchairs. It will contain all the necessary functions to control an elevator. Jeff Miller, an Elevator Mechanic Foreman at the University of Illinois, has suggested using small joystick controllers and to limit the functions to the bare necessities of people in wheelchairs to avoid overcrowding the controller. Thus, the controller would be designed to accommodate the three main elevator functions namely the elevator call function, a floor selector and a door open function. Our main goal would be to get a working device and after that, we will be meeting with Brad Hedrick, Director of the Division of Disability Resources and Education Resources (DRES) to discuss the various ways to make our device more convenient to people in wheelchairs. Benefits: Making elevators more wheelchair-friendly. Ability to call the elevator from a distance. Easy to be installed on elevators. No main alteration to the elevator system. Features: User-friendly controllers. Small and compact controllers. Includes all the necessary functions to control an elevator. Clear and bright seven-segment display for floor selection.

II. Design Block Diagram:

Block Descriptions: a) Transmitter System: The transmitter system will consist of a power supply, joystick controllers, a 7-segment display and a transmitter. It will be small enough such that it can be mounted on a wheelchair and will be responsible in obtaining inputs from the user and transmitting the signals to the receiver system. i. Power Supply: The power supply will drive all the circuits in the transmitter system namely the joystick controller, the 7segment display and the transmitter. The power supply will consist of a 5V battery and an on-off switch.

ii. Joystick Controllers: The joystick controllers will be the main form of obtaining inputs from the user. There will be three joysticks, one to toggle up and down among the available floors, one to confirm the selection and one dedicated to opening the elevator car door for safety reasons. These controllers will send appropriate signals to the 7-segment display and the transmitter. iii. 7-Segment Display: The 7-segment display will obtain the input from the joystick controllers and display the appropriate floor number to the user. iv. Transmitter: The transmitter circuit will obtain the input from the joystick controllers and send packets of signals through a build in antenna. It will be designed to utilize the UHF band. b) Receiver System: The receiver system will consist of a receiver and the elevator process controller. It will be responsible in detecting signals from the transmitter system and processing these signals. It will then communicate with the elevator and produce the appropriate results as desired by the user. i. Receiver: The receiver circuit will detect packets of signals from the transmitter and filter out all other unwanted noise. It will then relay this signal to the elevator process controller for processing. The receiver will be powered by power from the elevator system through a transformer. ii. Elevator Process Controller: The elevator process controller will process the signals received by the transmitter. It will consist of several switches that will be wired parallel to the elevator control system. When the appropriate signal is received, the corresponding switch will be closed, producing the same results as if a button is pressed on the elevator controller. The elevator process controller will be powered by power from the elevator system through a transformer. Performance Requirement: i. Transmission range of at least 100 feet. The device must still work when the transmitter is furthest away from the receiver, i.e. when the transmitter is on the top floor while the receiver is in the basement.

ii. Transmitter system must be no larger than 3 by 5. Transmitter system must be small enough to be mounted on a wheelchair. iii. Apart from the parallel wiring between the elevator process controller and the elevator control system, no other alterations must be made to the elevator system. Altering the elevator system causes too many elevator code issues which requires approval that may not be granted in a timely fashion. III. Verification a) Testing Procedures i. Seven Segment Display and Joystick Controller These two parts will be tested in conjunction with each other. We will be using a four-direction joystick controller which will be connected to the Seven Segment Display. Moving the joystick up and down will increment and decrement the count on the Seven Segment Display, respectively. Since there are no specific performance requirements for these 2 parts, it is easy to determine whether the devices pass or fail the test. ii. Transmitter and Receiver These two parts will also have to be tested in conjunction with each other in order to ensure full functionality. Since the receiver will be installed in the control box of the elevator, we need to make sure that the transmission range of the system is sufficient to cover the farthest distance (basement to highest floor) in the building. The best method to test the transmission range would be to measure the signal to noise ratio at the farthest distance. The SNR range from 20 % to 30 % will be labeled acceptable. b) Tolerance Analysis The only tolerance that can be tested in this project is the distance between the transmitter and receiver. If the transmission range cannot exceed for example 20 ft, then our system will be useless. The environment the in which the testing procedure is conducted will affect the transmission range. Separating the receiver and transmitter with a certain distance in an open area like a football field and measuring the SNR is the lowest extreme. As for the highest extreme,

the transmitter and receiver will have to be separated by obstacles with similar material as the ones found in the building where our device will be installed. IV. Cost and Schedule Cost Analysis: Labor: Hamed Patrick Labor Total Parts: Part Name UHF Transmitter UHF Receiver Joystick Battery PIC Transformer Passive Components Parts Total Grand Total Quantity 1 1 3 2 1 1 <10 Estimated Unit Price $10 $10 $7 $5 $5 $6 $0.3 Total Price $10 $10 $21 $10 $5 $6 $3 $65 $20,065 : : ($50/hour)(2.5)(80 hours) ($50/hour)(2.5)(80 hours) $10,000 $10,000 $20,000

Schedule: Week Task Meeting with Dan Mast & Jeff Miller 1/29 Gathering background information on UHF communications. Gathering background information on elevator operations. Person in Charge Hamed Patrick

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Outline Introduction & Design of proposal. Outline Verifications & Costs and Schedule of proposal. Proposal Meeting with Brad Hedrick Order parts

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Design process Design transmitter & receiver circuit Design user input interface & elevator process controller Design Review Tweak and debug designs. Constructing circuits Build transmitter & receiver circuit Build user input interface & elevator process controller Testing and debugging Transmitter & receiver circuit User input interface & elevator process controller Combining parts and testing the complete circuit Spring Break Mock-up Demos Meeting with Jeff Miller to discuss attaching circuit to elevator Attaching circuit to elevator Testing & Debugging completed product Demo & Presentation Final Report

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