Automated Mobile Charging Machine with Finger-print Verification System

A Thesis Presented to
The Faculty of the College of Engineering
Angeles University Foundation

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree
Bachelor of Science in Electronics Engineering

By

Gaza, Jordan B.
Maninang, Ronald J.
Pamintuan, Lester N.
Rivera, Daryl Laurence M.
Turla, Calvin Ian
Yap, Anthony G. Jr
 Abstract

The project study deals with the actualization of a mobile phone charging
machine which provides a secure and user friendly mobility charging Nokia,
Erickson and Motorola phones in public places affordably – utilizing the
technology of a vending machine. The study introduces the incorporation of the
fingerprint technology into the system for authentication purposes, therefore
offering greater level of security and convenience for the users. The machine
comprises of a computer system unit to interface the fingerprint scanner and LCD
monitor, a microcontroller for activation the security and charging modules,
keypad and coin slot inputs. It will be an easy-to-use system with user-friendly
instructions and the status of the transaction clearly shown on the monitor
display.
 CHAPTER I
THE PROBLEM AND ITS BACKGROUND

Introduction

Information and communications technology services and infrastructure is explosively

growing worldwide. The information highway such as the internet, personal computers, and

mobile phones or cellular phones are fundamentally changing our lives – affecting the way we

work, transact business, learn and communicate.

These changes are so profound that affect every aspect in our societies. It changes

business sector such as manufacturing and services industries. It changes financial transactions in

banks and credit facilities (i.e. make payments, transactions and remittances). It changes the way

we think about education, transportation, and most particularly our personal pursuits.

Today, mobile phones or cellular phones are no longer exclusively used for

communication such as calls and texting, but a convergence of various applications and

functionalities all packed in one gadget. Mobile phones are now wi-fi ready for internet

browsing, as well as equipped with digital camera and video recorders. CPs can be used as

portable media player for personalized entertainment like gaming, music playing, watch video or

TV programs. Mobile phones can function as personal digital assistant and can serve as pocket

personal computers. Hence, mobile phones are no longer luxurious gadgets but valuable tools in

today’s competitive world; and it is a necessity to have one.

With the increasing features, applications and functionalities of mobile phones

necessitates its continuous operation to support the increase in demand on communication and

data transport. High demand for its utilization increases instances of downtime, i.e. insufficient

load and drained battery.

 At the end of 2007, there are over 67.9 million mobile phone subscribers in the

Philippines (www.wikipidia.org) and majority of these are classified as prepaid accounts. The

growing number of these prepaid accounts has resulted in an innovative way of providing loads

to these accounts and has proven to be effective, not to mention the business opportunities it

created to entrepreneurs. Presently, a lot of these Electronic-loading centers can be found

anywhere providing a convenient and faster means of loading prepaid accounts and in fact

mobile phone users themselves could share loads.

The remaining obstacle for the continuous usage of mobile phone is its battery. Heavy

users tend to drain the battery much faster, and once the battery is drained of its charge the

mobile phone is useless and this is particularly annoying or stressful for the user if the situation

occurs in a public place. Unlike the electronic-loading centers where they mushroomed

everywhere, battery charging centers or outlets is not as plentiful in public places. This study

centers on the design and development of an automated mobile phone charging machine with

appropriate level of security features.

Existing studies or similar product are available in public places but offers very little

security protection. Most charging stations have hired personnel to operate the stations manually

and to provide regular salary for the said operator.

Customers always patronize establishments worth their hard-earned money that proved to

be convenient, secured and do not tie them for long hours of waiting. Investor always counts on

a much faster return on their investments. Therefore, building and coming up with a product that

will cater to the demand of both the customer and the investor is a welcome development.
 CHAPTER II
Related Literature

The project study on hand satisfactorily responds the problems for both consumer and

investor concerns. By combining different kinds of technology, the researchers have constructed

an automated charging system, which will simultaneously implements a high level of security.

Consequently, mobile phone charging station has been operational for quite some time

and they are usually located in public places largely on different shopping malls and business

establishments. There are even several companies that offer charging services with different

capabilities that depend on the customer’s needs.

Charge-Up

One such product is the Charge-up. The charge-up, is a charging station located in

different shopping malls around the Philippines. The machine is capable of charging different

kinds of mobile phone. A machine operator is needed to control the machine. He is responsible

for the payment, securing of the mobile phones, as well as booking the records of the sales of the

machine. The time duration of charging a certain device depends upon the time when the

costumer had arrived to retrieve his CP. When the intended charging duration has ended, the

operator will have to stop the charging of the mobile phones, that is, the machine operator needs

to unplug the device from the charging module. The minimum cost for charging a mobile phone

using this product is Php 20.00 for 20 minutes, with an additional rate of Php 1.00 per minute

considering the exceeded time.

Rapid Mobile Battery Charge Vending Machine (RMBCM)

Another phone battery charger is the Rapid Mobile Battery Charge Vending Machine

(RMBCM) model. The product provides mobile phone batteries with a rapid charging service

using a patented high-speed charging technology. It is similar to an automated vending machine,

only that it charges phone batteries in 15 minutes or less for a cost determined by the machine

owner (typically, $2 per charge). It makes use of a unique pin to remove the battery on the

secure cell. It is designed for travelers for fast charging and is currently compatible with over

95% of battery models on the market today.

Mobile Phone and MP3 player Charging Machine (MPCM)

Recent study entitled “Mobile Phone and MP3 player Charging Machine” (MPCM), is a

automated system that uses coins to vend a charging service and similarly includes 4-number

password activation from the user for security purposes. A minimum of one ten-peso coin

charges a device for 15 minutes. Its design process is based from the use of PIC16F877

microcontroller unit (MCU), which processes all operations of the system. However, there are

numerous limitations that are apparent in this study. An these includes: 1) It is limited of

charging only one device, either a mobile phone (of different CP models) or an MP3 player, 2) it

only accepts ten-peso coins, 3) There is no automated recovery procedure that can be done to

retrieve the pin if it is forgotten; 4) In case of power failure, the machine completely

resets(charging time is halted, inventory system resets and no automatic means of retrieving the

mobile gadget inside the secured cell until the power is turned back on) and; 5) Since

microcontroller is being used, it cannot bundle two separate processes at the same time thus,
processing of data is considerably slow (see full article on Mobile Phone and MP3 Player

Charging Machine by Delacruz, 2008)

Furthermore, like all the products mentioned above, the goal of this study is to implement

the functionality of charging mobile phones in a vending machine style, however, the researchers

have modified the study by incorporating a highly secured automated system using biometric

reader technology (fingerprint reader). In implementing biometric technology, the study on hand

could further increase system reliability because this technology is far more accurate, popular

and efficient than any other methods of security system. Similarly, the outstanding advantage of

fingerprint biometrics incorporated into the system’s security will be its convenience for the

users since they are no longer liable to remember multiple, long and complex, frequently

changing passwords or PIN codes to retrieve the CP in the secured cell. Because unlike

passwords and PIN codes, our fingerprints are impossible to lose or forget, and they can never be

stolen.

The study will focus on creating a system that will extend the capabilities of existing

charging machines available in the market and will specifically fulfill all encountered limitations

on the project study of MPCM.

 CHAPTER III
Methodology

I. Research Design

Prior to the development of the prototype, the researchers carefully consider all the

possible components, technology and literature search necessary for the conceptualization of a

research design. The researchers came up with the project block diagram, shown below, and it

shall be the center in the design and development of the project prototype. Explanation for the

system block diagram will be discussed in details at the procedure subsection.

System Block

Diagram

As an overview, our final product is composed of 2 independent charging stations each

consisting of charger pins compatible for different kinds of mobile phone models. The prototype
has an explicit monitor display to draw customer attention and a computer system unit to

interface the fingerprint module to the system. Moreover, the system also includes an

Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) to serve a grace time for the charging service and retrieval of

mobile phone around 30 minutes in case of power failure. It has 3-coins slots instead of 1 so that

we can use 3 denominations for accommodating inexact amounts. A minimum of one ten-peso

coin charges a device for 20 minutes. It will be an easy-to-use system with user-friendly

instructions and the status of the transaction clearly shown and heard on the monitor display and

speakers respectively.

As for the transaction of the system, first, the user is required to insert a minimum of

Php10.00 coin into the coin slot. Second, the user will choose the type of charger displayed at

the monitor screen. Third, the user shall connect the mobile phone at the charging pin depending

on the available station being prioritized to open. Fourth, after the station lid had been closed, a

finger of the user shall be scan at the fingerprint scanner. The procedures for retrieving the

mobile phone in the system are, first, the user shall re-scan his finger at the fingerprint scanner.

Second, if the accumulated time goes beyond the minimum time of charging, the user is required

to insert a additional amount on the 3 corresponding coin slots. Third, the user can now remove

its mobile phone inside the charging station. The station lid can be closed, indicating that the

station is readily available for a new charging service.