User manual

ECE 477 Final Report Spring 2004
6.0 Ethical and Environmental Impact Analysis
The wireless ordering device (WOrD) allows a customer to view limited menus and
possibly other information at a commercial establishment (e.g. a restaurant or bar). A transmitter
connected to a host computer will serve as a base station transmitting menus and other
information. A remote device will act as a user interface receiving the transmitted information
and transmitting orders to the base station. This remote device’s interface will include an LCD
display and menu navigation buttons. In the design and development of both the base station and
remote unit the safety of the end user is the foremost priority. Precautions should be taken to
ensure that there are no safety concerns and that the software is fully tested. In addition, the
environmental impact of the remote and base station units must be considered. Precautions
during the production, lifetime, and disposal should be taken to limit or prevent negative
environmental impact.
Ethical Impact Analysis
Through out the design and development phase, the ethical impact must be considered.
During the design period, there is a direct need to work towards producing a high quality and
dependable product which is safe for the end user. This requires additional time in component
selection and circuit design in order to minimize points of failure and more importantly minimize
chances of injury to the end user. After the initial design phase, extensive testing must be
completed. This is a must, since adequate testing can lead to the discovery of unexpected errors
which may have otherwise prevented the device from functioning correctly. The entire design
and development process, from start to finish, must be completed in an ethical fashion so that
problems can be prevented before they happen.
In the design phase of the WOrD system an additional goal must be added to the list of
success outcomes: provide a product that is dependable and safe. For the WOrD system, this
means that several precautions must be taken throughout the design phase. First, in the design of
both the base and remote units, all traces must have appropriate sizes and all components must
be grounded correctly. It is important to design the power supplies for such that risk of shock is
minimized. This requires the use of proper ground of all components and special care in
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