Paranormal Activity Detection and Recording System

Paranormal Activity

Detection and

Recording System



Senior Design I

Dr. Picone, Instructor

Team Members



PIC, Firmware,

Sensors Website







Julius Carter Brian Nagel









Windows PIC,

software, Sensors Dr. Reese, Advisor

Microsoft

project



Ben Sigh Shaan Wadhwani

Project Abstract



 Develop a stand-alone paranormal

activity detection and recording system

for paranormal investigators

 Integrate sensors with camera and

microphone

 Download from device through Ethernet

connection

 Easy-to-use software for data management

and reduction

Problem Statement



With currently available equipment…

 A person needs to be present to monitor

instruments

 Multiple sensors might require multiple displays

 Getting data on computer may require

technical knowledge

 Sensors should trigger recording devices—but

this is not easy to set up

Solution

 A small recording device

 Essentially a small computer

 Input from motion sensors, temperature sensors,

and EMF sensors

 Input from camera and microphone

 Hard drive for data storage

 Firmware that records audio and video when

activity is detected

 Automatic—can function alone

 User-friendly Windows software for

downloading data via Ethernet

Design Constraints:

Technical



 Storage …………..at least 1 hour of data

 Camera …………..IEEE-1394 IIDC

compatible camera

 Compression…….MPEG-1 compression

 Noise……………..< 20 dB

 Software………….Windows compatible

Design Constraints:

Practical



 Economic………parts cost less than $700

 Safety…………..UL specification 60950

for information technology

equipment

 Reliability………can run 2 weeks without

rebooting

 Size…………….11.75” x 7.5” x 6.75”

 Power usage…..will use no more than 72 W

Device Design

Serial port to Webcam (Firewire,

PIC/Sensors IIDC-compatible)





Computer

(Needed to

download and

view data)









Ethernet

(Only needed when

downloading data)









Microphone Records data when

sensor triggered

Hardware:

Device









Serial port for

Firewire port sensors

for camera Power button Ethernet port for

downloading data Phone jack for

to computer microphone

Hardware:

Temperature

sensors (up to 3)

Microchip TCN75



PIC/Sensors





Microchip PIC16876

EMF Sensor

Multidetektor II Profi









Serial connector

PIR (Passive

Connects to serial port Infrared) Motion

on device sensors (up to 2)

Device Function

 After sensing activity, device will record

audio/video to hard disk

 User will download recorded data via a network

connection to a PC

 Device can be set up in remote location and

data can be downloaded later when user takes

device home

 If device disk becomes full, recording will

cease

Device Considerations

 Storing raw video eats disk space:

 For 1 hour of raw video



 The hard drive is the most failure-prone part

of device

 We will write to device memory when possible

 Device needs to be quiet

 Increase sensitivity of microphone

 We will use fanless processor

 Less powerful, may not be able to compress video

Device Firmware:

Design & Considerations



 Linux operating system

 Free—will not have to buy it

 Many open-source projects for video compression,

file transfer, etc. Files become accessible for

downloading at this point

 Basic flow chart

Yes No









No Yes

Software Interface:

Physical Model

Parts

 Computer  Peripherals

 Motherboard (provided by user)

 120 GB Hard Drive  Camera

 512 MB of RAM  IEEE-1394

IIDC-compatible

 Sensors

 Most webcams comply

 Temperature with this specification

 EMF  Microphone

 Motion

 Other

 PIC

Cost

 iBot ITX Computer $422.00

 PIR Motion Sensor $ 21.90

 Temperature Sensors (3) $ 4.35

 EMF Sensor $120.00

 PIC $ 7.63

 Assorted Electronics $ 25.00

Total $600.88

Questions