Extinguish

Abstract

Savannah Stone and Michael Sanborn Project Abstract Fireman’s Glove

The Fireman’s Glove is a device that allows for the wearer to read the temperature of a door by its handle. It can then communicate this information to both the wearer and to someone off site, allowing firefighters to effectively fight fires and detect which threats within a building are the most pressing without having to confront each individual flame. Multiple gloves can also be paired in order to get more data points and compile more crucial information about a structural fire. For the sensors, the Fireman’s Glove will incorporate a temperature sensor in addition to a smoke detector, allowing firefighters to also detect smoke if it is not immediately visible within a room.

Password for video is ESE111 https://vimeo.com/303173311

Final Video Presentation https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=edkEn1phNYI&feature=youtu.be

What It Does

Extinguish helps firefighters to be more aware of their surroundings so they can fight fires more efficiently and safely. It is able to read the temperature of the room and then display this temperature on an LCD display. This allows for firemen to use this information while on duty. For instance, it can take either the temperature of the room itself or that of a specific surface all through touch, while protecting the hands of the firefighter. The attached light also turns on when a room is too dark, allowing for the firefighter to see.

How We Made It

The first component on the glove is the temperature sensor. The temperature sensor takes the temperature and sends the data from the master bluetooth to the slave bluetooth. In order to do this, we used arduino to send each character of the temperature to the slave bluetooth. Then we built the string using the characters on the slave arduino code. This temperature was then displayed on the lcd screen attached to the slave module.

The second component was an led hooked up the the circuit that would turn on when the room was too dark. We used a photoresistor that sent voltage to the arduino. If the voltage crossed a certain threshold, then the light would turn on. Hypothetically this small led would be replaced with a legitimate flashlight that would allow firefighters to see in the dark environment.

Challenges

We first attempted to send the temperature on the sensor as a string to the bluetooth; however, doing so would result in an incorrect number on the display. We had to send each individual character and then build a string on the receiving blue tooth. We also had to pair our bluetooths as they were previously unpaired. With the help of the TAs we were able to get both of them working properly. We also originally planned on using a gas sensor, but we did not have all the components for the gas sensor in order to use it. The temperature sensor is also not very accurate or effective and has a hard time reading slight changes in temperature. We would want to use a sensor more tailored to our purposes for the future design.

What We Learned

We learned more about how bluetooths work as well as how to send data to each using arduino. We also learned how to use an lcd monitor, something we previously had not working with before. We also learned how to adapt in suboptimal situations such as when we didn't receive all the necessary parts of the gas sensor, so we had to brainstorm what other sensors could be useful to a firefighter, thus the flashlight idea was born.

What's Next?

We would like to add the gas sensor as we think that would be useful to on duty firefighters so they can see which rooms have smoke and trace the source of the fire. We also would like to replace the LED with a flashlight. We also would like to send all data taken by the glove to an outside source so they can create a map for firemen using temperature and smoke data. This way firefighters will be able to take the safest route in the fire and will know which parts of a structure may be in danger of collapse due to the high temperature.