project number: 696129 project acronym: greensoul project ... · weiz 4 ecolution 5 deusto 5...
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Disemination Level: PU D3.5 Desing documento of GreenSoul-ed Things 1
Project Number: 696129
Project Acronym: GreenSoul
Project full title: Eco-aware Persuasive Networked Data Devices for User
Engagement in Energy Efficiency
Call: H2020-EE-2015-2-RIA
Deliverable number: D3.5
Title of the deliverable: Design document for GreenSoul-ed things (v1)
Contractual Date of Delivery to the EC: 30/04/2017 Actual Date of Delivery to the EC: 05/03/2018 Organisation name of lead contractor for this deliverable:
DEUSTO
Author(s): Diego Casado-Mansilla, Jonathan Ruiz de Garibay, Iván Barquero, Alexandros Zerzelidis and Stelios Krinidis
Participants(s): DEUSTO, CERTH, WSC and 4ER Work package contributing to the deliverable:
WP2 – Eco-aware and energy monitoring devices and GreenSoul platform
Nature: Report Version: 1.2 Total number of pages: 76 Start date of project: 01.04.2016 Duration: 36 Months
Dissemination Level
PU Public X
PP Restricted to other programme participants (including the Commission Services)
RE Restricted to a group specified by the consortium (including the Commission Services)
CO Confidential, only for members of the consortium (including the Commission Services)
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This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and
innovation programme under grant agreement No 696129.
The information and views set out in this deliverable are those of the authors and do not
necessarily reflect the official opinion of the European Union. Neither the European Union
institutions and bodies nor any person acting on their behalf may be held responsible for the
use which may be made of the information contained therein.
Disemination Level: PU D3.5 Desing documento of GreenSoul-ed Things 3
Abstract
The overall goal of this Deliverable is to select a set of everyday objects from the pilots’ sites
and instrument them with persuasive interfaces, local intelligence and remote actuations
mechanisms. Thus, they will fulfil a two-fold purpose: (a) users will get feedback and cues
that help them understanding and learning how to better interact with them in an energy-
wise sense and (b) devices will help in their environment’s global energy saving objectives by
autonomously or upon request adaptation of their operation, e.g. switching themselves off.
To this end, we will design and implement pluggable embedded devices, namely Smart
Adaptors, which can be integrated with and adapted to different electric equipment. Those
latter capabilities will be exported through an open RESTful API which will be orchestrated
by a given installation controlling platform (see T3.4 [4]).
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Changes History
VERSION DATE DESCRIPTION
V0.1 22/09/2017 DEUSTO - TOC
V0.2 10/10/2017 DEUSTO – Contribution to Smart plug and Interactive
Coaster
V0.3 13/10/2017 CERTH – Contribution to Light dimmer
V0.4 17/10/2017 DEUSTO – Merging and accommodation of all
contributions
V0.5 24/10/2017 CERTH – Minor changes
V0.6 30/10/2017 DEUSTO – Some pictures added and final text provided
V0.7 31/10/2017 DEUSTO – rework the document and fixing format.
Abstract, introduction and executive summary added.
Conclusions added.
V1.0 1/11/2017 DEUSTO – Final review, integration and finalization of the
Deliverable
V1.1 15/02/2018 DEUSTO – Adapt the document to the requirements
provided by the reviewers during the 1st Project review.
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Changes addressed according to reviewer’s feedback
Reviewers’ comments
Pages where
changes are
addressed
Summary of changes
Section 2 of the report is not
satisfactory. 15-56
The whole Section has been updated
with more information about the
rationale behind the design of the IC
and more justification related to the
implementation of the SP
The rationale for the design of
the smart coaster is not
adequately explained.
15-23
The state of the art of previous
ambient persuasive devices has been
provided in order to easy the
understanding of the decisions
adopted in the IC (2.1.1.1). The whole
Section of “Design process” has been
upgraded with more information to
facilitate the comprehension of the
rationale behind the IC (2.1.1)
The features of the Interactive
Coaster need to be described in
more detail.
21-23
We have added a whole Section to
cover the different features of the IC
before the month 18th of the project
(2.1.1.5)
How these features correspond
to the selected persuasion
strategies needs a more detailed
explanation.
40-46
Section 2.5.1 cover all the aspect
related to the mapping among IC
features, persuasive principles and
user profiles. Diagrams are provided to
easy the comprehension.
A rationale for why smart plugs
already available on the market
couldn’t be used needs to be
added.
27-29
The state of the art of the different off-
the-self Smart Power Strips is provided.
Furthermore, the justification for
devising and implementing a GS smart
power strip is addressed in relation to
the gaps that market product have in
relation to the project needs.
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Executive Summary
The aim of WP 3 is to prepare the technical infrastructure of the project. It will give place to
the technological components that will comprise the GreenSoul platform. The relation of the
WP with this deliverable is the creation of the Smart Adaptor component. It will transform
standard appliances into more energy consumption sensitive devices. Indeed, the main
objective of this deliverable in relation to its WP is to create persuasive Internet-connected
objects which incentivize users’ energy consumption behaviour change. DEUSTO and CERTH
are the partners that contribute to the project with new devised hardware pieces that will
explore their inclusion in the workplace environments. Therefore, this deliverable explains
the methodology of creating the initial ideas of the GreenSoul-ed things and how these have
been conceptualized into reality by creating the first prototypes tested in the partners’
laboratories. We envisage deploying several units of the GS-ed Things across the different
pilot buildings according to the following distribution (Table 1)
Table 1. Number of GreenSoul-ed Thing envisaged to be deployed in pilot sites
Pilot Number of GreenSoul-ed things
Pilea 3
WEIZ 4
ECOLUTION 5
DEUSTO 5
Seville 5
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Acronyms
Abbreviation Definition
AP Access Point
GS GreenSoul
IC Interactive Coaster
SP Smart Plug
DSS Decision Support System
BT Bluetooth
PCB Printed Circuit Board
IoT Internet of Things
MQTT Message Queue Telemetry Transport
REST Representational state transfer
CoAP Constrained Application Protocol
Li-Po lithium polymer battery
WWW World Wide Web
UX User Experience
IxD Interaction Design
LCD Liquid Crystal Display
PID Proportional Integral Derivative
HID Human Interface Device
AC/DC Alternating Current to Direct Current
MCU Microcontroller Unit
AC Alternating Current
DC Direct Current
UART Universal Asynchronous Receiver Transmitter
I2C Inter-Integrated Circuit
PWM Pulse Width Modulation
IGBT Insulated-gate bipolar transistor
SP3T Single Pole Three Throw
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Contents
Abstract ..................................................................................................................................3
Changes History ......................................................................................................................4
Changes addressed according to reviewer’s feedback ............................................................5
Executive Summary ................................................................................................................6
Acronyms ...............................................................................................................................7
1 Introduction ..................................................................................................................13
1.1 GreenSoul-ed Things definition ..............................................................................13
1.2 Devices Proposals ...................................................................................................14
1.2.1 DEUSTO’s GreenSoul-ed Thing.........................................................................14
1.2.2 CERTH’s GreenSoul-ed Thing ...........................................................................15
2 DEUSTO’s GreenSoul-ed Thing .......................................................................................16
2.1 Description .............................................................................................................16
2.1.1 Design process ................................................................................................16
2.2 Project planning .....................................................................................................25
2.3 Architecture ...........................................................................................................26
2.3.1 Communications Protocol and data provided ..................................................27
2.3.2 Communication between Smart Plug and Interactive Coaster .........................28
2.4 Smart Plug ..............................................................................................................28
2.4.1 State of the art of smart plugs .........................................................................28
2.4.2 General Description of the SP ..........................................................................30
2.4.3 Smart Plug v1.0 ...............................................................................................31
2.4.4 Smart Plug v2.0 ...............................................................................................38
2.4.5 Future Steps ....................................................................................................41
2.5 Interactive Coaster .................................................................................................42
2.5.1 Interaction Design, Persuasive strategies and Experimental procedure ...........42
2.5.2 Interactive Coaster v1.0...................................................................................44
2.5.3 Interactive Coaster v2.0...................................................................................48
3 CERTH’s GreenSoul-ed Thing .........................................................................................59
3.1 Device capabilities ..................................................................................................59
3.2 User interaction with the device .............................................................................59
3.3 Architecture ...........................................................................................................61
3.3.1 Human Interface Device (HID) .........................................................................61
3.3.2 Alternating to Direct Current Converter (AC/DC Converter).............................62
3.3.3 Wireless (Wi-Fi) / Microcontroller Unit (MCU) .................................................62
3.3.4 Digital Ambient Light Sensor (Lux meter) .........................................................63
3.3.5 AC Phase Cut Dimmer Controller .....................................................................63
3.4 Modules .................................................................................................................64
3.4.1 LCD Display......................................................................................................64
3.4.2 AC/DC Converter .............................................................................................64
3.4.3 Microcontroller integrated with Wi-Fi (MCU / Wi-Fi) .......................................65
3.4.4 Digital Ambient Light Sensor (Lux meter) .........................................................65
3.4.5 AC Phase Cut Dimmer Controller .....................................................................66
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3.5 PCB Design .............................................................................................................67
3.5.1 Top layer .........................................................................................................67
3.5.2 Bottom layer ...................................................................................................68
3.5.3 Device 3D Model .............................................................................................68
4 Future Steps ..................................................................................................................70
4.1 DEUSTO’s GreenSoul-ed Thing ................................................................................70
4.2 CERTH’s GreenSoul-ed Thing ..................................................................................70
5 Conclusions ...................................................................................................................71
List of References .................................................................................................................72
External Reviewer #1 ........................................................................................................74
External Reviewer #2 ........................................................................................................75
External Reviewer #3 ........................................................................................................75
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List of Figures
Figure 1. GreenSoul-ed things within the project IoT Architecture ........................................13
Figure 2. Impact on energy saved and awareness gained across different scales/levels:
Individual vs. group vs. collective ..........................................................................................15
Figure 3. Different physical devices and ambient interfaces to aware employees about
energy or resources wastage. ...............................................................................................18
Figure 4. The ideas extracted from the first ideation session. ...............................................19
Figure 5. The extracted ideas applied to four design strategies. ............................................20
Figure 6. First Sketches of the design ideas for the GreenSoul-ed Things ..............................21
Figure 7. The Interactive coaster (top) and the Smart Plug (bottom) ....................................22
Figure 8. Original tree's rings ................................................................................................22
Figure 9. 3D models for Interactive Coaster (left) and Smart Plug (right) ..............................23
Figure 10. Main features of the IC.........................................................................................24
Figure 11. Diagram of the relations and the architecture of GreenSoul-ed Things ................26
Figure 12. Simplified GreenSoul’ed Things architecture ........................................................27
Figure 13. Device agents controlling the different GS devices that can be monitored ..........27
Figure 14. SP v1.0 Architecture .............................................................................................32
Figure 15. Dupont connectors ..............................................................................................32
Figure 16. SP V1.0 Electronic schematics ..............................................................................33
Figure 17. SP v1.0 Prototype .................................................................................................33
Figure 18. Current sensor electrical schematics ....................................................................34
Figure 19. SP v2.0 Architecture .............................................................................................38
Figure 20. SP v2.0 Prototype .................................................................................................39
Figure 21. SP v2.0 Electronic layout ......................................................................................39
Figure 22. SP v2.0 Electronic schematics ...............................................................................40
Figure 23. Display lighting system prototype ........................................................................40
Figure 24. The relation between persuasive strategies and design features of the IC ............44
Figure 25. IC module design ..................................................................................................45
Figure 26. IC v1.0 implementation ........................................................................................46
Figure 27. IC v1.0 remote controller developed in Processing language ................................46
Figure 28. A picture of the IC (a) and screenshots from the video recorded at the user testing
session (b, c, d). ....................................................................................................................48
Figure 29. Bluetooth HM-10 module.....................................................................................51
Figure 30. Roll, pitch and yaw rotations. ...............................................................................51
Figure 31. General architecture for the IC v2.0 .....................................................................53
Figure 32. IC V2.0 schematic .................................................................................................54
Figure 33. IC V2.0 board (top view) .......................................................................................55
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Figure 34. IC V2.0 board (bottom view) ................................................................................55
Figure 35. IC V2.0 prototype. ................................................................................................56
Figure 36. Silicone button pad top view (left) and botton view with conductive surface (right)
.............................................................................................................................................56
Figure 37. Bluetooth module with external conection ..........................................................56
Figure 38. GreenSoul-ed Lights System Architecture.............................................................61
Figure 39. diagram of the AC Phse cut ..................................................................................63
Figure 40. Newhaven 20x4 NHD-0420H1Z-FL-GBW-33V3 .....................................................64
Figure 41. IRM-03-3.S ...........................................................................................................65
Figure 42. Espressif ESP8266 ................................................................................................65
Figure 43. OPT3001 block diagram .......................................................................................66
Figure 44. OPT3001 spectral response ..................................................................................66
Figure 45. FL5150 block diagram ..........................................................................................67
Figure 46. Top PCB layer .......................................................................................................67
Figure 47. Bottom PCB layer .................................................................................................68
Figure 48. Device top 3D model ............................................................................................68
Figure 49. Device bottom 3D model......................................................................................69
Figure 50. Interrealation among GreenSoul activities ...........................................................71
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List of Tables
Table 1. Number of GreenSoul-ed Thing envisaged to be deployed in pilot sites ....................6
Table 2. Smart Plug versions .................................................................................................25
Table 3. Interactive coaster versions .....................................................................................25
Table 4. Data log of initial test ..............................................................................................34
Table 5. Data log of second test ............................................................................................35
Table 6. Data log of third test ...............................................................................................35
Table 7. Data log of the fourth test with the printer .............................................................35
Table 8. SP v2.0 Prototype power consumption ....................................................................41
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1 Introduction
The overall goal of this Deliverable is to select a set of everyday objects from the pilots’ sites
and instrument them with persuasive interfaces, local intelligence and remote actuations
mechanisms. Thus, they will fulfil a two-fold purpose: (a) users will get feedback and cues
that help them understanding and learning how to better interact with them in an energy-
wise sense and (b) devices will help in their environment’s global energy saving objectives by
autonomously or upon request adaptation of their operation, e.g. switching themselves off.
To this end, we will design and implement pluggable embedded devices, namely Smart
Adaptors, which can be integrated with and adapted to different electric equipment. Those
latter capabilities will be exported through an open RESTful API, which will be orchestrated
by a given installation controlling platform (see T3.4 [4]).
Figure 1. GreenSoul-ed things within the project IoT Architecture
1.1 GreenSoul-ed Things definition
As was stated in the Public GS’s Deliverable 2.4 [3], a set of everyday electrical devices and
appliances (i.e. coffee-makers, elevators, printers, desk’s power strips, lighting and HVAC
systems) have been selected from the pilot sites to become GreenSoul-ed Things. To this
end, we are designing and implementing pluggable embedded devices, namely GreenSoul-
ed adaptors, which can be integrated with, and adapted to, different energy consuming
electrical equipment. The GreenSoul-ed adaptors should be equipped with persuasive
interfaces, local intelligence and remote actuation mechanisms. Thus, GreenSoul adaptors (
the electronic hardware which augment the everyday devices) should fulfil a two-fold
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purpose for the GS-ed Things: (a) provide users with feedback and cues that will help them
understand systems in an energy-wise manner and learn how to optimise interaction with
them and (b) provide a control interface to devices in order to enable and optimise agreed
convenient energy-modes and practices, e.g. remote switching (ON/OFF), temperature
control, and so forth as per the device decision trees tables.
The GS-ed adaptors will be composed of several Open Source Hardware and Software
components. Essentially:
1) A low-power microcontroller working as the core.
2) Sensing equipment able to infer in real time the on-going working mode and the
status of the appliance that it is attached to.
3) Different human-device interfaces providing sensorial User Experiences (UX) that
aim to motivate users to reduce energy consumption.
4) A set of communication interfaces will be implemented to let the GS-ed Things to
send the sensed data to the GreenSoul back-end (LinkSmart/GIM). These
mechanisms also allow the adaptor to be fully reachable through remotely operable
IP protocols. These latter capabilities will be exported through an open RESTful API
that will be orchestrated by a given installation-controlling platform (see T3.4 [4]).
1.2 Devices Proposals
As stated in previous sections, different devices were selected to be augmented with GS-ed
adaptors in order to become GreenSoul-ed Things. The devices selected that are described
hereafter are desk’s power strips (conceived and developed by DEUSTO) and lighting
systems (conceived and developed by CERTH).
1.2.1 DEUSTO’s GreenSoul-ed Thing
The former device is intended to provide visual cues to individuals whilst they are sat in their
desk at workplace. The device seeks to optimise the energy consumption in desktops due to
misuse of laptops or PCs, monitors, chargers or personal fans and lights. Whereas the
GreenSoul project reckons that the energy saved by these devices will not attain reductions
in the pilot buildings beyond 5%-10%; we hypothesize that the awareness caused by these
individual devices at the workers space will higher than at another scales and that will spark
spill-over impacts to other shared devices and appliances at work setting (see Figure 2).
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Figure 2. Impact on energy saved and awareness gained across different scales/levels: Individual vs. group vs. collective
Thus, the intentions and attitudes to behave more sustainably in an holistic way start with
the individual awareness taking into account that the role of individuals' influence on their
own behaviour is critical and covers employees' beliefs, attitudes and awareness through
value–belief–norm (VBN) theory (Stern, 2000) and the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen,
1991).
1.2.2 CERTH’s GreenSoul-ed Thing
The latter device, the lighting system, draws into group factors to behave more responsibly
with the environment. This is a key category that focuses on employees' day-to-day
relationships with colleagues and managers to agree in how environmental conditions
(lighting, heating or cooling) should be in the workplace. Controlling and making the light
more efficiently is an important factor for saving energy as lighting accounts for more than
15% in the workplace’s and households bills1.
1 http://wwf.panda.org/how_you_can_help/live_green/energy_efficiency/
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2 DEUSTO’s GreenSoul-ed Thing
The GreenSoul Smart Adaptor proposed by the University of Deusto consists of two twin-
devices that aim to educate and aware users about the energy consumption of surrounding
electrical devices on their office desktops (e.g. laptops, chargers, monitors, etc.). The devices
are: (1) a power strip augmented with technology to gather energy data at desktop level; (2)
an interactive ambient display that shows different information according to the energy
being drawn by the power strip.
2.1 Description
Greensoul Smart Adaptors will turn everyday things into persuasive, co-operative and
reactive networked eco-aware things through local monitoring of consumption per device,
and real-time interaction with the user in their individual space where all the energy
decisions about surrounding devices have to be taken by them. Thus, the devices controlled
by the power strip are devices of personal use (e.g. laptops, chargers, monitors, etc.).
The devised GreenSoul-ed thing that we present in this deliverable is composed of two main
parts. On the one side, an augmented device for measuring energy consumption; On the
other side, a device that displays to the user the assessment and information relative to its
energy consumption. The former device, called the Smart Plug (from now on SP), is a power
strip that features three plugs where devices will be connected to monitor their energy
consumption. The latter is a physical device that displays information related to energy
consumption to the users. It has been coined as Interactive Coaster (from now on IC). This
device is also in charge of providing persuasive cues that will inform the user about the
energy consumption performance at his/her desktop.
2.1.1 Design process
It ensembles four steps: (1) Reviewing the state of the art of existing approaches similar to
the overall idea of GreenSoul-ed Things, besides (2) ideation, (3) sketching and (4) digital
implementation. These steps are described hereafter.
2.1.1.1 State of the art
In the last decade, researchers, hobbyists, and corporations have contributed to expand the
Internet of Things to enhance many different everyday objects. As embedded platforms
implementing the TCP/IP standards and more powerful embedded platforms became
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available at low cost (e.g., Arduino, .NET Gadgeteer or Raspberry Pi), the advantages of
connecting them to the whole World Wide Web (WWW) have arisen. Bohn et al. [15]
argued that objects become smart when microelectronics and sensing components are
endowed within them.
In the research literature, grey literature and commercial world we found works where
everyday devices were augmented to make users aware about their energy and resources
consumption by using physical metaphors and aesthetic interfaces. Power-aware Cord [19]
was an electrical power-strip in which the cord was designed to expose the electricity
through ambient light. The more the energy drawn by the power-strip, the brighter the cord
is. Waterbot provided ambient feedback about water usage in a bathroom's sink through
visual and auditory remainders [20]. Similarly, `Show-me' [17] displays the amount of water
that is being used during the shower through a LED strip assembled to the shower's stick.
Stroppy Kettle is an augmented appliance that aimed to break user's kettle overfill behaviour
applying barriers to goal-attainment and punishment through a built in smart-phone and
controllable gauges. Watt-lite and Energy Aware clock [18] were two works that aimed to
explore tangible data and non-obtrusive interaction to reduce energy consumption. Thieme
et al. devised BinCam [16], a social persuasive rubbish-bin with a built-in camera to motivate
tenants to form recycling habits and reduce food waste. Interactive living plants were
explored by Huh et al. The authors created a robotic analogue of a plant that mimics photo-
tropic behaviour. A product that is commercially available is Wattson from DIY Kyoto2. It
shows the overall electricity use in numbers and colours. Another product is the Energy
Orb3. It is a frosted-glass ball that illuminates a varying degree of colours to represent critical
peak demand conditions on the smart grid. Finally, the Nest Thermostat is a smart device
that aims to learn a user's heating and cooling habits to help optimize scheduling and power
usage. Some of these reviewed approaches can be observed in Figure 3.
2 http://inhabitat.com/diy-kyotos-wattson/ 3 http://ambientdevices.myshopify.com/products/energy-orb
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Figure 3. Different physical devices and ambient interfaces to aware employees about energy or resources wastage.
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2.1.1.2 Ideation process
Once reviewed the background on existing solutions without finding a satisfactory one for
the GreenSoul project (i.e. that may fit in the workspace for encouraging green behaviour),
the second step was ideation. Some reasons behind rejecting existing approaches were: the
reviewed approaches were not conceived for desktops at office environments, the hardware
is not configurable to be monitored and controlled from the GreenSoul framework, the
information did not provide granularity that we need for certain profiles of users, the all lack
of ecological features to provided sustainable values in end-users.
As can be observed in Figure 4, we carried out a design thinking methodology to come up
with initial ideas. Ideation works on the basis of initial needs to generate new ideas,
prototypes, etc. For that, the Interaction Designers (IxD) of the team developed an ideation
session to extract the designs that could be applied to the GreenSoul-ed Things. After the
discussion and evaluation of the initial brainstorming; they were applied to different design
systems and strategies (see Figure 5 where these mapping appear in a white board). At this
early stage, all ideas were valuable and taken into account without discarding any of them.
Figure 4. The ideas extracted from the first ideation session.
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Figure 5. The extracted ideas applied to four design strategies.
2.1.1.3 First sketches
In the third phase, and based on the ideas generated in the ideation phase, the most
interesting ideas were drawn in order to make a comparison between all of them.
Below (Figure 6) are showed some of the drawings conceived as a starting point for the
conception of the final IC. As can be observed in the figure, all of the designs represent an
object that any office worker may have in their desktop: coaster, lamp, clips, pencil/pen
holders, USB hub, etc. Hence, we wanted to provide a design that is insightful for users
through the feedback provided, but also practical for other uses at the same time.
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Figure 6. First Sketches of the design ideas for the GreenSoul-ed Things
2.1.1.4 Materialising the idea
Once analysed each of the previous sketches, the designers selected the coaster (Figure 7).
The methodology selection was based on the “Six thinking hats” approach [6] where the
designers evaluated for each of the sketches their feelings, ideas and concerns as follow:
• Managing Blue – what is the subject? what are we thinking about? what is the goal?
Can look at the big picture.
• Information White – considering purely what information is available, what are the
facts?
• Emotions Red – intuitive or instinctive gut reactions or statements of emotional
feeling (but not any justification).
• Discernment Black – logic applied to identifying reasons to be cautious and
conservative. Practical, realistic.
• Optimistic response Yellow – logic applied to identifying benefits, seeking harmony.
Sees the brighter, sunny side of situations.
• Creativity Green – statements of provocation and investigation, seeing where a
thought goes. Thinks creatively, outside the box.
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Figure 7. The Interactive coaster (top) and the Smart Plug (bottom)
As can be observed in some of the sketches previously introduced, the shape of the coaster
is based on concentric circles. These bring about the ecological metaphor of tree’s rings for
providing to the user a sense of connection with the nature. The selection of wood as
material for making some parts of the case of the coaster goes in the same direction.
Inspirational ideas for the final design can be observed in Figure 8. The main aim of the
prototype is to create an emotional attachment to the earth following the theory of Value–
Belief–Norm (VBN) [7].
Figure 8. Original tree's rings
The digital design of the twin IC+SP was designed on Autodesk Maya [2]. A software
Computer Aided-Design (CAD) tool that allows to create a 3D model of the 2D sketch for the
sake of a deeper analysis. The results can be observed in Figure 9.
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Figure 9. 3D models for Interactive Coaster (left) and Smart Plug (right)
After having the first digital results and defined the bare interactions with the devices, the
UX and IxD teams consult with the members of the hardware team the potential technical
limitations that may arise during the implementation phase. Minor changes were applied to
the design according their guidelines coming up with the design of Figure 9.
2.1.1.5 Main features of the IC
In this subsection, the different parts of the IC are explained. As explained before, the UX
provides a mimic of a three evoking ecological feelings that aim to sustain the pro-
environmental behaviour change. In the digital design, we substituted the tree’s string by
light strings that will be coloured depending of the message that the system want to convey
to the user, e.g. alerts, connectivity, performance, etc. The button in the middle of the
device has been conceived as the main mean of interaction with the coaster. Taking into
account that the intention of the persuasive device is to warn users about their energy
consumption, when an end-user presses the button he/she will receive a message through
ambient lights according to the user profile. The initial version of the Interactive Coaster is
wireless, featuring a USB connector for recharging the battery and a simple LED indicating
whether the battery is full of charge or about to be depleted. All these features are
highlighted in Figure 10.
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Figure 10. Main features of the IC
2.1.1.6 Similar approaches to the IC
Today, with a plethora of connected or augmented everyday objects, it was not surprisingly
to find some similar coasters in existing literature, blogs or Youtube channels. Hence, when
it was decided to go ahead with the idea of the coaster, we first revised the existing
approaches that were similar to our idea.
In existing research, we found some works that used coasters for different purposes.
“Hydrate with Friends” proposes a coaster that measures the intake of drinkable beverages
and report mass measures to a distant Cloud server [8]. A mobile app is connected to this
information to provide daily progress, and a reward system for incentivizing the individual to
keep up with his or her daily goals. Elumeze [9] presented the concept of learning sensors in
his PhD dissertation. One example application of learning sensors is demonstrated with a
“smart coaster”. His coaster monitors the temperature of drinks placed on it, giving a visual
indication to the end-user about how hot or cold the drink is. For example, when monitoring
a hot beverage (e.g. a cup of warm sake), a red light indicates that it is too hot, a green light
indicates that the temperature is just right. He applies a tilt interaction to establish the set-
point for each temperature and beverage4. CogWatch instrumented coaster (CIC) has been
created to hold a 3-axis accelerometer and 3 force sensitive resistors (FSRs) in a small
package that fits to the base of objects such as mugs, jugs and kettles [10]. It is designed to
be small and unobtrusive so that it does not affect the usage of the objects and has very
little effect on their appearance. The accelerometer provides data that can be used to
monitor changes in movement and orientation of the object that the CIC is attached to. The
FSRs are used to monitor changes in weight of the object. Initial data collection has shown
that these sensors are able to create very strong characterizations of actions such as pouring
4 http://www.instructables.com/id/Smart-coaster/
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a kettle of water into a mug. Another research-based project sough to devise a smart coaster
to warn the restaurants or pubs staff that the last bottle of beer served to a customer is
getting empty, allowing its immediate replacement and consequently reaching a higher level
of client satisfaction [11].
Beyond to existing literature, we found a project from M. Exposito5 that devised a smart
coaster that works as a smart assistant for people at work. It has a weight scale to coach
users on healthy hydration habits at work through ambient lights and a mobile app to follow
up the performance. It also has different modes specifically designed for having efficient
meetings and workflows at work. The latter interaction was made by applying colours and
lights on the border and the side of the coaster. The H2COASTER was another prototype
designed to promote water intake at work6. After 15 minutes without drinking water, the
coaster will light up and vibrate indicating that the employee has to take a sip of water.
Finally, we found a project of a coaster that detected the different types of beverages placed
on top of it, with a cocktail the Smart Coaster glows in some atmospheric and slowly
changing colours7. If someone places a cup of hot tea on it, it automatically starts a special
tea timer program, which shows when the tea is ready to drink. If the glass is empty or filled
with a cold drink the Smart Coaster glows blue.
2.2 Project planning
Once the idea of the concept was designed and digitalized in the CAD application, the
project development was organized by providing a number of hardware versions. On these
versions or prototypes, we will be able to validate both the selected devices and the
interactive response of the users.
The summary table of these versions is as follows:
Table 2. Smart Plug versions
Smart Plug Versions:
Main objectives
SP V1.0 Test the major hardware components and take a general view of the project.
SP V2.0 Suitable version for an end user test.
Table 3. Interactive coaster versions
Interactive Main objectives
5 http://www.marcexposito.com/oia-smart-assistant-for-work/ 6 https://cambridge.nuvustudio.com/studios/products-for-wellbeing/the-h2coster#tab-portfolio-url 7 http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-controlled-smart-coaster/
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Coaster Versions:
IC V1.0 Test the design and concept of communication with end users.
IC V2.0 Test hardware components.
2.3 Architecture
Figure 11. Diagram of the relations and the architecture of GreenSoul-ed Things
In Figure 12 it can be observed, in a simplified way, the architecture of the Deusto’s
GreenSoul-ed things being able to have more than one Smart Plug distributed by different
spaces and communicating, all of them, with a central device. In some cases, users can have
an additional device, the Interactive Coaster, but this second device is optional.
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Figure 12. Simplified GreenSoul’ed Things architecture
The Smart Plug cannot communicate between them and they use a WiFi interface to connect
with the server. Interactive Coaster is an wireless device and it can communicate with the
Smart Plug through a Bluetooth interface.
2.3.1 Communications Protocol and data provided
The GreenSoul-ed Thing communicates directly with LinkSmart through Device Agents as can
be shown in Figure 13.
Figure 13. Device agents controlling the different GS devices that can be monitored
As in one pilot building several instances of the Greensoul-ed Things can be deployed, there
is a device broker running in the server side to identify each SP and provide to it an specific
virtual device agent to monitor and control them.
The GreenSoul-ed Broker deployed in LinkSmart is in charge to convert the chain of values in
milliampere (mA) sent from each current sensor into a Greensoul Information Model (GIM)
for further storage and processing.
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2.3.2 Communication between Smart Plug and Interactive Coaster
These two devices form the GreenSoul-ed Thing. The SP is in charge of sensing the energy in
each of the plugs of the power strip while the IC provides visual cues to the user to change
its behaviour.
In the current version, we have implemented the hardware needed to establish the
communication between them by using a serial wired communication. In the next version of
the prototype, we will remove the wire device for a Bluetooth communications so the users
can place the IC wherever they pleased. Beyond that, future iterations of the device have to
define the information model to share data and the protocol communication between them.
2.4 Smart Plug
The SP is a power strip that monitors energy consumption and is able to communicate
measured data in mA to LinkSmart through a Wi-Fi interface. It can convey information to
the IC in order for this device to display information to users. In following iterations of the
SP, it will be able to receive operations from distant devices or de Decision Support System
(DSS) to change its state or send some operations to the IC.
2.4.1 State of the art of smart plugs
Before to start designing and developing a new power strip within the project, the
background on existing off-the-self devices was done to find a solution that may suit to GS
interests.
The most close power strips to our needs were:
• Frontoppy8: It is a power strip with three plugs and four USB connectors. It can be
controlled remotely through Wi-Fi because it features one relay to switch off or
switch on the power strip from a mobile app or from other Internet-services such as
Alexa Echo. The strip does not measure the energy consumption of the appliances
connected to the socket. It is not marked with CE as the main provider is China.
• Smart Socket Wi-Fi Plug9: It is a power strip with three plugs, four USB connectors
and one switch. It can be controlled remotely through Wi-Fi featuring one relay by
each plug. The different plugs can be operated from a mobile app or from other
Internet-services such as Alexa Echo or Google Home. Whereas it is marked with CE
8https://www.amazon.es/Frontoppy-Enchufe-Inteligente-Temporizador-individual/dp/B0788FRXSN/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1513860465&sr=8-1&keywords=wi-fi+inteligente+socket+strip 9 https://www.amazon.es/gp/product/B077SKV9BF/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
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label, the strip does not measure the energy consumption of the appliances
connected to the socket.
• YOUMO10: This multi-power charging strip lets you choose flexible options for power.
Using the different modules and plugging into the base, one YOUMO Power Strip
allows you to have USB ports, standard EU or US outlets, and even provide a wireless
speaker, wireless charging, a smart hub for your appliances, and home security. Each
module plugs into another while safely distributing the power. Because each of the
modules effortlessly snaps into place, the YOUMO Power Strip is a snap to assemble.
This is still a kickstarter project.
• Xiaomi power strip11: The Xiaomi 3-socket power strip is one of two power strips that
Xiaomi produces and is the one that features 3 built-in USB charging ports (in
addition to the 3 standard sockets). Power indicator LED on power switch and Wi-Fi
connection to control it remotely (it features one relay for the whole strip and one
current sensor for the whole strip). It is not marked with CE as the main provider is
China.
• VOCOlinc12: Is an smart strip with voice-activated Home Control and that allows the
control of your appliances with Alexa, Siri & LinkWise App. It features 3 widely spaced
smart outlets (EACH up to 1800W); 2 powered USB ports and 1 Qualcomm QC 3.0
USB port, all of them can charge simultaneously. The App allows to create scenes
(iOS ONLY), set schedules, and view devices by groups (iOS ONLY). Energy monitor &
Intelligent Status Feedback it is only available for iOS devices. One smart outlet is
equipped with a Power Meter that allows you to track power consumption of a
specific light or appliance. Clear visibility of Wi-Fi connection and status of the
individual outlet through colourful and dedicated LED indicators. The power Strip is
only available for the US market.
Having reviewed the assortment of off-the-self power strips, we did not find any that fulfil
our characteristics and expectations for GreenSoul project:
• Energy meters in all the outlets not only the aggregated energy consumption but the
individual.
• Remote control for each of the different power outlets. Thus, a relay must be
installed in each plug to be controlled by a remote application.
• Allow different measuring rate depending of the different appliances connected to
the outlet/plug.
10 https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1300499319/youmo-your-smart-modular-power-strip/description 11 https://es.aliexpress.com/item/Originla-Xiaomi-Smart-Power-Strip-mijia-Smart-Socket-Intelligent-6-Ports-WiFi-Remote-Power-Plug-on/32826784191.html?spm=a2g0s.13010108.99999999.8.YAmjmO 12 http://www.vocolinc.com/products_detail/productId=24.html
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• If possible, marked with CE labelling.
• Configurable to obtain the data to convey them to our GS system (LinkSmart)
• Wi-Fi connection easy to be deployed in different pilots.
As the majority of the requirements previously claimed were not addressed by off-the-self
smart power strips, we decided to devise and develop our own device. Furthermore, the
reason why these GS-ed devices were custom implemented rather than using off-the-shelf
smart meters is because the sampling rate of our power strips can be remotely controlled to
improve the system responsiveness, and they can be switched between polling or event-
driven mode to reduce the number of wireless packets whenever possible, thereby saving
more battery energy. Moreover, they can dynamically connect to other GS-ed Things, such
as the IC, hence we improved the configurability to provide more desirable and flexible
services and meaningful interaction.
2.4.2 General Description of the SP
The SP features the following main parts.
2.4.2.1 Outer body
The outer or the shape is the physical separation between the electronic components from
the outside. It has a power cable attached to the housing, which feeds the power strip.
Several plugs will supply power to the devices in order to be monitored.
An external push button, that will allow the user to take control over the smart plug or to
perform other interactions as can be observed in Figure 9. A light on the button will report
about its status.
2.4.2.2 Central Control Unit
It is the central microprocessor, responsible for the correct operation of the smart plug. It
will take the consumption values of the sensors measured in mA, control the different power
switches, and the interactive and display elements.
2.4.2.3 Energy consumption sensor
It consists of a sensor that measures the current consumed in mA in each plug (the devised
device feature three plugs). With the reading of instantaneous current at each socket, we
are able to extract the power consumed by each device plugged to them. This operation is
done in the server side being the SP only responsible for sending data to LinkSmart.
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2.4.2.4 Lighting or display system
This part of the smart plug can be conceived as an optional extension of the IC. If featured in
the SP, it will inform the user about their energy consumption in real time mimicking the
idea of the power-aware cord [1].
The variation of brightness throughout the cord will indicate to the user, in a natural and
intuitive way, about its energy consumption in real time.
2.4.2.5 Communications
The smart plug will communicate to the Internet through a wireless Wi-Fi system. The data
and orders can be sent and received remotely, either to interact on the SP or to activate
other services and alerts.
A Bluetooth communication system will allow the smart plug to communicate wirelessly
with the interactive coaster, and it will allow us to communicate and interact with the IC. A
further extension may consist on involving the mobile app through BT.
2.4.3 Smart Plug v1.0
According to the Table 2, the main objectives of this version were to test the major
hardware components and validate selected technology of the project.
This electronic prototype consisted of a prototype PCB on which the following devices have
been assembled.
• AC / DC transformer.
• Central control unit based on the Arduino MKR100013 with integrated Wi-Fi system.
• Current sensors.
In Figure 14 the components of the v1.0 of the SP are provided in a visual way.
13 https://www.arduino.cc/en/Guide/MKR1000
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Figure 14. SP v1.0 Architecture
2.4.3.1 Design & Implementation
The hardware design criteria for this initial prototype were as follows:
● Easy implementation.
● Low power devices.
● Availability of knowledge
When selecting the MKR1000 development board, the connection ports for Analog inputs
are available via Dupont connectors (such as those of Figure 15), which greatly simplified the
connections. In order to use the current measuring chips, embedded boards with the signal
conditioning electronics already integrated have been selected.
Figure 15. Dupont connectors
The set is powered by a small fully encapsulated AC/DC transformer with 5 VDC output.
The schematic design of the circuit is as follows in Figure 16:
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Figure 16. SP V1.0 Electronic schematics
This development has been implemented on a prototype board as shown below.
Figure 17. SP v1.0 Prototype
To use the ACS712 current sensor, we acquired a custom module with the electronics
already integrated. Its electrical scheme from the manufacturer is as follows:
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Figure 18. Current sensor electrical schematics
To test this hardware, and to be able to display an orderly history of data, an Apache server
was configured locally, using a phpmyadmin database14. The current measurement data
were recorded and sent to the local server. It was handy to create a simple graph of
historical data.
With this set, we made the first measurements of consumption, stored the data in a server
in the cloud, and the first tests of identification and intelligent interpretation of electrical
consumptions have been made.
Some of these measurements are presented in following tables and plots:
Table 4. Data log of initial test
Date Equipment
measured Microcontroller Sensor
20/02/2017 Flat screen. Think
vision Model. Brand
Lenovo.
Mrk100 Sensor ACS712 5A
14 https://www.phpmyadmin.net
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Table 5. Data log of second test
Date Equipment
measured Microcontroller Sensor
21/02/2017 Portable. Brand Acer
i7 in use.
Mrk100 Sensor ACS712 5A
Table 6. Data log of third test
Date Equipment
measured Microcontroller Sensor
21/02/2017 BN Printer Mrk100 Sensor ACS712 5A
* Peaks due to heat in ink
Table 7. Data log of the fourth test with the printer
Date Equipment
measured Microcontroller Sensor
09/03/2017 BN printer printing 5
sheets.
Mrk100 Sensor ACS712 30A
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2.4.3.2 Technical Justification
The requirements for the control unit selection were as follows:
● Extensive usage information.
● Integrated development environment.
● Analog reading ports.
Selected components:
The following components can be found already assembled in an MKR1000 development
board, which simplifies and saves time in the concept testing phase.
A good 32 bit computational power , the usual rich set of I/O interfaces, low power Wi-Fi
with a Cryptochip for secure communication, and the ease of use of the Arduino Software
(IDE) for code development and programming. All these features make this board the
preferred choice for the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) battery-powered projects in a
compact form factor. The USB port can be used to supply power (5V) to the board.
Control unit: SAMD21 Cortex-M0+ 32bit low power ARM MCU15.
The Atmel® | SMART SAM D ARM® Cortex®-M0+ based microcontroller (MCU) series builds
on decades of innovation and experience in embedded Flash microcontroller technology. It
not only sets a new benchmark for flexibility and ease-of-use but also combines the
performance and energy efficiency of an ARM Cortex-M0+ based MCU with an optimized
architecture and peripheral set. The Atmel | SMART SAM D gives you a truly differentiated
general-purpose microcontroller that is ideal for many low-power, cost-sensitive industrial
and consumer applications.
Communication: WINC1500 low power 2.4GHz IEEE® 802.11 b/g/n Wi-Fi16
15 http://www.atmel.com/products/microcontrollers/arm/sam-d.aspx
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Microchip's WINC1500 is an IEEE 802.11 b/g/n IoT network controller. It is the ideal add-on
to existing MCU solutions bringing Wi-Fi and Network capabilities through SPI-to-Wi-Fi
interface. The WINC1500 connects to any SAM, PIC24 and PIC32 MCU with minimal resource
requirements. The WINC1500's most advanced mode is a single stream 1x1 802.11n mode
providing up to 72 Mbps PHY throughputs.
The WINC1500 features a fully integrated Power Amplifier, LNA, Switch and Power
Management. The WINC1500 provides internal Flash memory as well as multiple peripheral
interfaces including UART and SPI. The only external clock source needed for the WINC1500
is a high-speed crystal or oscillator (26 MHz). The WINC1500 is available in a QFN package or
as a certified module.
The ATWINC1500 has 4Mb of flash memory which can be used for system software. The
ATWINC1510 has 8Mb flash memory for even greater flexibility.
Current sensors: ACS712 series.
These sensors are out of the MKR1000K Arduino board. The requirements for the intensity
sensor selection were as follows:
● Possibility of implementation on PCB board.
● Reliable and Low price.
● Little size.
● Extensive usage information.
According to these requirements, a sensor based on the hall effect has been chosen. They
are widely used in electronics, reliable and with a minimum size they reach measurements
up to 30 amps. These ACS712 type sensors have a comprehensive and well-explained
datasheet and there is extensive documentation available on their use. The sensors
evaluated were17:
Sensor ID Measurement
Range Url
ACS712ELCTR-
05B-T 5A
http://www.allegromicro.com/Products/Composition.aspx?PN=ACS712ELCTR-
05B-T
16 http://www.microchip.com/wwwproducts/en/ATWINC1500 17 To validate the data, a constant current source M10-380T-303C has been used to verify the readings of our prototype sensor. In all measurements made, the error is below 5%.
Disemination Level: PU D3.5 Desing documento of GreenSoul-ed Things 38
ACS712ELCTR-
20A-T 20A
http://www.allegromicro.com/Products/Composition.aspx?PN=ACS712ELCTR-
20A-T
ACS712ELCTR-
30A-T 30A
http://www.allegromicro.com/Products/Composition.aspx?PN=ACS712ELCTR-
30A-T
2.4.4 Smart Plug v2.0
2.4.4.1 Design & Implementation
The hardware design criteria for this prototype were as follows:
● Suitable version for an end user.
● Same technology as SP v1.0
In this prototype, the electronics of measurement and control have been implemented in a
base of conventional plugs, adding the following functionalities (see Figure 19):
● Illuminated external button and interactive lighting system
● Monitoring up to 3 sockets (in v1.0 we only measured one plug)
● Interactive voltage cut-out and EEPROM memory
● Bluetooth connectivity for providing connectivity to the IC
Figure 19. SP v2.0 Architecture
The design has been tested in a functional prototype, which was built from a standard
commercial model as can be observed in Figure 20.
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Figure 20. SP v2.0 Prototype
For the implementation of the electronic components, a PCB has been designed on which to
weld the different elements. The schematic diagram can be appreciated in Figure 21 and
Figure 22.
Figure 21. SP v2.0 Electronic layout
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Figure 22. SP v2.0 Electronic schematics
The lighting information system will provide the smart plug user with information about
their energy consumption. This information may reflect the user’s current usage. The colour,
intensity or frequency of light may be indicators of the quality of performance.
This indicator of consumption is interesting and very necessary, when there is no other
device that shows the efficiency in the electric consumption (e.g. if the IC is not present).
Figure 23. Display lighting system prototype
For its design, a high-power led RGB has been used which illuminates fiberglass filaments
placed around the power cable. Two examples of the testing can be observed in Figure 23.
To facilitate the testing, this system was tested on a separate SP device.
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The current consumption of these devices is as is showed in Table 8:
Table 8. SP v2.0 Prototype power consumption
Device Power
consumption
SmartPlug 1,28 Wat.
SmartPlug
illuminated 2,07 Wat.
It should be noted that savings mechanisms are not yet in place in the IC (e.g. no sleep
mode, no efficient lighting system, etc.). What is shown in Table 8 is the maximum
consumption with all devices activated, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, microprocessor and lighting.
2.4.4.2 Technical Justification
Number of plugs: Since the smart plug is going to be installed in workspaces, the main
working devices will be a fixed Personal Computer. The PC, consists of 2 sockets, the one of
the mainframe and the other one for the monitor. There will be a free socket to connect
another device such as a mobile phone charger or a second monitor.
The illuminated external button featured on top of the SP is necessary so that the user,
without any other device, can interact with the smart plug in order to switch it off
completely. The light integrated within this button will inform the user about the state of the
SP.
2.4.5 Future Steps
At this stage, since we do not have a final design of the prototype, we have opted to use a
housing of a standard strip of plugs, and make the minimum changes necessary to place our
electronics inside. With this choice, we saved time and money in designing and building a
temporary housing, which would eventually be replaced by another in the final part of the
project.
Future steps are:
● Design a self-contained housing that fits the electronics and installation site.
● Reduce energy consumption to a minimum.
● Integrate all components into a PCB.
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The new version of SP (v3.0) is in the design process. It incorporates the vast majority of
embedded components. It will be suitable for mass production, to cover its subsequent
production and distribution in the pilot buildings.
Communication protocols must be verified and optimized to ensure the security and
efficiency of communications, both with the server and with the Interactive Coaster.
2.5 Interactive Coaster
The Interactive Coaster is the basic device of interaction with the user since in most of the
cases; the Smart Plug will only monitor the user's energy use.
2.5.1 Interaction Design, Persuasive strategies and Experimental procedure
The version 1.0 of the IC was designed to be tested with users in order to evaluate the
usability of the shape and its minimum functionality. In this very first version, we aimed at
extracting the most relevant strategies addressed to each user profile that should be applied
to the IC in order to iterate in new versions.
Taking the wide assortment of strategies and principles available [12][13] into account, their
filtering and selection process was paramount for the design of the IC. The first step
consisted of a review of the main principles provided by literature. The filtering was done
through a collaborative document where each of the persuasive principles were explained.
The document was filled out by 5 experts on the area. They had to link each principle with
one or more user types (based on the characterization provided by Lockton et al. [14]). In
the next step, a meta-review of the information obtained from the 5 researchers was done,
adding the votes and identifying the strategies that reached an unanimity in the previous
matching process (i.e. all the researchers linked one persuasive principle to the same user
type among Pinball, Shortcut and Thoughtful). 18 out of 93 strategies reached the unanimity
on one or another user profile. These are listed below. Hence, the final step was to select a
subset to be implemented on the IC in order to evaluate their suitability for such ambient
device.
● Social proof: This strategy was linked with the Shortcut user profile.
● Social recognition: This strategy was linked with the Thoughtful user profile.
● Cooperation: This strategy was linked with the Shortcut user profile.
● Personalisation: This strategy was linked with the Thoughtful user profile.
● Real-world feel: This strategy was linked with the Thoughtful user profile.
● Verifiability: This strategy was linked with the Thoughtful user profile.
● Conditioning: This strategy was linked with the Shortcut user profile.
● Cause and effect: This strategy was linked with the Thoughtful user profile.
● Physical attractiveness: This strategy was linked with the Pinball user profile.
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● Authority: This strategy was linked with the Shortcut user profile.
● Linking: This strategy was linked with the Pinball user profile.
● Reduction: This strategy was linked with the Pinball and Shortcut user profiles.
● Tailoring: This strategy was linked with the Shortcut user profile.
● Self-monitoring: This strategy was linked with the Thoughtful user profile.
● Praise: This strategy was linked with the Shortcut user profile.
● Suggestion: This strategy was linked with the Shortcut user profile.
● Similarity: This strategy was linked with the Shortcut user profile.
● Reciprocity: This strategy was linked with the Shortcut user profile.
2.5.1.1 Mapping final strategies to user profiles
The final selection of the strategies that were going to be implemented in the IC needed to
accomplish certain selection criteria. The main requirements were:
1) implementation of three different operational modes based on the three user
profiles defined by Lockton et al. [14]: Pinball, Shortcut and Thoughtful;
2) link one specific design feature of the Interactive Coaster derived from persuasive
principles to each of the three Lockton’s profiles;
3) definition of transversal strategies that can be addressed to every user profile acting
as an anchor for custom-built strategies;
4) selected strategies must provide positive experience and feelings in the use of the
device in order to improve the adoption, the desire to maintain the behaviour and
adherence to the device.
2.5.1.2 Persuasive Principles linked to user types
The behaviour change strategies derived from persuasive principles to be implemented in
the IC must be selected taking the user diversity into account. Hence, 3 out of the 18 filtered
persuasive principles (where we found a matching unanimity among experts in persuasive
technology) were selected and linked to each user profile. These are ‘Reduction’,
‘Suggestions’ and ‘Self-monitoring’ which are linked to Pinballs, Shortcuts and Thoughtful
people respectively. This mapping can be observed in Figure 24 that also provides how the
principles are translated into design principles/features.
2.5.1.3 Transversal Persuasive Principles
Following the requirements for strategy selection presented in section 2.5.1.1, we decided
to apply some transversal principles in the design to underpin the custom-built strategies for
specific user profiles. The transversal strategies applied were Cooperation, Physical
attractiveness, Personalisation and Tailoring. To address Cooperation theory, the power of
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the IC is turned on and off by turning the IC from the upper side to the bottom side. The
rationale behind is to engage the user with saving energy consumed by the device itself by
turning off the power of the device when the visual cues are not needed (e.g. when leaving
the work or during the breaks). To cope with Physical attractiveness principle, the design
feature addressed is visual design. The use of wood for the cover and the rounded shape of
the device enhance the aesthetical appeal of the prototype. Besides, the rounded visual
signals of the RGB lights improve the visual design making it more appealing. The
Personalisation principle is applied with the 3 modes of use based on the user
characterization proposed by Lockton et al. [14]. Finally, the Tailoring principle is applied
through the 3-mode selector. Regardless we seek to match custom-persuasive principles to
specific end-users, the user is always free to select the mode that he/she prefers.
Figure 24. The relation between persuasive strategies and design features of the IC
2.5.2 Interactive Coaster v1.0
Since the handicap of this design is focused on selecting the appropriate design and media, a
first version of the IC has been designed that focuses mainly on analysing these parameters,
leaving behind the technical part of the design.
The IC is conceived to interact with the user the user through ambient lights. Therefore, in
the first version of the IC it features the next interactive elements:
● LED rings.
● LED button.
● Isolated LEDs.
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The architecture of its operation is depicted in Figure 25. In the diagram are showed the
different hardware parts that make up the IC: Sensing, Controller, Communication and
Actuation.
Figure 25. IC module design
2.5.2.1 Implementation
The coaster‘s design has been made as a functional element, which will also provide to the
user with information about its energy consumption at the workplace’s desk.
The different parts of the prototype, have been designed in 3D and subsequently have been
manufactured in wood by laser cutting.
This physical design derived from the digital sketches can be observed in Figure 26. It
features three types of light displays which are described hereafter.
● Optic fibre circles with perimeter RGB illumination.
● Spot RGB lighting.
● LED spotlight.
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Figure 26. IC v1.0 implementation
At this stage of design, the height of the coaster was not optimized since we desired to get
insights from the type of information provided and not so much for the shape of the device
itself. The dimensions of the IC v1.0 were: 115 x 38 mm.
In the first version, the different elements can be illuminated through software developed in
Processing language which was installed on a PC. As can be observed in Figure 27, it features
a Graphical User Interface (GUI) to control the IC. The Software running in a PC and the IC
had to be connected via a USB wire.
Figure 27. IC v1.0 remote controller developed in Processing language
2.5.2.2 Validation of the v1.0 through qualitative research
As previously stated, the aim of this initial prototype is its evaluation with end-users to
include diversity in the final device. Following a qualitative approach, we sought to share the
first design ideas and strategies with them, understand their opinions, beliefs and needs,
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and validate the preferences of each user profile. Hereafter, the evaluation methodology is
exposed.
The participants were 3 males and 4 females, ranging 27-45 years old. They all work at a
shared space, mainly using the computer (either laptop or PC) and besides, different
electronic equipment depending of their job. They were not aware of anything related to the
IC before the qualitative session. The research conducted with the 7 end-users followed a
semi-structured interview approach. The interviews were recorded with a video-camera
aiming at the interaction of the user’s hands with the coaster. The interviewees were initially
provided with free time (2-5 minutes) to interact with the device and then, we started asking
questions. We asked them about their opinion of the IC, which metrics were preferred to
understand their energy consumption, which kind of feedback was more understandable for
them, how they comprehend the coding of the provided information, etc.
The experiment driver (an application developed in Processing running in a PC dedicated to
this purpose) operate the IC illuminating a number of elements (rings) with different colour
ranges and brightness. This program allowed us to control the different lights offered to the
interviewees so the cognitive process and the evaluation was drove according to our needs
and preferences depending on the user.
The qualitative validation of the IC was already presented in the Public Deliverable D3.3 [5].
However, we mention here the study results since they were of high importance to enhance
the IC in v2.0. Also, we present some pictures of the session in Figure 28.
Things that worked
• Visual cues are not needed if the information provided by the light rings is consistent
with the real-world (less-more, near-far, small-big). This finding was very consistent
with the mental models provided by Nielsen18.
• Bare information is needed for bootstrapping. However, the learning curve using the
device is very fast as it has been designed.
• Aesthetic plays a paramount role for adoption and use.
• Individual metrics are preferred than other data such as collective or group
consumption.
• Clear mapping from light rings to devices is evident. Hence, it make sense to match
rings and devices for next versions.
• Multi-modality selection is favoured among respondents.
18 https://www.nngroup.com/articles/mental-models/
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Things that did not work
• Paired comparisons/competition between peers was not of interest among
respondents.
• Comparisons with non-comparable units (bigger, far, the best, the worse, the best,
etc.) were evaluated out of the interest of the interviewees for their low value for
understanding energy performance.
• Absolute colours (i.e. displaying with one colour all the device) were, in some cases,
misunderstood because of the light rings.
Other conclusions and remarks:
• The size of the first Lo-Fi prototype (v1.0) was considered quite big for a work-desk
(115 x 38 mm).
• The outer light ring was the most visible which provided advantages and downsides
for next designs.
Figure 28. A picture of the IC (a) and screenshots from the video recorded at the user testing session (b, c, d).
2.5.3 Interactive Coaster v2.0
In the second version of the Interactive Coaster device users will not recruited to test the
functionality nor the shape of the prototype. The objective of this second version was to
check the operation of the different hardware components to be integrated in one
component. After a previous study, and based on different criteria of the hardware team, we
have chosen a set of electronic components that have been first tested individually to after
select those that resulted most suitable for this new version.
At this stage of project development, additional electronic components may be included,
which may subsequently be removed from the final system. This is justified because at this
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stage the acquisition of knowledge and experience is more important than the precise
selection of these components.
2.5.3.1 Technical Justification
At electronic level, the main functional modules of the interactive coaster v2.0 are the
following: (1) microcontroller, (2) battery charging and power adaptation, (3)
communications, (4) sensor and (5) lighting system. The latter two modules will be the main
elements of interaction with the user.
2.5.3.2 Microcontroller
The microcontroller will be a key component of the system, since it will be the device
responsible for managing the operation of the interactive coaster, interaction with the user
and interaction with the rest of the system (mainly with the SP).
Three families of microcontrollers have been analysed:
● Microcontrollers PIC18, they are very used in the last years, with more than enough
processing capabilities for this prototype, easily integration and with very powerful
development tools.
● ARM Cortex M0+, the families of ARM Cortex controllers are enjoying great success
thanks to very powerful and economical processors. The M0+ family takes into
account energy consumption. It is possible to work with them at different levels of
abstraction and includes powerful debugging tools.
● Arduino, very popular for makers, proposes a development environment and simple
and free hardware for applications. Its simplicity means that it does not have
professional development tools.
The study concluded that ARM Cortex M0+ may be the best option but the experience of our
work team is still low with them. However, with PIC and Arduino, the team has a great
experience based on the development of multiple previous projects. For this reason, the
decision was that the interactive coaster v2.0 was based on Arduino because a previous
work with a new platform is not required. In parallel, we will start working with ARM Cortex
M0+ microcontrollers and it will be incorporated in future versions of the interactive coaster,
as long as the benefits are confirmed.
In particular, the Arduino Micro version will be used as the base of the system, mainly
because it has 2 serial ports (one for programming and debugging and another one for use
with the communication module).
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2.5.3.3 Battery charger
The interactive coaster will be a device that must work autonomously and independently so
it will be necessary to include a battery. This battery will be a 3.7 volts rechargeable LiPo and
we will use a USB port to facilitate the charge process. Additionally, for this version of the
interactive coaster we will test a photovoltaic system that allows us to obtain energy of the
interior office lamps. Although, a priori, does not seem to be a realistic option because they
have small capacity.
For the USB charge, different load controllers for LiPo batteries have been analysed,
selecting among them the Microchip MCP73831 chip. This device is very simple and has a
high use of energy, plus a control line that indicates whether the load is complete or not.
2.5.3.4 Power adaptor
Some of the hardware components need a specific supply voltage and cannot be fed directly
from the battery so a voltage regulating module will have to be designed. After analysing
each component, it is concluded that it will be necessary to regulate the supply voltage to +
3.3 volts. As the Li-Po battery to be used will be 3.7 volts, it will be necessary to use a
regulator with low dropout such as the ADP3338 with a dropout of 125 millivolts supporting
a current of 500 milliamps.
2.5.3.5 Communication
At first, the interactive coaster will communicate only with the Smart plug device so the
possibilities are several: Wi-Fi, ZigBee, Bluetooth, IR, etc. Some of these options, such as Wi-
Fi, are discarded by the high energy consumption of its transceivers and the second criterion
used when selecting the communication system has been the future possibility that the user
can interact directly with the interactive coaster through mobile phones or other electronic
devices. With this, the Bluetooth option has been selected, specifically the ultra-low power
Bluetooth version. After the study, the HM-10 module was selected, simple to integrate and
configure based on AT commands.
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Figure 29. Bluetooth HM-10 module
2.5.3.6 Sensing
The interaction started by the user with the interactive coaster is very basic and simple. In
this phase of the design it is proposed to limit it to an electromechanical button and a
vibration sensor to detect roll or pitch movements as can be observed in Figure 30. For the
first of these interactive systems, no button has been found yet that meets all the
requirements defined so in this version, the interactive coaster features a typical pushbutton
and another one will be tested based on silicone with a conductive band.
Figure 30. Roll, pitch and yaw rotations.
In the case of the vibration sensor for detecting IC roll or pitch movements, we initially only
want to identify if the user turns the interactive coaster so only a single sensor is needed.
Users use the vibration sensor to put the device in standby mode when they put it upside
down. In this case, the device turns off most components (lights, Bluetooth module, etc.)
and enters in an ultra-low power consumption state.
All sensors have enabled circuits, mainly based on NMOS transistors, for disable them when
they are not used. Thus, the system can reduce power consumption.
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In addition, to efficiently manage the battery, a battery level sensor will be implemented
with a voltage divider. It is not a precise sensor but it is very simple and allows to know when
the battery has a level too low, which is the only requirement raised in this regard.
2.5.3.7 Illumination
In terms of lighting (interaction started by the IC to the user), and based on the
requirements, the decision has been to work only with red, green and blue tricolour LED’s,
so that the lighting possibilities are diverse. Once the components that meet this
requirement have been analysed, two of them have been selected:
● Tricolour LEDs, cheap but requires a real-time management of them to establish the
desired illumination.
● LEDs based on the WS2818 controller, which is responsible for managing the
operation of the LED diode and whose interface is very simple, based on
asynchronous serial cascade communication (which means that multiple LEDs can be
controlled with one single line of control).
For this version of the interactive coaster, the two types of lighting presented above will be
implemented for a more detailed evaluation of them.
2.5.3.8 Design & Implementation
Next Figure shows the general architecture for the v2.0 of the interactive coaster. It is
divided in four modules: power supply, controller, sensing, acting and communication.
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Figure 31. General architecture for the IC v2.0
In this version, central button illumination has been implemented with an individual RBG
LED with common cathode, and it works independently for the rest of SMD LEDs with the
WS2818 controller. As this version is for testing the hardware component, it only include
four SMD LEDs, one per ring.
Bluetooth module will be used with an external break board for simplify the design so, it is
just necessary to include the interface for it.
For controlling the battery level and the charging process, the µcontroller receive two signal
and act over the battery indicator, which is composes by a bicolour LED (red and green
colours). Signals received are:
● battery level, which generate an analog signal that has to be converted to a
percentage with an maximum error of 5%, and
● charging state, which provide a binary value that indicate if the battery is been
charged or not.
2.5.3.9 Schematic
In the following Figure you can see the complete schematic circuit of version 2 of the
interactive coaster.
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Figure 32. IC V2.0 schematic
2.5.3.10 Printed Circuit Board
In order to verify the correct integration of the hardware components, a printed circuit
board (PCB) has been implemented without taking into account the form factor because it
will not be integrated into any physical prototype. The following figures show the design of
2-layer printed circuit board.
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Figure 33. IC V2.0 board (top view)
On the right side of the design of Figure 33 it can be shown the circular shape of the button
with the tricolour LED, which will allow us to validate the correct behaviour of the silicone
button.
Figure 34. IC V2.0 board (bottom view)
2.5.3.11 Prototype
In the following image, it is shown the prototype of the PBC with all the components
soldered for their validation in one single circuit:
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Figure 35. IC V2.0 prototype.
Figure 36. Silicone button pad top view (left) and botton view with conductive surface (right)
Figure 37. Bluetooth module with external conection
2.5.3.12 Validation of the prototype
The tests performed on the prototype are separated based on the functional modules that
compose it.
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2.5.3.13 Microcontroller
The start-up of the ATMEGA 32U4 microcontroller, under the Arduino platform, has been
correctly tested and integrated with the other peripherals.
2.5.3.14 Battery charger
In relation to the load from USB, it has been verified its correct operation and the efficiency
that was foreseen based on the technical specifications of the integrated circuit MCP73831.
Although the charge has been started through the photovoltaic cell, the results obtained
harvesting-wise have performed poorly. It has been confirmed that the charge level of the
cell is very low as well as the low efficiency of the auxiliary circuits required to charge a 3.7V
LiPo battery. It is not profitable to use this type of cells in applications of the level of
consumption of the interactive coaster since it increases its energy autonomy of almost
negligible form.
2.5.3.15 Power adaptor
The controller ADP3338 works correctly. However, for future versions of the interactive
coaster we will test other regulators since it supports a maximum current of 1 Ampere,
which is much more than necessary, so it is possible to find a component with the same
efficiency and a lower price.
2.5.3.16 Communication
Communication tests with the Bluetooth module have been performed against a computer
with a Bluetooth dongle installed and against another HM-10 Bluetooth module. In both
cases, the results have been very positive although the discovery stage of other Bluetooth
devices and the establishment of the connection will have to improve in future versions of
the interactive coaster, since they were not as efficient as we expected.
2.5.3.17 Sensing
The silicone pushbutton has worked very well but we continue to have problems with it
when it comes to integrate it into the physical prototype to be developed in the near future,
so it is necessary to continue working on this module. The conductive band of the silicone
button opens us new lines of research to consider even creating an ad-hoc button for the
prototype.
In the case of the vibration sensor, the results have not been entirely satisfactory:
It does not work accurately, when turned the sensor has electrical rebounds and is not 100%
reliable. Being a metal ball inside a metal cylinder emits a noise that can be unpleasant for
the user after a while.
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For the next version of the interactive coaster, we must evaluate the results of using this
sensor to see if it is included, if it is removed from the system or if we are looking for an
alternative.
Finally, the battery sensor based on a voltage divider lacks the precision necessary to obtain
a representative load level to inform the user. However, as already anticipated, we can use
it to inform of a level state battery to charge the battery if necessary.
2.5.3.18 Illumination
In the case of illumination, our assumptions have been confirmed for the use of real-time
controlled three-color LEDs and LEDs based on the WS2818 controller.
In the next versions of the interactive coaster, the use of direct control of tricolor LEDs is
ruled out to illuminate the rings since 3 lines of control are needed for each LED diode.
Although multiplexing techniques are used, the number of control lines remains high.
Likewise, the control of these is much more complex than those based on the WS2818
controller.
2.5.3.19 Future Steps
In the next version of the interactive coaster, the objective will be to develop a new
electronic board that will be fully embeddable within the physical prototype to be deployed
in pilot buildings. In addition, the following aspects will be improved:
● Energy management. We will begin to analyse the energy consumption of each
component to verify if the technical specifications obtained from each of them are
correct.
● Vibration motor. Different options will be studied to include in the prototype a
vibration motor that improves the interaction with the user.
● Mode selector. It is desired to include in the prototype different modes of operation,
selectable by the user, so that each user is able to customize the behaviour of the
device. Different models should be studied to allow selection, as well as its
implementation and validation.
● Implement functionality. Starting with the most basic, and validating it with the
corresponding user tests, until we have a fully functional device that meets the
requirements.
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3 CERTH’s GreenSoul-ed Thing
The GreenSoul-ed Lights is a Wi-Fi-enabled device capable of sensing the luminance of a
room, dimming incandescent and LED light sources, accept user input for the required
luminance level and display various information about luminance on a LCD display. The
device can supplant a standard light switch on a wall and offer dimming functionality.
3.1 Device capabilities
The device is equipped with an ambient light sensor (lux meter), a dimming controller circuit,
a microcontroller with embedded Wi-Fi, a LCD display and input buttons.
Integrated Wi-Fi functionality enables for remote operation of the device through a local
webserver. The device is able to connect to an existing Wi-Fi network and create a
webserver that can be used for further configuration and control of the device. If the
available Wi-Fi network has an Internet connection, the device will fetch the current date
and time from an online service, as well the sunrise and sunset time for the day based on
current location.
User can configure personal room luminance and create profiles with day and night
preferred lux values. The device is also capable of scheduling the lights status (ON/OFF) with
weekly repeats or for one time occurrence.
The dimming function is implemented with the use of a dimming controller. Once the
dimming is ON the device calculates the required output, which is connected to the input of
the dimming controller, using a PID (Proportional–Integral–Derivative) controller with input
feedback from the ambient light sensor.
3.2 User interaction with the device
Users have two ways of adjusting the settings and preferences of the device:
• via the integrated buttons and display
• via the local Wi-Fi webserver
The integrated buttons and display are both part of the Human Interface Device (HID) which
enables the user to read information on the LCD display and physically interact with the
device with the help of six input buttons:
• 3 buttons for menu navigation
• 1 button for ON/OFF functionality of the lights
• 1 button for toggling ON/OFF the dimming of the lights
• 1 button for toggling ON/OFF the device
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Via the HID and the integrated menu, the user is able to:
• View the active profile and the profile’s day and night lux
• View the current luminance of the room
• Select another profile as active
• Change the day or night lux for the active profile
• Find the local IP address of the device
For advanced capabilities of the device, the local webserver must be used. Through the
interface of the server, the user has the ability to:
• Turn the lights ON/OFF
• Switch the dimming mode ON/OFF
• Create, delete, change and activate profiles
• Create, delete, change and activate alarms
• Change the PID parameter configuration
• Scan available Wi-Fi networks
• Restart the device
• Update firmware
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3.3 Architecture
Figure 38. GreenSoul-ed Lights System Architecture
GreenSoul-ed Lights consist of the following functional blocks:
• Human Interface Device (HID)
• Alternating to Direct Current Converter (AC/DC Converter)
• Wireless (Wi-Fi) / Microcontroller Unit (MCU)
• Digital Ambient Light Sensor (Lux meter)
• AC Phase Cut Dimmer Controller
3.3.1 Human Interface Device (HID)
3.3.1.1 Button Interface
The HID interface is the user input and the output of the System. It consists of a button array
for the user input and a LCD display for the output. Each button is placed between two
resistors of a total 6-resistor network. After a single press of a button, the <BUTTONS>
output voltage changes corresponding to the individual button press, because of the forming
voltage divider circuit. The output of the button array is connected to the internal ADC
converter of the Wi-Fi / MCU module, which reads and converts the input voltage to an
integer number. Each number corresponds to a single button.
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3.3.1.2 LCD Display
Two types of LCD display are supported by the designed system:
• LCDs with two pin headers on the sides of the display
• LCDs with a single pin header on the upper side of the display
Control of the LCD display is performed by the Wi-Fi / Microcontroller module through Data
Lines <D[4…7]> and <LCD_RS>, <LCD_E> pins. The controller of the LCD is based on the chip
HD44780 chip from Hitachi. To change the ON / OFF status of the LCD a control line from the
Wi-Fi / MCU is presented, line <LCD_CTR>. When <LCD_CTR> is high, a small base current
drives the transistor to the saturation region and turns it ON, thus the input voltage of the
LCD module is 0V and display is OFF. Keeping <LCD_CTR> line low, base current of the
transistor is zero and the transistor is in cut-off region thus the input voltage of the LCD is
3.3V, turning it ON.
3.3.2 Alternating to Direct Current Converter (AC/DC Converter)
The sole purpose of an AC/DC converter is to rectify the AC mains voltage to a DC voltage
usable by the system and be able to supply it with the needed power. The 230V mains
voltage is connected to the AC/DC converter through a terminal block. The output of the
converter is a DC voltage of 3.3V completely isolated from the mains and therefore with a
separate reference ground (GND). A 0.5A fuse protects the LINE input of the converter for
overcurrent. Every component is powered by the AD/DC converter except from the dimming
controller which is powered directly from the AC line.
3.3.3 Wireless (Wi-Fi) / Microcontroller Unit (MCU)
Microcontroller is responsible for the logic and control of the system and in combination
with the integrated Wi-Fi controller used for communication consist the “brains” of the
device.
MCU needs 6 GPIO pins in order to drive a normal HD44780 compatible LCD display. A Serial
to Parallel shift register is used as a buffer between the MCU and the LCD to minimize the
required pins to control the display. Instead of 4 data lines and 2 control lines that an LCD
normally uses, MCU can drive the shift register with only 3 lines.
A UART (Universal Asynchronous Receiver-Transmitter) port is used for serial
communication of the MCU with a PC, enabling logging and uploading firmware to the
microcontroller. Communication between the microcontroller and the ambient light sensor
is achieved through I2C port (<SDA>, <SCL> pins).
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The Analog to Digital Converter pin of the microcontroller is connected to a resistor/button
network and converts the input voltage of the network to a level in range [0, 1024] with 0
corresponding to 0V and 1024 to 1V. Each button once pressed is outputting different
voltage level in accordance to the resistor network that forms. Therefore, the software of
the microcontroller detects which button the user pressed after the conversion of the
voltage to a digital value.
3.3.4 Digital Ambient Light Sensor (Lux meter)
The ambient light sensor is an optical sensor that converts the total luminous flux incident
on its surface area (measured in lux) in a digital value. It gives an indication to the perception
of the intensity of the light by the human eye. The stored value of the lux is sent to the
microcontroller through the available I2C port of the module (pins <SDA>, <SCL>). The MCU
periodically reads this value from the sensor.
3.3.5 AC Phase Cut Dimmer Controller
Figure 39. diagram of the AC Phse cut
The AC dimmer controller is responsible for dimming the lights to a desired level. The
voltage applied to the input pin (<DIM_Control>) of the dimmer controls the light intensity.
A PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal from the <PWM> pin of the MCU is converted to a
DC voltage at a RC filter, which is connected to the <DIM_Control> pin of the dimmer circuit.
Power input of the dimmer at pin <VS> on positive cycles of the mains voltage sine wave is
fed through diode D1 which is connected to the LINE and on negative cycles through diode
D2 which is connected to LOAD (Lights).
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If the controller detects zero voltage input (0V) at the DIM_Control pin (in the case where
the lights are OFF) then it automatically shuts off the KSP44 transistor through the
<Low_Power> pin in order to reduce the power consumption of the controller.
The dimming of the lights is achieved through the switching part of the circuit, which uses
two IGBT transistors to control the flow of the current to the <LOAD>.
A Single Pole Three Throw (SP3T) switch is used for switching the control of the lights from
manual ON / OFF to MCU/Dimmer controlled.
3.4 Modules
3.4.1 LCD Display
3.4.1.1 Newhaven 20x4 NHD-0420H1Z-FL-GBW-33V3
The selected Newhaven LCD display is capable of displaying 4 lines of 20 characters each and
requires 3.3V for power input. The backlight colour is yellow and the character colour is
black with pin headers attached to the left and right side of the module.
Figure 40. Newhaven 20x4 NHD-0420H1Z-FL-GBW-33V3
3.4.2 AC/DC Converter
3.4.2.1 IRM-03-3.3S
The AC/DC converter rectifies the AC mains voltage to DC. The operating voltage of the
system is 3.3V with the power consumption peak at 400mA. The required power
specifications are met by the Mean Well’s IRM-03-3.3S, which can output a maximum
900mA at 3.3V.
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Figure 41. IRM-03-3.S
3.4.3 Microcontroller integrated with Wi-Fi (MCU / Wi-Fi)
3.4.3.1 ESP8266 ESP-12E
Espressif’s ESP8266 Wi-Fi module integrates an internal 32-bit microprocessor running at
72MHz, which eliminates the need for an external MCU saving valuable PCB space and
trimming cost. The ESP-12E version of the ESP8266 family that is used in the GreenSoul-ed
Lights has 12 GPIO pins, ADC converter, I2C port and a full Wi-Fi stack with support for the
IEEE 802.11 b/g/n. 3 pins are used for the control of the LCD, 6 pins are used for the HID, 1
PWM signal pin for the dimmer controller and 2 pins (I2C) for the digital ambient light
sensor.
Figure 42. Espressif ESP8266
3.4.4 Digital Ambient Light Sensor (Lux meter)
3.4.4.1 OPT3001
In order to control the luminance of the lights the system needs a feedback from the
environment. This function is handled by an optical sensor, which converts ambient light into
digital information. The sensor selected for this task is the TI’s OPT3001, which has a spectral
response that matches the photonic response of the human eye and includes significant
infrared rejection.
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Figure 43. OPT3001 block diagram
Figure 44. OPT3001 spectral response
3.4.5 AC Phase Cut Dimmer Controller
3.4.5.1 FL5150
The main principle of the phase cut dimmer is to detect when sine wave of mains voltage is
0V (zero cross detection) and then starts an internal timer. When the internal timer reaches
a certain value defined by the voltage at the input pin of the dimmer, it breaks the circuit
connecting mains voltage with the lights, switching the lights off. This is perceived as a lower
intensity light by the human eye and thus dimming is achieved.
Fairchilds FL5150 is a phase cut dimmer controller, which can generate a programmable gate
drive for controlling the pulse width of an external IGBT transistor. The pulse width can be
controlled from the DIM_Control input pin of the chip, as it is analogous to the input voltage
applied (0-3V). An RC filter before the input pin converts the PWM output of the
microcontroller to a DC voltage depended of the duty cycle of the signal. The pulse width of
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the IGBT gate can be overridden from the chip in order to ensure that no flickering will
occur.
Figure 45. FL5150 block diagram
3.5 PCB Design
For the PCB design the mains AC dimming controller part has been separated from the rest
of the DC circuit. This is required for better noise immunity on the DC side of the board. Both
up and bottom layer of the DC board is poured with copper that is connected to the DC
ground reference
3.5.1 Top layer
Figure 46. Top PCB layer
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3.5.2 Bottom layer
Figure 47. Bottom PCB layer
3.5.3 Device 3D Model
The PCB with the 3D models of the components is presented below. The SW7 which control
the lights manually, directly connecting mains voltage with lights, will be placed on the right
side of the board. Ambient light sensor is placed at the upper side of the board but it can be
replaced with an external breakout sensor board using P7 header and be placed elsewhere.
Figure 48. Device top 3D model
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Components inside the drawn circle will be placed in the slot of the switch inside the wall.
These components (except the missing AC/DC converter) are part of the dimmer controller
circuit and are mains voltage connected.
Figure 49. Device bottom 3D model
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4 Future Steps
4.1 DEUSTO’s GreenSoul-ed Thing
The GreenSoul-ed devices should be able to communicate between them, Interactive
Coaster and Smart Plug, and the second one with the rest of the system: data model and
protocol have to be defined.
In case of the Interactive Coaster, next version of the device have to be tested with final
users again, within real or simulated behaviour, with the objective of re-evaluate and
improve it. We envisage to create at least 20 units to be deployed in different pilot buildings.
4.2 CERTH’s GreenSoul-ed Thing
The GreenSoul-ed device should be able to have two modes of operation:
• User mode where all the decisions are based on the selected user profile and the
default settings of the device
• GreenSoul mode where the device communicates with the DSS.
In user mode the device is constantly comparing the preferred lux value based on the
selected profile and the current lux that is read by the lux meter. Dimming is based only on
the user profile lux preference.
In GreenSoul mode, the device shares the lux information with the DSS engine which replies
with a decision for the preferred lux. Based on that decision it overrides the user preferences
and dims the lights.
Further improvements of the GreenSoul-ed Lights include:
• Master node capability, where the device will act as a master for other GreenSoul-ed
Light devices which are connected on the same network.
• Profile and schedule saving
• Firmware upgrade which will enable users to save their profiles and schedule settings
in the device internal memory (EEPROM). Current location (for time settings) of the
device will also be configurable.
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5 Conclusions
This deliverable has covered the design and implementations of the first versions of the
GreenSoul-ed things (Deusto and Certh’s) that are going to be deployed in Pilots Building to
test whether the devised persuasive strategies encourage workers to save energy bypassing
the barrier of the 15-20% of energy reduction obtained by other means in existing literature.
New versions of the GS-ed things will arise in next months. These will enhance the energy
consumed by the devices, their performance and their usability since they have to be
deployed in real settings. The outcomes of this initial deliverable has a major impact on
WP4, 5 and 6 (have a look to Figure 50).
Figure 50. Interrealation among GreenSoul activities
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List of References
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[2]. Press, A. M. (2008). Learning Autodesk Maya 2009 The Modeling & Animation
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Autodesk Training Guides).
[3]. D2.4 GreenSoul platform conceptual architecture. Public Deliverable of WP2. H2020
GreenSoul project, 2017.
[4]. D3.7 GreenSoul analytics and decision support engine. Public Deliverable of WP3.
H2020 GreenSoul project, 2017.
[5]. D3.3 Design document for Persuasion & Incentivisation mechanisms (v1). Public
Deliverable of WP3. H2020 GreenSoul project, 2017.
[6]. De Bono, Edward. Six thinking hats. Penguin UK, 2017.
[7]. Stern, P. C. et al. (1999). A value-belief-norm theory of support for social
movements: the case of environmentalism. Human Ecology review, 81—97
[8]. Chang, A. H., Custodio, V. E., Hirschberg, D., Kwak, T. M., Sethi, A., & Kobsa, A.
Hydrate with Friends: Promoting Positive Behavior via Ubiquitous Computing
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[9]. Elumeze, N. O. (2010). Ambient programming (Doctoral dissertation, University of
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[10]. Hermsdörfer, J., Bienkiewicz, M., Cogollor, J. M., Russel, M., Jean-Baptiste, E.,
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International Conference on Engineering Psychology and Cognitive Ergonomics (pp.
343-350). Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg.
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COASTER. ISBN: 978-972-8939-52-6 © 2011 IADIS
[12]. Debra Lilley. 2009. Design for sustainable behaviour: strategies and
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https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2009.05.001
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Francis, Wendy Hardeman, Martin P. Eccles, James Cane, and Caroline E. Wood.
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https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-013-9486-6
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[14]. Dan Lockton, David Harrison, and Neville a. Stanton. 2012. Models of the user:
designers’ perspectives on influencing sustainable behaviour. Journal of Design
Research 10, 1/2: 7–27. https://doi.org/10.1504/JDR.2012.046137
[15]. Bohn, J., Coroamă, V., Langheinrich, M., Mattern, F., & Rohs, M. (2004). Living
in a world of smart everyday objects—social, economic, and ethical implications.
Human and Ecological Risk Assessment, 10(5), 763-785.
[16]. A. Thieme, R. Comber, J. Miebach, J. Weeden, N. Kraemer, S. Lawson, and P.
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promote sustainable lifestyles. In Proc. of CHI'12, pages 2337-2346. ACM, 2012.
[17]. Karin Kappel and Thomas Grechenig. "show-me": Water consumption at a
glance to promote water conservation in the shower. Persuasive '09, pages 1-6. ACM,
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tangible. In Proc. of DIS'10, pages 240-243. ACM, 2010.
[19]. Anton Gustafsson and Magnus Gyllenswrd. The power-aware cord: energy
aware- ness through ambient information display. In Extended abstracts of CHI'05,
pages 1423-1426. ACM, 2005.
[20]. David Holstius, John Kembel, Amy Hurst, Peng-Hui Wan, and Jodi Forlizzi.
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Techniques, DIS '04, pages 215-221. ACM, 2004.
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Comments from External Reviewers
External Reviewer #1
09/11/2017
Issue Yes No Score
(1=low to
5=high)
Comments
Is the architecture of the document
correct?
X 5
Does the architecture of the document
meet the objectives of the work done?
X 5
Does the index of the document collect
precisely the tasks and issues that need to
be reported?
X 5
Is the content of the document clear and
well described?
X 5
Does the content of each section describe
the advance done during the task
development?
X 5
Does the content have sufficient technical
description to make clear the research and
development performed?
X 5
Are all the figures and tables numerated
and described?
X 5
Are the indexes correct? X 5
Is the written English correct? X 5
Main technical terms are correctly
referenced?
X 4
Glossary present in the document? X 4
Dr. Stelios Krinidis
CERTH
Disemination Level: PU D3.5 Desing documento of GreenSoul-ed Things 75
External Reviewer #2
10/11/2017
Issue Yes No Score
(1=low to
5=high)
Comments
Is the architecture of the document
correct?
X 5
Does the architecture of the document
meet the objectives of the work done?
X 5
Does the index of the document collect
precisely the tasks and issues that need to
be reported?
X 5
Is the content of the document clear and
well described?
X 5
Does the content of each section describe
the advance done during the task
development?
X 5
Does the content have sufficient technical
description to make clear the research and
development performed?
X 5
Are all the figures and tables numerated
and described?
X 5
Are the indexes correct? X 5
Is the written English correct? X 5
Main technical terms are correctly
referenced?
X 4 Some references are missed
Glossary present in the document? X 4 Some abreviation are not
defined in the glosary
Jose A. Morales
Wellness Smart Cities
External Reviewer #3
01/03/2018
Issue Yes No Score
(1=low to
5=high)
Comments
Is the architecture of the document
correct?
X 5
Does the architecture of the document X 5
Disemination Level: PU D3.5 Desing documento of GreenSoul-ed Things 76
meet the objectives of the work done?
Does the index of the document collect
precisely the tasks and issues that need to
be reported?
X 5
Is the content of the document clear and
well described?
X 5 Please, check the state of the
arts of the GreenSouled
Things.
Does the content of each section describe
the advance done during the task
development?
X 5
Does the content have sufficient technical
description to make clear the research and
development performed?
X 4 I think that you have
addressed all the reviewers‘
comments. But see minor
comments in the text.
Are all the figures and tables numerated
and described?
X 5
Are the indexes correct? X 5
Is the written English correct? X 5
Main technical terms are correctly
referenced?
X 4 Review references. See
comments.
Glossary present in the document? X 5
Jose M. Avila
Wellness Smart Cities