Rooms in any household or laboratory have certain functions associated with\ud
them. When someone enters a room, a specific purpose is carried out in that setting.\ud
The goal of the project is to plan and carry out experiments that determine when\ud
someone is using a laboratory in Hicks, based on the functionality of the room. The\ud
experiment will focus on attempting to successfully detect usage of certain\ud
components of the room using inexpensive, energy saving sensors.\ud
The main principle being investigated is sensor fusion, the application of a\ud
number of different sensor networks implemented into one system. By using an\ud
infra-red motion detector array, a pressure network, a computer login capture\ud
program, and a head counter, digital outputs from these networks were fed into an\ud
Altera board programmed with VHDL that controlled the room settings. Most of the\ud
equipment necessary for testing and implementation of the experiment were available\ud
in Hicks laboratories.\ud
The room was successfully set up with the sensor networks and digital output\ud
was acquired, which in turn was used to turn on and off appliances in the room. The\ud
computer login capture program worked with the Linux operating system but could\ud
be extended to work with Windows machines. Future plans include implementing\ud
security features and a wireless system that would allow for more flexibility and a\ud
more aesthetically pleasing setup
