System input and output

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To input: Input

To code: Code

To output: Output

The user must be able to adjust various settings of the Smart Bedroom to fit his own needs. In addition to that, the system must provide its user with information about how he slept and the user must be able to provide feedback, which the Smart Bedroom can take into account during the following nights. For this project, however, we won’t be able to implement all features the way we imagined it, if at all. In addition to that, we don’t know yet whether we will make a NetLogo simulation or a real, functioning prototype with an Arduino, so options for both of them have been listed. We’re not so experienced yet with working with the Arduino, so the descriptions for that may be a bit vague.

System input

Input	Dream	NetLogo simulation	Arduino prototype
Setting or keeping track of the time and date.	The Smart Bedroom uses the time and date according to your smartphone.	The time is irrelevant, but the day of the year (between 1 and 365) can be typed into an input box.	Built-in timekeeper or the time according to your laptop. The date is irrelevant.
Temperature in the bedroom.	A simple thermostat is placed in the Smart Bedroom.	A simple model simulates the temperature in the bedroom.	N/A (The Arduino has no temperature control.)
Brightness in the bedroom.	A sensor placed in the bedroom measures the brightness.	A simple model simulates the brightness in the bedroom.	N/A (The Arduino won’t take the brightness into account.)
Brightness outside.	A sensor placed on the outside wall measures the brightness.	A simple model simulates the brightness outside as a function of the date and time.	N/A (The Arduino won’t take the brightness into account.)
Choose between no alarm, standard alarm and smart alarm.	The choice is made with a drop-down menu on the mobile app for the Smart Bedroom.	N/A (Focus is on smart alarm.)	N/A (Focus is on smart alarm.)
Indication of when the user is going to sleep.	The user presses a big ‘Start’ or ‘Sleep’ button on the app.	An input box for typing in the time the ‘user’ goes to sleep.	Starting the program.
Choose when you want to wake up.	With the standard alarm the user selects the exact time he wants to be woken up, with the smart alarm he chooses the start and end of the period in which he wants to be woken up.	Two input boxes: one in which you can type the start of the period in which the ‘user’ needs to be woken up, in the other box you type the end.	The program asks the user for two numerical input values: one for the start of the ‘wake up period’ and the other one for the end.
Choose what the Smart Bedroom controls (lights, blinds, heater).	Checkboxes on the app can be used to toggle the use of lights, the blinds and the heater. The temperature in the room during the night must be adjustable, but default would be about 18 °C.	Switches for toggling the lights, blinds and the heater.	We’ll only be able to let the Arduino control a light, so the program could ask the user for a Boolean value for toggling this.
Sound control (volume and type of sound).	The volume can be adjusted with the volume control buttons of the phone itself. The type of sound can be chosen from a database from the app itself or from the personal folders on the phone.	Sound is simulated, but the volume is expressed in terms of how effective it is in waking the user up. The effectiveness can be typed into an input box, but we don’t know yet how the model will use it or what the range is.	The program could ask the user for a percentage, where 0% mutes the sound and 100% means maximum sound volume, but this also depends on the speaker. The type of sound is a standard repetitive alarm tone.
Sleep cycle (how deep the user sleeps).	There exists an app already that can translate the sounds the user makes when sleeping (breathing and moving) into a sleep cycle. The Smart Bedroom will do the same.	The sleep cycle is calculated by a mathematical model and is given directly as an input.	The program uses a microphone to find the frequency of the user’s breathing and translates that into a sleep cycle.

System output

Output	Dream	NetLogo simulation	Arduino prototype
Temperature control.	The Smart Bedroom controls the heater and keeps the temperature constant at a pleasurable level for the user to sleep, default at about 18 °C. Just before the alarm goes up, the temperature needs to rise to a level set by the user.	A model simulates the temperature control as described with the dream.	N/A (The Arduino won’t be able to control the heater.)
Control of the blinds.	From the start of the ‘wake up period’, the brightness in the bedroom needs to be gradually increased to help the user wake up. The system uses as much natural light as possible, so if the brightness outside is high enough, the blinds will slowly open up. If the user is fully awake or hasn’t woken up yet during the ‘wake up period’, the blinds will open up completely.	If the simulated brightness outside is high enough, a model will simulate the gradual increase of the light passing through the blinds.	N/A (The Arduino won’t control the blinds.)
Control of the lights.	If it’s still too dark outside, the Smart Bedroom will gradually turn on the lights instead. If the user is fully awake or hasn’t woken up yet during the ‘wake up period’, the lights will turn on completely.	A model simulates the brightness control as described with the dream.	The Arduino will gradually turn on a small light, but won’t measure the brightness because it doesn’t add much to this project.
Alarm sound.	In case of the standard alarm, of if the user hasn’t woken up yet during the ‘wake up period’, the smartphone produces a generic repetitive alarm tone at the time set by the user. In case of the smart alarm, the phone produces a more natural sound when it’s the right time to wake up the user, like birds tweeting or waves crashing. The volume will increase over time to ensure the user wakes up.	A model simulates the production of sound for the smart alarm, but only takes the volume into account. The type of sound is irrelevant.	The Arduino produces a natural sound for the smart alarm similar to how it’s described with the dream.
A graph of the entire sleep cycle of that night.	The graph is shown the moment the user turns off the alarm and is stored in a database for later use.	A plot shows the simulated sleep cycle, which is drawn real-time.	We will try to make the Arduino plot the sleep cycle in a graph on the laptop.

Feedback mechanism

Feedback	Dream	NetLogo simulation	Arduino prototype
Temperature during sleep.	The user can rate the temperature by choosing between ‘Too cold’, ‘Chilly’, ‘Alright’, ‘Warm’ and ‘Too hot’. The Smart Bedroom uses this information to adjust the temperature during sleep in the following nights accordingly.	Feedback can be given using a chooser with the options ‘Too cold’, ‘Alright’ and ‘Too hot’. During the following simulations, the temperature control will be adjusted accordingly.	N/A (The Arduino won’t control the temperature.)
Brightness when waking up.	The user can rate the brightness by choosing between ‘Too dark’, ‘Dark’, ‘Alright’, ‘Bright’ and ‘Too bright’. The Smart Bedroom uses this information to adjust the blinds and lights accordingly.	Feedback can be given using a chooser with the options ‘Too dark’, ‘Alright’ and ‘Too bright’. During the following simulations, the blinds and lights will be adjusted accordingly.	The program asks the user for a numerical input. -1 means too dark, 0 means alright and 1 means too bright. The Arduino adjusts the brightness of the light during the following experiments accordingly.
Sound volume.	The user can rate the sound volume by choosing between ‘Too soft’, ‘Soft’, ‘Alright’, ‘Loud’ and ‘Too loud’. The Smart Bedroom uses this information to adjust the sound volume accordingly. Furthermore, the user can change what kind of sound the system makes if it didn’t please him.	Feedback can be given using a chooser with the options ‘Too soft’, ‘Alright’ and ‘Too loud’. During the following simulations, the effect of the sound on the user’s sleep cycle will be increased or decreased accordingly.	The program asks the user for a numerical input. -1 means too soft, 0 means alright and 1 means too loud. The Arduino adjusts the volume of the sound during the following experiments accordingly.