Team Name
Design and Conquer
Timeline
Summer 2019 – Fall 2019
Students
- Alex Dedmon
- Arsalan Chandwani
- Jerin Joseph
- Ngoc Pham
Sponsor
UTA CSE department
Abstract
Having a new baby is a life-changing experience for everyone. This event can be the beginning of a dream come true or the beginning of the end. Studies have shown that having a baby may even steeply reduce relationship satisfaction between parents. They tend to become more distant and spend more time on taking care of the baby instead. It is especially crucial in the first few months after the baby is born that adequate time and care is spent with the baby. The most challenging aspect of that period is putting a fussy baby to sleep. Usually if parents are lucky, the baby easily falls asleep. But that is not usually the case, they tend to put up a nasty fight. One traditional method that people have tried in the past to deal with this problem is by putting the baby in a car and driving around until the baby goes to sleep. In 2012, a study in UK says that new parents drive an average of 1,322 miles per year to help the baby fall asleep. After seeing Ford’s concept, Ford Max Motor Dreams, we realize this product is achievable and will solve a real world problem.
Background
Everyone who has been in the same house as a baby knows what a nightmare it is when they can’t go to sleep. Our smart crib project will help ease some of that difficulty that parents can have trying to get their baby to fall asleep. A crib that can simulate a calming car ride to ease the child to sleep can be very useful to any parent. The business case for this project is to create an effective and affordable smart crib for parents so that their baby can have a calm and restful sleep. While there are other smart cribs on the market, they are very pricey and do not simulate a car ride. In fact, there are currently no products on the market that simulate a car ride to lull a baby to sleep. This is a need in the market because there are many parents who would be able to use this especially at an affordable price point. Currently cribs function as normal beds for babies. There are some organizations that make sure these cribs meet certain standards, the Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association (JPMA) is one of those organizations. However, most cribs do not have advanced features that would be beneficial to both the child and guardian. In a software and technology driven society most aspects of our lives are enhanced and improved including our health. When it comes to the health of a baby, sleep is an imperative part of making sure that the baby is happy and healthy. Therefore, it is important for us to create a product that can use technology to create a product that will help babies fall and stay asleep. Our current sponsor/customer is Shawn Gieser who is our professor. This is a project that has real world use and application and therefore a project that we want to work on. Many parents have found that when at home they have a hard time getting their child to sleep, but when they are in car ride, they fall asleep easily. It is theorized that the reason some babies can fall asleep easier during car rides is because of the rocking motion of the car mixed with the sound of the vehicle. Our project is to try to bring this sensation of driving to the crib in a home by simulating car movements so that the baby gets the same level of comfort without having to ride in a car. This is a product that would be very useful for new parents who want the perfect crib for their child.
Project Requirements
List highest priority requirements here (top 10)
- Be able to withstand up to 15lbs
- Be able to mimic street lights via LED
- Bed must be able to move up and down
- Bed must offer some vibration/motion
- Everything must be controlled via Raspberry Pi
- Must have a easy UI
- Must offer some audio/visual feedback
- Must comply with CPSC laws
- Audio/Visual/Tactile functions integrated via Raspberry Pi/UI
- Bed will be a comfortable enough for a baby to lay in
System Overview
Overall, this system will run on several different layers and interfaces. In the input layer, the user interface which is the LCD touch screen, Raspberry Pi and the crib goes there. These interfaces connect to the interface in the control layer. The control system is where the Raspberry Pi and the Nano Controller, GUI, and storage are and this connects with the interface of the output layer. The output layer has the lights, sounds, and the motion. The Control layer is connected to each of these interfaces that control the sound, light and the motion. The raspberry Pi interface is what controls the sound system, while the Nano controls the Light and the motion interfaces. The sounds interface is connected to the amplifier which is connected to the speaker. The light interface is connected to the LED lights. The motion interface is connected to the vibration motor and the servo motor.
Results
Results text and demo videos go here
Future Work
Creation of mobile application to record car ride data to be used with crib, as well as wireless control of crib features. Ability to upload custom car rides for movement of the crib. Addition of waterproof bedding.
Project Files
Project Charter (link)
System Requirements Specification (link)
Architectural Design Specification (link)
Detailed Design Specification (link)
Poster (link)
References
Any references go here, properly formatted
