Synopsis for Mini Project and Seminar

Title
Moving/Mobile Alarm Clock

Submitted by

Antriksh Borkar
Govind Chandak
Deepak Chakane

Guide
Prof. S.S. Patil

Year 2014-15

Department of Electronics and TeleCommunication Engineering

Sinhgad Institute of Technology, Lonavala

Date:

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MOBILE ALARM CLOCK

Introduction:

We will implement a prototype for a moving alarm clock which runs away from the user
when they try to silence the alarm. It will have all the features of a regular alarm clock:
settable time and alarm, snooze, and alarm on/off. The alarm clock will displays the time in
24-hour format on a LED seven-segment display. A proximity sensor will be mounted near
the snooze button which will be activated whenever the users finger nears the button,
causing the clock to move away. It is intended to lure the user out of bed when the alarm
sounds. Instead of being able to hit snooze three or four times and sleep in, the user will have
to get up and chase the clock to silence it.

Block Diagram:

High level structure of project

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MOBILE ALARM CLOCK

At a high level, we will split our design into four major subsystems: time calculation and
display, alarm tone generation, motion control and proximity sensing. Throughout our design
process, we will make sure to have concrete interfaces between each of the subsystems such
that we could work on different subsystems concurrently and also debug more easily.

HARDWARE IMPLEMENTATION:
There are four main hardware components to our alarm clock: the inputs to the
microcontroller (buttons, switches, and sensors), the seven-segment display, the motor drive
system, and the alarm tone oscillator.

Tone Oscillator

The hardware circuit used to produce the alarm tone (a 1000 Hz square wave)

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MOBILE ALARM CLOCK

The alarm tone will be generated using a hardware oscillator implemented using the 555
timer IC. The frequency will be set by the two resistors and capacitor, and we will tune it to
roughly 1000 Hz. The chip will not be wired to VCC directly, but to an output pin on the
microcontroller, which is driven high or low to turn on or turn off the oscillator, respectively.
We chose this oscillator because it is stable and produces a reasonably loud alarm tone
through the speaker and is low-power enough to be run directly off the microcontroller. Also,
it does not require a separate audio amplifier circuit to drive the speaker.

Motor Control

The motors used to drive the alarm clock draw too much power (about 0.5 amp) to be
driven directly by the microcontroller. We will use a motor control circuit set up so
that the microcontroller outputs a digital high or low which acts as a switch, turning
on or off the motors. When running, the motors draw their power directly from the 9V
battery supply.
This circuit uses a transistor as a digital switch, and an opto isolator to completely
isolate the microcontroller from the motors power supply. The microcontroller also
gets its power directly from the same battery pack.

Inputs and Sensors:

MCU read its input from the pin connected to the pull-up resistor. It reads high, until
the button is pushed, shorting it to low. We will use an SPDT switch for alarm off/on.
The proximity sensors come in a three-pin package. The three connections are VCC,
ground, and output. At any time, the sensor outputs a digital high or low depending on
whether it senses an object. No debouncing or filtering is necessary on its output,
which will be fed directly into the microcontroller.

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MOBILE ALARM CLOCK

Seven-Segment Display:
The seven-segment display we used was in a 16-pin package.

SOFTWARE DESIGN:

There are three main components to the software design of the alarm clock: generating the
second, minute, and hour time base, responding to input from the sensors and buttons, and
driving the seven-segment display that shows the current time.
Every time the minute changes, the software compares the current time with the time the
alarm is set for. If the two times are equal, and the alarm is set, then it will turn on the alarm
tone.
Another software-based component is continuously driving the seven-segment LED display.
This device has four digits, each with its own decimal point, a colon, and an extra indicator
dot.

Expected Results:

Our design met all the functional requirements of a traditional alarm clock. (One possible
exception: it has no provisions for displaying the time in 12-hour AM/PM format
In terms of sensing movements towards the snooze button and alarm on/off toggle, our design
will be able to respond quick enough such that the user wont feasibly interact with these
inputs without moving. The alarm clock itself may be able to move at a speed of 10 in/s
which is sufficiently fast enough to avoid a sedentary user while remaining slow enough for
an user to actually interact with it.
The alarm tone would be loud enough. One of the expected problem is the battery life.

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MOBILE ALARM CLOCK

Future Work:

There are a number of additional features we would have added if we had more time. The
foremost amongst them is power management
We could also add obstacle detection for the alarm clock to prevent it from crashing and not
being able to move as far.
We can also integrate it with a Carpet Alarm Clock.

Part List and Components:

1. ATMega 1284p MicroController

2. 7 segment display
3. Breadboard
4. Speaker
5. Sensor (UPD)
6. 555 Timer IC
7. Transistor
8. Optoisolator
9. Diodes
10. Batteries
11. Car

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