Project Advising: Remote Security System
Contents
- 1 Remote Security System
- 2 Abstract
- 3 Acknowledgements
- 4 Introduction
- 5 Background and Related Work
- 6 Due Dates
- 7 Progress
- 8 Abstract
- 9 Team Members and Responsibilities
- 10 Requirements
Remote Security System
Abstract
Traditional security systems are expensive, requiring a costly installation and an exorbitant monthly fee. These costs can be prohibitive to both small business owners and homeowners, who both have limited resources to dedicate to a security system. By replacing wired sensors with user-installable wireless sensors, the cost of a professional installation can be eliminated. By substituting a call center with text alerts and a cross-device web application, monthly fees can be eliminated and security can be placed into the property owner’s hands. The system will be comprised of a wireless base station, low-power wireless motion and door sensors, and a web application. The base station will receive wireless transmissions from the sensors and notify the user of activity via a text alert. The user will also be able to use a web application to view security reports and change settings remotely. The result of this project will be a working prototype of this wireless security system that is expandable.
Acknowledgements
We are deeply indebted to Preetpal Kang for his invaluable comments and assistance in the development of this prototyping project. We’d also like to thank Steven Yu for his advice and feedback in the PCB design process.
Introduction
The project is a wireless home and small-business security system. This section describes the background of the project, and what the expected impact will be.
Problem Statement, Project Motivation, and Needs
The Need for Home Security
There is a strong need for security in home and small-business applications. The FBI reports that burglary is the most common threat to a homeowner. Consider a few facts [1]:
- Over 2.5 million intrusions happen a year, and this is on homes alone
- Only 17% of homes have a security system, even though safety is much improved by having a security system
- Homes without security systems are 3 times more likely to be broken into
- Businesses without security systems are 4.5 times more likely to be burglarized
It is incredible that 83% of the public is without a security system in their home or business, when it considerably enhances the safety of the property and residents.
The Past: Traditional Security Systems
It is no surprise that so many families and businesses are without a security system when looking at the high costs from paying a company to install a traditional security system and receive security alerts. Security systems, by companies such as ADT, start at around $40 a month and often have an installation fee exceeding $300 [2]. This is very costly for homeowners and small businesses who want to maintain low overhead.
The Present: Low-Cost, User-owned Security Systems with Monthly Payments
There is a strong need for lower cost security systems that don’t require paying the exorbitant fees that a big security company charges. Cheaper, reliable alternatives are starting to become available, but even these services have a monthly fee. SimpliSafe is a company that allows the customer to easily purchase and install a wireless security system in their home or business, but there is still a $15/month fee [3].
The Future: Low-Cost, User-owned Security Systems without Monthly Payments
There are very few systems that just require a one-time fee and offer security for free. Systems such as Iris [5] offer a free monthly service, but it is very limited, restricting the security system to only email or text one individual, and restricting mobile access. This is where the remote security system project comes in, putting complete control of security in the customer’s hands and eliminating recurring costs completely.
Project Application and Impact
The wireless remote security system is designed to be a user-installed and user-owned system without a recurring monthly fee. A homeowner or small business owner can purchase the system, install it themselves, and have security in a particular home or business for the life of the hardware. This is accomplished by eliminating the call center, and directly contacting the user with intrusion alerts from the base station through email or text. Whether or not the wireless remote security system is marketed or not, the end product will be a working prototype of a security system that is expandable.
Impact on Traditional Security System Market
Traditional security system owners will only be interested in a cheap security system if they are completely convinced that it will be as reliable as a traditional system. The goal of the project is to make the prototype security system very reliable, although many bigger businesses already have preexisting agreements with security companies and aren’t very willing to try newer, cheaper products. However, small businesses and homeowners which want to save money from their traditional security systems should be interested in this project’s low-cost alternative.
Impact on Emerging Low-Cost Security Systems
Users of new and emerging products such as SimpliSafe are already willing to try alternatives to traditional security systems, and will likely be interested in a similar security system, but without the recurring payments.
Establishing a New Security System Market without Recurring Fees
There are users that may not even have the money for the cheaper emerging security systems. Monthly costs may scare away many customers, so a product with no monthly fees creates a new market of customers who want to make a onetime payment for a security system. This project will establish a market of its own: homeowners and small businesses that are unable to unwilling to pay monthly fees.
Expected Project Results and Deliverables
The result of this project will be a working prototype of a wireless security system that can be remotely controlled. The system will consist of a base station, which hosts a web application for users to configure the system, and multiple wireless sensor nodes to notify the base station about the environment.
The following are the deliverables:
- Base station consisting of a Raspberry Pi and a Nordic wireless module
- Low power wireless node, designed on custom PCB, containing door sensor
- Web application for setting up base station and monitoring security
- Source code for base station, web application, and nodes
- Project report
Background and Related Work
Roadblocks & Problems
- Our Nordic wireless module can run on down to 1.9V and our microcontroller (p37) looks like it can run on down to 2.4V, but our motion sensor says it needs 3V to 6V. Even if the motion sensor can run at down to 2.4V, the discharge curve of the CR123A shows that they may not be good enough for our use case. And not having 3.3V limits what peripherals we can add in the future, like a camera. The battery I was looking at on Sparkfun can probably fit behind our board, but might not work either since the self-discharge rate (< 8%) may be too high. Not sure which battery to use now.
Next Goals
- Make architecture decision of Raspberry Pi vs. SJ One Board for base station.
- Get newest SJ One Board (with Nordic Wireless)
- Start to put together sensor node
- Long term: Begin designing PCB Board
Due Dates
October 4
- Journal 1
September 9
- Finish Abstract draft and present to class
Progress
| Milestone | Progress |
|---|---|
| 1 |
|
| 2 |
|
Abstract
Traditional security systems are expensive, requiring a costly installation and an exorbitant monthly fee. These costs can be prohibitive to both small business owners and homeowners, who both have limited resources to dedicate to a security system. By replacing wired sensors with user-installable wireless sensors, the cost of a professional installation can be eliminated. By substituting a call center with text alerts, a user-accessible web server, and an Android application, monthly fees can be eliminated and security can be placed into the property owner’s hands. The system will be comprised of a wireless base station, low-power wireless motion and door sensors, and a web and Android application. The base station will receive wireless transmissions from the sensors and notify the user of activity via a text alert. The user will also be able to use a web or Android application to view security reports remotely. The result of this project will be a working prototype of this wireless security system that is expandable.
Team Members and Responsibilities
- Caleb Chow
- Sensor node (PCB, enclosure, sensors interface, software) and base station web app
- Warren Ou
- Sensor node (PCB, enclosure, sensors interface, software) and base station web app
- Christopher Pauley
- Base station (Nordic module interface, communication with sensor node, web app)
Requirements
From Preet:
I've added a requirement section for you guys. Here's something to think about:
If you go with LPC1758 based base-station, you will get API to access sensor nodes out-of-the-box, but you'll have to add your own Wify interface to be able to access the system. Using this Wifi interface, you can provide a "command/response" system over TCP/IP and then any mobile application (more than one) can access the base station.
If you go with Raspberry-pi based system, you will have to add nordic wireless SPI interface to access sensor node. But once you do this, everything else will become simpler. You can host your own web-app, so no need to write separate app for android or iphone. Furthermore, you will have more power to be able to send text messages, emails etc easily since it is linux based.
I would probably pick raspberry pi, a bit more difficult to work with initially, but ultimately, more powerful.
Base Station
- Base station shall be able to communicate with each sensor node out-of-the-box
- Base station shall buffer all data from all remote sensor nodes
- Base station shall communicate over TCP/IP to provide access to its interface
Sensor Nodes
- Each sensor node shall operate from a small battery such as CR123
- Each node shall last more than one year on a single battery
- Each sensor node shall wake up periodically and send sensor data
- At minimum, there shall be motion, and door sensor
Mobile Application
- The application shall allow to arm or disarm the security system
- The application shall show events with timestamps when the system was triggered, armed, or disarmed.
