Located in Elmhurst, Illinois, The Chamberlain Group, Inc. is the world'slargest manufacturer of residential garage door openers and commercial andgate operators for use on cars, boats and planes.... Show moreLocated in Elmhurst, Illinois, The Chamberlain Group, Inc. is the world'slargest manufacturer of residential garage door openers and commercial andgate operators for use on cars, boats and planes. Chamberlain leads the industry in product innovation and quality, and is the low-cost producer. At this time, through its Advanced Development group, Chamberlain is interested in exploring new devices that can enhance the functionality of its garage door operator systems. Residential garage door operators currently utilize an IR emitter and detector pair to identify the presence of an object breaking the "beam". This sensor is used to reduce the risk of a moving garage door striking an object in its path.The IPRO team will investigate the use of an inexpensive CCD camera to replace, and potentially expand, this functionality. The scope of this project will include but not necessarily be limited to: (a) understanding regulatory requirements for devices currently used on operators, and attempting to anticipate how current requirements will be interpreted and or modified to cover this new sensor, (b) identifying optical and electronic requirements to meet anticipated regulatory requirements, (c) examining current patents for devices utilizing similar technology, (d) developing a single sample device optimized for minimum development time and (e) estimating the projected cost for this system, when optimized for functionality, cost and produceability. Show less
