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Plug-N-Go Christmas
Taylor Melton and Ethan Vogel
Engineering Design and Development
Anderson Career and Technology Center
May 1 !"1#
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A$%T&ACT
The goal o' this pro(ect )as to create a device that could po)er a set o' outlets in such a )ay as to
synchroni*e it to the 1""+* trac, o' a standard analog audio signal- The device )ould have to .e small
enough to .e easily transported and .e a.le to )ithstand enough current to po)er a signi'icant num.er
o' outlets )ithout .eing damaged- The device created meets all o' these criteria as a proo' o' concept-
The device is a.le to po)er seven outlets- Theoretically it is .uilt to po)er eight .ut hard)are
pro.lems have rendered one outlet inopera.le- The device 'ul'ills all o' the speci'ic design criteria .ut
only as a proo' o' concept- /ere commerciali*ation to .e pursued steps )ould have to .e ta,en to
reduce the cost o' production o' the prototypes-
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TA$1E 23 C2NTENT%
Page 14 Title Page
Page !4 A.stract
Page 04 Ta.le 2' Contents
Page #4 5ntroduction
Page 64 $ac,ground
Page 74 Materials
Page 84 Procedures
Page 94 &esults
Page :4 &esults ;continued<
Page 1"4 Conclusion
Page 114 Appendi=
Page 1!4 Appendi= ;continued<
Page 104 Appendi= ;continued<
Page 1#4 Appendi= ;continued<
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5NT&2D>CT52N
The purpose o' this pro(ect )as to create a device )hich could synchroni*e an audio input )ith a series
o' animations resulting in a Christmas light sho) in time )ith an audio output- Through completion o'
this pro(ect the development team learned the steps and s,ill involved in the development phase o' the
product li'ecycle- Additionally the completion o' this pro(ect re?uired electronics and programming
s,ills- %peci'ically the completion o' this pro(ect re?uired use o' .read.oarding microcontroller
programming electrical )iring autocad and circuit design s,ills many o' )hich had to .e learned or
relearned during the course o' the pro(ect-
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$AC@G&2>ND
The idea o' an audiovisual synchroni*er has .een around 'or some time- 5t is not uncommon 'or tech
savvy individuals to create ela.orate light sho)s 'or many occasions )ith custom programs that use
timing to sync the lights to music- These units are usually large and are made )ith homemade parts
)hich )hile not necessarily poor in ?uality are o'ten t)ea,ed individually to account 'or material
inconsistencies and other 'la)s uni?ue to design .y e=perimentation- As such one o' the goals o' this
pro(ect )as to prove that a more uni'orm and streamlined version o' this pro(ect could e=ist- Another
trait common among other solutions is to utili*e impermenant connections )hen attatching )ires to
each other relays and mircocontrollers- There'ore current solutions are costly ;appro=imately A7"
goes into each unit< re?uire speciali*ed ,no)ledge to produce and must .e re.uilt every year- The
purpose o' our prototype is to address these concerns and develop a unit that can .e used )ithout prior
technical ,no)ledge-
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Materials4
Prototype Components:
Tools/Adhesives:
1 Pair o' /ire %nips
1 %oldering 5ron
%older
1 +ot Glue Gun ;any si*e<
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+ot Glue
Electrical Tape
Needle-nose Pliers
Procedures4
/e .egan this pro(ect .y .rainstorming several options 'or this pro(ect- 2nce )e developed a pro.lem
statement )e completed mar,et research to determine i' our pro.lem statement )as an actual pro.lem-
2nce )e determined that the pro(ect had a mar,et )e designed several di''erent options to complete
our o.(ective- A'ter researching these options )e decided on using an Arduino to drive an eight
channel relay )hich )ould turn eight outlets on and o''- /e decided on a 'inal design and .egan the
prototyping portion o' the pro(ect- /e completed the prototype and attempted to pac,age the prototype
into an easy to use container- /e )ere una.le to do this in the time constraint- /e )ere also una.le to
ma,e the device sync to music in the time constraints- /e presented the pro(ect at the %enior %ho)case
on May 10 !"1#-
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&esults4
The prototype does ma,e an audiovisual display possi.le )ithout speci'ic technical ,no)ledge-
/hile the prototype is itsel' made o' semi-permanent connections and some)hat inconsistent
construction techni?ues it serves as a proo' o' concept that a permanent unit could .e .uilt .ecause it
can .e used moved and used again )ithout altering its construction and the methods used serve as a
su.stitutes 'or permanent methods that )ould not .e cost e''ective to use on one unit ;such as ordering
a custom PCP .oard<- The cost o' this prototype )as on par )ith the custom .uilt units )ith )hom it
competes- +o)ever this prototype )as in 'act custom .uilt so this lac, o' a cost discrepancy is logical-
/ith .ul, manu'acturing techni?ues and permanent construction the cost o' and time ta,en .y
construction could each .e reduced .y a signi'icant amount- Mar,et research sho)s that the average
consumer )ould not .e )illing to pay more than A#" 'or a device and it is very possi.le to reduce the
cost o' production to the point )here this price )ould .e managea.le 'or a .usiness- The design is
lac,ing in )aterproo'ing as a result o' its si*e and its nature as a system o' components strung together-
The addition o' this )ould add slightly to the production cost .ut not a.ove to push selling price a.ove
A#"- 5n regards to 'unctionality the prototype )or,s very )ell 'or its intended purpose- Test data o' this
prototype is all ?ualitative .ecause it is impossi.le 'or a ?uanti'ia.le error to occur )ithout the entire
system 'ailing- During the course o' developing our prototype the most common type o' pro.lem to
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occur involved the outlet-relay apparatus- The most poignant e=ample o' this is the incident that
resulted in one o' the relay .oard ports ceasing to 'unction correctly- 5t )as e=tremely di''icult to
ensure that the )ires connecting the pins on the outlets )ere correctly connected and a 'aulty
connection resulted in one o' the ports receiving po)er intended 'or eight- This terminal is no longer
'unctioning correctly-
The produced prototype is in many )ays )as a proo' o' concept- 5t )ould .e improved .y the
use o' mass production techni?ues- >nli,e many pro(ects this )as not thought up to .e used
speci'ically 'or course purposes- /or, )ill continue over the summer )ith the planned addition o' an
op amp and lo) pass 'ilter to the apparatus and the system )ill .e made more compact-
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Conclusion4
The goal o' this pro(ect )as to create a porta.le permenant music synchroni*er and the prototype
produced proves that this is possi.le- The design process )as 'ollo)ed and the design 'or the prototype
)ent smoothly .ut the prototyping process too, 'ar longer than its alloted third o' our time-
3ortunately the prototype once completed )or,ed very )ell and there )as no need 'or a re.uild- The
pro(ect met all o' the pro(ect constraints ;time .udget originality< as )ell as the design constraints-
This pro(ect re?uired programming and )iring s,ills 'or completion and all team mem.ers .ecame
pro'icient in some ne) s,ills such as a ne) programming language as )ell as e=panding upon old
s,ills such as soldering and circuit .uilding- The prototype )or,s )ell .ut is .y no means 'inished-
There are numerous improvements that could and li,ely )ill .e made to it in the 'uture-
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Appendi=4
A4 Gantt Chart4
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$4 $udget %preadsheet4
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C4 Misc- Photographs o' %,etches and a Decision Matri=
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