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Firefighter Temperature Monitoring System. With Mask Integrated Display Kurt Powell Ryan Hammond Brandon Yusinski. Reasons for Temperature Monitoring System. Firefighters periodically find themselves in environments where the temperature is beyond the threshold of their gear
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Firefighter Temperature Monitoring System With Mask Integrated Display Kurt Powell Ryan Hammond Brandon Yusinski
Reasons for Temperature Monitoring System • Firefighters periodically find themselves in environments where the temperature is beyond the threshold of their gear • The weak points of the firefighter’s system are the mask and respirator • Damage to the mask usually results in bubbling of the plastic or scorching, which blinds the firefighter and endangers their life
Project Goal • Design a system that would provide an indication to the wearer that would inform him/her of the level of danger in their environment • Design Parameters • Power should last at least as long the oxygen supply of the user’s Self Contained Breathing Apparatus(SCBA) • Read and display temperatures up to 450°F • Small enough not to add additional bulk or weight to the user
Design • Integrate four RTD temperature sensors into the mask/respirator portion of the firefighter protective gear • Using a micro-controller, interpret the signals provided from the sensors • Light six progress LEDs in the visor relative to the exterior temperature • Use a 9 volt battery to power the entire system
LED Configuration • Monitors the weakest portion of the firefighter’s protective gear • Easy visibility
Resistance Temperature Detector(RTD) • Honeywell HEL-700 RTD • Thin-filmed platinum design encased in ceramic • -200ᵒC to +260ᵒC, or -320ᵒF to +500ᵒF • Linear temperature vs. resistance
Microcontroller • Parallax Basic Stamp 2 • 16 I/O pins • Powered by 5 VDC • 3 mA current draw • 20 mA source current per I/O pin • 40 mA source current per 8 I/O pins • Operating temperature range of -40°F to 185°F
Sample Program Used during testing of the RC circuit. The logic in ordering the sensors was commented out while the Rctime function was tuned to illuminate the display.
LED Warning and Power Up • In temperatures in excess of 450°F, all six LEDs will flash and the speaker will issue an audible warning in order to alert the user of imminent danger to the fire protection system. • Power On will be identified by a flashing the LEDs in sequence and sounding the speaker and then will stay off
Low Battery Warning • LTC 1440 Ultra-low power Comparator • Utilizes a 1.18 Zener Diode reference voltage • Draws 4 micro-amps
Power Budget • Maximum current drawn with all six temperature LED’s and low battery LED lit is 46.6 mA • Maximum power dissipated is .323 watts • Battery life from a 500 mAh 9 volt battery is 10.73 hours
Future Possibilities • Encase the system in a housing that can withstand the extreme environment and still fit under a fire protection suit • Relatively easy to expand the system for other sensing operation (SCBA oxygen levels, carbon monoxide detection, etc…) • Test a finished prototype in real life environment