For the second month of my 2.00 Intro to Design class sophomore fall, a team of three other students and I were tasked with designing a product to help a dog owner. After interviewing a target user and brainstorming ideas, we came up with the "Dog'gone Alert System". Our product was meant to stand as a simple and inexpensive alternative to GPS dog trackers with a different functionality.

​

The system has two parts: a base beacon, and a clip-on collar unit. The beacon establishes a radius around itself, and the dog (collar) leaving this radius trips an alarm on both the beacon and collar. The alarm is reset when the dog comes back within range. Our system is entirely battery powered and portable, so it could either be left in the backyard or brought on a picnic. 

​

Working within a total budget of $90 for the project, I designed the system's electronics. We wanted to demonstrate that our device could be made from cheap components. The beacon and collar were controlled by separate Arduino Nano's. A radio receiver and transmitter each were installed on both units. The receiver was designed to toggle a switch when it received a signal from a remote, so to make the transmitters I took apart the remotes and wired MOSFET's across the push button leads to simulate sending pulses every few seconds.

​

Working on this project made me focus on developing a product that was functional as well as appealing to a customer base. That meant taking care to work closely with an end user and implement both design decisions and features that would make her more likely to use the system. I also needed to demonstrate the value of the product and its marketability to a separate audience.