Fontys ICT & Technology – Profile Phase

The Ambient Student House

ASH-1 Embedded Systems 1

Table of Contents
1 Introduction..................................................................................................................................... 1
2 Project Information ......................................................................................................................... 1
2.1 Project Name ........................................................................................................................... 1
2.2 Project Background Information ............................................................................................. 1
2.3 Project Objectives.................................................................................................................... 2
2.4 Project Requirements .............................................................................................................. 2
3 Project Guidelines ........................................................................................................................... 2
3.1 Way of working ....................................................................................................................... 2
3.2 Equipment ............................................................................................................................... 2
3.3 Assessment .............................................................................................................................. 2
3.4 Deliverables ............................................................................................................................. 3
4 Leaning Objectives .......................................................................................................................... 3
5 Learning Outcomes ......................................................................................................................... 3
6 Additional Project info..................................................................................................................... 4
6.1 Mood Lighting ......................................................................................................................... 4
6.2 Student House Map ................................................................................................................. 5
1 Introduction
Welcome to ICT & Technology! In the profile phase you will gain further knowledge of programming
and hardware interfacing of smart systems. You will learn programming the Arduino in C,
programming applications in C# and you will be using various sensors and actuators. All this comes
together in a project that will be carried out next to the courses. You will join a project team who
have the task to develop a smart system. The project is described in the next chapters.

2 Project Information
2.1 Project Name
The company Student Housing is developing a new concept of a student house, much like a student
hotel, that provides ambient and smart facilities for a pleasant stay and an excellent study
environment. This project is called “The Ambient Student House”.

2.2 Project Background Information

The Ambient Student House aims to provide spaces where students can live, study and socialize with
other students. What we discovered along the way, is that a supportive atmosphere really inspires
those who encounter it. A smart ambience provides a place with optimal conditions for students to
focus on their studies.
In principle, each room is a separate ambient environment that can provide a specific atmosphere for
the guests. The different rooms have specific ambience and appliances, such as kitchens, flexible co-
working spaces, chill-out lounges, libraries, meeting rooms, information boards with calendar of
events, and so on. Figure 1 gives an impression of different atmospheres in the student house.

Figure 1: Ambient Student House

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2.3 Project Objectives
Student Housing would like the project team to develop a prototype to demonstrate the ambient
student house using ambient technology. The technology that is lectured in the courses must be
applied to the system. The team has to come up with new ideas and concepts that can give the
company competitive advantages. The new ideas must be accepted by the client – the new ideas
must be feasible and profitable. The client is the CEO of the company.
The team has to brainstorm about innovative ideas, distil the necessary requirements, develop a
project plan, setting up the system architecture, implementing and demonstrating the system. The
system must be unique and distinct from other teams.

2.4 Project Requirements

The company wants certain default features and requirements in the prototype. The project team
can develop additional features, which have to be approved by the client. An overview of default
features and requirements are listed below.
1. The student house as a reception. It has a central computer that stores the guest
registrations and it can be used to monitor or control the ambience of the house.
2. Security is an important aspect of the system. Students can only enter those rooms for which
they are authorized. Burglar alarm must prevent theft.
3. Fire alarm is mandatory. The student house needs to be able to estimate the number of
guests in case of a fire alarm. Fire alarm and smoke alarm are simular.
4. The lighting system must be energy-saving.
5. The lighting system must be adaptive to mood, brightness and possibly outside conditions.
6. The house must be automatically air conditioned according to a user-defined temperature
and ideal humidity.

3 Project Guidelines
3.1 Way of working
The project team shall consist of 3~4 students. The team will work according to an Agile approach,
called Scrum. You as a team and the workshops will determine the way of working. The project needs
to be planned before you start developing the system and during the development. The planning
(project plan, scheduling meetings, work division) is the full responsibility of the team. The project
teachers and the workshops will guide you towards a project plan and guide your with Scrum to
increase the chance of success.

3.2 Equipment
The hardware that is used in de courses, e.g. the ES2-kit (CB), are at your disposal. Other hardware
can be borrowed from the iSSD. You can also bring or buy your own hardware. You can use the
Arduino or other processor boards.

3.3 Assessment
During the project you will be given feedback and feedforward by the teacher(s). FeedPulse will be
used to record the feedback. It is important to show that you can improve your personal professional
skills based on the feedback or personal circumstances. At the end of the semester, you have grown
as a group and as individuals. This growth can be divided into four categories: writing skills, verbal

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communication skills, technical knowledge and skills, and project management skills. The teachers
will assess you on these categories. They will determine your formative indication based on the
learning outcome.

3.4 Deliverables
Some deliverables of the project are listed below. The workshop teachers(s) may add more
deliverable requirements.
• Project plan. The project group will work out the project plan in the first week(s). This
document is called a “light weight” project plan. Keep in mind that this project plan is not a
full-blown project plan, but it is a short project plan that serves as a good starting point of the
project. The phrase “light weight” does not imply an easy-to-do project plan, but it is a subset
of a bigger or “heavy weight” project plan.
• Product. The product is the prototype system (implementation) of the student house.
• Demonstration and presentation. The project team shall demonstrate their product. It is
required to present the system to an audience. The presentation presents the ideas behind
the product, system architecture, features, conclusions and recommendations.
• Source code and associate files. You must submit the source code, schematics and other files
that describe the implementation of the system.
• Retrospective. You must submit retrospectives and personal feedback to show that you as a
team and as an individual have tried to improve the development process during the project.

4 Leaning Objectives
After successfully finishing the ICT & Technology Advance Project, you will be able to:
• Build up interactive embedded systems. Two or more systems communicate with each other
using a predefined protocol and can handle communication errors.
• Programming. You apply all imperative programming concepts (C/C#) and Object Oriented
concepts (C#). The focus is on developing readable code, maintainable code, and a robust
product. The following subjects need to be applied: objects, classes, encapsulation,
constructors, private fields, properties, and methods.
• Sensors and actuators. You apply sensors and actuators in order to let the system interact
with its environment.
• Various I/O techniques. You will apply various I/O techniques.

5 Learning Outcomes
The learning outcome for semester 1 is described in the Semester guide OE1 – course-based. The
learning outcome for ICT & Technology is described on page 9.

Semester guide
OE1 - course-based

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6 Additional Project info
6.1 Mood Lighting
How does lighting affect our mood? Here are some links for explanation and inspiration.
https://www.kempsarchitecturallighting.com/news/2017/how-does-lighting-affect-our-mood
https://www.archdaily.com/922506/how-lighting-affects-mood
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voTrDaOS55M
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a8BwXq5PBwo
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddFLV5aG9Ss

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6.2 Student House Map

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