COVID Symptom System
Overview
For this week's project, our group was tasked with designing and creating a processing unit for a coronavirus early warning home monitoring device for vulnerable populations. This circuit will outputs different combinations of LEDs and alarm based on risk factors: dry cough, increase in temperature and lower than normal levels of oxygen. The circuit consists of a few main components: A logic circuit, a flip flop circuit, a timing circuit, and an alarm circuit.
Logic Circuit
The logic circuit is the first part of the circuit. In this circuit, our group wired our logic system, which we first designed in Circuitlab. The circuit consisted of 1 'not' chip, 1 'or' chip, and 4 'and' chips.
Circuit Lab
To model our logic circuit, and the rest of the circuit modules, we used circuit lab. This model allowed us to be more efficient and organized in our physical modeling. We had two iterations of this logic, and the second version appears to the left.
Flip Flop Circuit
This circuit helps to adjust the amount of responses going into the system. For example, there cannot be 2 responses at the same time ro else the circuit would not work. The flip flop chip helps to prevent this by using a mixture of logic gates to traverse through the problem. It also helps to change its output state depending on a negative or positive transition in the circuit.
Timing Circuit
The timing circuit consits of a 555 chip that has the ability output a clock signal to a flip flop based on the power of the resistor. THe maximum resistor should be 470 ohms, and lower than that would change the timing to be faster.
Speaker Circuit
In this exercise we used a IC 555 chip which allowed us to send a wavelength to a speaker. This speaker will later be used in our final COVID circuit project.
We used concepts we learnt from series and parallel circuits to establish connections between resistors, capacitors, transistors, and the speaker.
Errors We Encountered
During our project, we encountered several challenges that affected the performance of our circuit. One common issue was incorrect component orientation, where we mistakenly placed components like wires, resistors, or capacitors in the circuit with the wrong orientations. This led to circuit malfunctions and no output. Additionally, we faced problems with incorrect wiring, including connecting the wrong pins of components or attaching wires to the wrong nodes. This disrupted the flow of signals and hindered the circuit's intended operation. Another hurdle was an inadequate power supply, which resulted in insufficient or unstable power reaching the components, negatively impacting their performance.
Our Resolution
To overcome the challenges we encountered while wiring the circuits, we took several steps to address the issues. Firstly, we meticulously reviewed the circuit design and component datasheets, ensuring proper component orientation and placement. With careful attention, we double-checked all connections, ensuring they were securely and correctly attached. We diligently traced and resolved any short circuits by meticulously inspecting the wiring and eliminating unintended connections. To verify the correctness of our wiring, we cross-referenced it with the circuit diagram and component pinouts. Any signs of component damage were identified and promptly replaced with new, functional components. We made sure to provide a stable and adequate power supply to the circuit. Finally, we maintained detailed documentation and labeled our connections for future reference and troubleshooting. These steps, combined with our perseverance and attention to detail, allowed us to successfully resolve the problems and achieve proper functionality and performance in our circuits.