SafeBABI

{{#evp:youtube|l7FEpDe9lBw|The safeBABI|right}}

The safeBABI (Safe Baby Alert Broadcast Interface) is a product that attaches to a car seat and interfaces with the Texas Instruments eZ430 Chronos watch through a Texas Instruments CC1110 wireless interface. The eZ430 watch sounds an alarm when the watch goes outside the range of the wireless device and a child is left in the car seat.

Our inspiration for this design came from the numerous news reports (like this one) highlighting the danger of leaving a child in a vehicle. Hyperthermia (heat stroke) is the third leading cause fatalities involving children [1]. According to one study [2],

• 27 children have died so far in 2010 due to hyperthermia from being left in hot vehicles
• 17 of these deaths occurred during June and July
• 472 children have died since 1998 due to hyperthermia from being left in hot vehicles
• It only takes 10 minutes for a car's interior temperature to increase 19 deg F

Tragedies like these can be prevented through the use of the safeBABI. By simply wearing the eZ430 Chronos watch and using the safeBABI car seat attachment, you could save your child's life.

With over 4 million children born in the US and approximately 130 million children born worldwide each year, this product has the potential to enter into both the domestic and foreign markets.

Designers

• Daniel Ogilvie

• Peggy Liska

• Michael Sherman

If you have any questions please email us at safeBABI@gmail.com

Features

• TI CC1110 Mini Wireless Development Kit
• TI MSP430 Chronos watch
• Wireless range of ~10 meters
• Watch screen displays 'baby' and sounds an alarm if a baby is left in the seat

Theory of Operation

A CC1110 wireless device on the car seat periodically transmits a signal to the eZ430 Chronos watch indicating if a child is in the seat. In order to detect whether a child is in the seat, a momentary switch under the seat is connected to the master switch connection of the wireless device. As soon as the eZ430 Chronos watch senses that the seat is no longer in range, due to the lack of message transmissions from the CC1110, it references the last message received from the wireless device and sounds an alarm if the seat was occupied during the last message transmission.

The block diagram below highlights the major system components of the safeBABI.

The flow chart below explains the logic behind the safeBABI system.

Pictures & Videos

Working Demo Video

{{#evp:youtube|StfcZHzh8AI|An uncut video showing the full operation of the safeBABI|left}}

Project Pictures

• 

  Car Seat with modified CC1110

• 

  Close up of Car Seat

• 

  Button under Car Seat

• 

  eZ430 with 'baby' Message

• 

  safeBABI Prototype with TIer Cathy Wicks

• 

  safeBABI Designers

• 

  safeBABI Logo

• 

  safeBABI Designers with Sponsor Anthony Vaughan

Usage Instructions

In order to replicate this design, you will need:

1 - TI eZ430 Chronos 915MHz

1 - TI CC1110 Mini Wireless Development Kit 868-915MHz

1 - Push Button Switch

Additionally, the following steps must be followed:

1) Program the eZ430 watch CC1110 evaluation boards with the eZ430 code located in the #Source Code section below

2) Program one of the CC1110 evaluation boards with the CC1110 code located in the #Source Code section below

3) Desolder the Master switch on the CC1110 evaluation board

4) Solder the Push Button Switch in place of the Master switch

To operate the system:

1) Press the '#' button on the eZ430 Chronos watch until the word 'baby' is displayed on the bottom half of the screen.

2) Press the Down arrow on the watch to initiate a connection with the car seat.

3) Turn on the CC1110 Mini Dev Kit attached to the car seat.

4) When the two devices connect, the watch will display 'seat found'.

5) Once connected, the watch will now display whether the child is 'in' or 'out' of the seat.

6) As soon as the watch goes out of range of the wireless development kit (~10 meters), it will sound the alarm if the last message received was the 'in' message.

Source Code

The source code used for this project is included below:

eZ430 Source Code

Click to download

CC1110 Source Code

Click to download