SBIR Phase I: Shower Stream: An IoT Smart Shower for Hotels

小型企业创新研究(SBIR)第一阶段项目的更广泛影响/商业潜力是通过提高家庭淋浴效率，防止美国各地每年浪费超过500亿美元的建筑公用事业成本。这项技术的大规模商业采用每年将在美国节省2000亿加仑的水和至少1万亿千瓦时的能源。*减少废水和能源使用，减轻城市供水和能源基础设施的压力。*较低的能源使用量也将对与发电相关的碳排放产生重大影响。这项创新将通过开发一种在炎热潮湿条件下工作的高精度新型传感技术来提高对科学技术的理解。此外，该占有率检测技术还可用于环境条件恶劣而无法使用传统传感器的其他应用。物联网设备将生成有价值的最终用户公用事业使用行为数据，公共机构和私营行业将使用这些数据来设计更好的政策和最佳实践。除了经济、技术和环境效益，这项研究还通过为商业建筑节省足够的公用事业成本来增加员工来促进就业。拟议的项目将消除行为用水浪费，即浴者在淋浴加热后仍无人使用时发生的浪费。开发这项技术需要：(1)能够准确感知淋浴占用情况的设备，(2)紧凑的外壳，可以适应淋浴？S炎热潮湿的环境，以及(3)低能耗电路和算法，以实现长电池寿命。实现项目目标的方法包括用于传感器精度的声信号分析、现场试点测试、实现设备尺寸限制的CAD设计和原型制作，以及确保可靠性和耐用性的加速老化测试。这一第一阶段可行性工作的首要目标是验证新的公用事业节约方法、占用传感器的准确性和校准至少5年，以及设备电池寿命至少2年。如果满足以下关键技术目标，则该项目将被视为成功：(1)传感器经过相关的无损加速老化测试后，性能至少在1%的误差范围内；(2)在酒店现场试点测试中，与基线相比，该传感器至少节省了20%的水和能源；(3)该设备-S电池寿命至少为2年。

The broader impact/commercial potential of this Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I project is to prevent over $50 billion in wasted building utility costs annually across the US by increasing domestic shower efficiency.  Commercial adoption of this technology at scale will save 200 billion gallons of water and at least 1 trillion kWh of energy in the U.S. every year.  Reducing waste water and energy use decreases the strain on municipal water and energy infrastructure.  Lower energy use will also have a significant impact on carbon emissions associated with electric generation. The innovation will enhance scientific and technological understanding by developing a highly-accurate novel sensing technology that works in hot and humid conditions. Moreover, the occupancy detection technology can be used for other applications where difficult ambient conditions prevent the use of conventional sensors. The IoT device will generate valuable end-user utility use behavior data which public institutions and private industry will use to design better policies and best practices. In addition to the economic, technological and environmental benefits, this research also promotes jobs by providing enough utility savings to commercial buildings for them to increase their staff.The proposed project will eliminate behavioral water waste which occurs when a bather leaves a shower unoccupied even after the water has warmed-up.  Developing the technology requires: (1) a device that can accurately sense shower occupancy, (2) a compact enclosure resilient to a shower?s hot and humid environment and, (3) low energy circuitry and algorithms for long battery life.  Methods to achieve the project objectives include acoustic signal analysis for sensor accuracy, in-situ pilot testing, CAD design and prototyping to achieve device size constraints, and accelerated aging tests to ensure reliability and durability.  The overarching goal of this phase I feasibility effort is to validate the novel utility savings methodology, occupancy sensor accuracy and calibration over at least 5 years, and a device battery life of at least 2 years.  This project will be deemed successful if the following key technical objectives are met: (1) The sensor performs within at least a 1% error margin after relevant nondestructive, accelerated aging tests, (2) The amount of water and energy saved is at least 20% when compared to baseline during live hotel pilot tests, and (3) The device?s battery life is at least 2 years.