Consider using an off-the-shelf product for this application. Remember that components that are installed in the floor take heavy abuse. When this wears out, you want to be able to buy another one, not build it.

I am curious whether you have tested this for the amount of deformation you get in the springs with the weight of an average human. If it's significant, then you'll have to deal with the pinch hazard where the pressure tile meets the rest of the tiles.

return to top of page

Is there going to be 1 pressure sensitive tile?

I'd be concerned about load cycling and ease of replacement after millions of cycles. Is there a more reliably way to detect the step, like IR curtains? The clients mentioned in the room that their mechanical components fail but the IR curtains are very reliable.

return to top of page

Will the sensing floor plate look like the rest of the floor so it is effectively hidden? The challenge of maneuvering through the lasers and turning on and off the lasers seems like it will fill up the 3-5 minutes so it might be a good idea to visually separate the sensing floor plate so users can find it more easily.

The integration of the sensors and electronics appears seamless and quite feasible. Other than that, I'm not sure what I've learned from the "looks like" model.

return to top of page

The concept design is of a floor that tetects when a person has stepped on it. The implementation seems reasonable, but maybe the separation between the two layers should be made much smaller - a few millimeters.

return to top of page

It looks like a floor ! Will they be stepping up a bit onto the floor or will the entire room be raised a bit ?

return to top of page

It seems like this started as a works-like model and ended up as a looks-like model. It accomplishes a little bit of both. The "looks like" piece would have benefited from a diagram showing how the component fits into the room. The "works like" piece would of course have benefited from a working demonstration of the concept or some code showing the behavior of the inputs and outputs.

I appreciate the component flowchart at the bottom.

return to top of page

The sketch model is in progress.

return to top of page

Model is simple but clean and demonstrates the integration of the electronics.

return to top of page

The springs may be not too suitable for this implementation. You could just have 2 boards with pressure sensors on the four corners, in which case there would be only about 1mm separation between the boards and no need for springs.

return to top of page

Nice, effectively got the idea across.

return to top of page