The proposed project consists of the design, code development and hardware implementation of a microcontroller-based laboratory environment monitoring and robot safety cage control system. The embedded system uses an 8-bit AVR RISC-based microcontroller to process input from two independent subsystems: an environmental sensor suite to include light level, temperature and humidity, and infrared presence sensing devices to determine if individuals are within the footprint of the robot safety cage. In response to the input collected from the subsystems via a TTL logic bus, the controller will display parameters to a local OLED display, arm/disarm the power supply of the robot system in the safety cage and send alerts via GSM text messages to designated cellular phones (lab manager, NKU maintenance, NKU security) when preconfigured parameters are exceeded. Additionally, a text-parsing algorithm will allow remote arm/disarm commands, system status updates and inquires of current environmental data to be sent via GSM from authorized cellular phones without the need for a separate application. The system will also be constructed using a modular hardware and software schema allowing for the provided functionality to be easily reconfigured to support other scenarios of use. An example would be the replacement of the presence sensors with input from an anemometer and rain sensor allowing the system to serve as a remote weather station that would send text alerts if a wind gust exceeded a set value or an hourly transmission of current conditions. By replacing the 120-volt AC power supply with a solar array and rechargeable battery, the system could be placed in a remote area and, due to the use of global GSM, maintain all functionality without the need for any external connections.
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