Safety Electronics

A master switch and a power switch will both be used to halt the operation of the AGSE in emergency situations. An ON/OFF toggle switch will be connected between the power source and the rest of the system to separate all parts of the AGSE from the power source. When the master switch is pressed, all components of the AGSE will shut down. A pause switch will consist of a push button-type switch directly connected to the Arduino micro-controller as an input.

 

When the push-button is pressed, and a signal is sent to the micro-controller as an input, the micro-controller will pause, or temporarily terminate all actions performed by the AGSE. When this is pressed again, all actions will resume and start from where they have paused. An orange-colored light will be controlled by the micro-controller to flash at a frequency of 1Hz while the AGSE is powered on, and will only be solid-colored when the pause button is pressed.

 

When the push button is pressed during power-off conditions (e.g. because the master switch is off or power source is disconnected), the LED should be neither solid-colored nor lit because there will should be no power supplied beyond the master switch. A simple schematic of the AGSE connections is shown below.