INFOSYS 110 D1 FINDING LOST / STOLEN ITEMS SEMESTER 01 2014

Group Number: Group Details: Member 1: Member 2: Tutorial Details Time Spent on Assignment:
INTRODUCTION

385 Name: SangHo Choi Jeongeun Kim Tutor: Claris Chung 11 hours

NETID: scho660 maun001 Day: Monday

Time: 9am

Word Count: 1481

For countless years, many people around the world have had a valuable item stolen/lost or even both. The significant number of individuals will know how hard it would be to recover from losing such items. To some, this may seem as a small troublesome issue that does not compare to the more outstanding issues local communities, states and nations face today. But this small issue, it is a common problem that most if not all have encountered at LEAST once in their lifetime.
PROBLEM DEFINITION SECTION

Fundamental Problem: It is inevitable that for most, their property will be taken/stolen from anywhere and everywhere. With some people, this issue is a daily occurrence which will be a frustrating process to overcome. 56% of us misplace our phones or laptop each month, insurance companies will respond to 500 lost keys per day and major city transit companies received over 200 lost items per day (MicroTrax Statistics). Personal items such as mobile phones and wallets will have valuable information, which will be easy for thieves to use to their advantage. What about the time we waste trying to look for these things? A research found (Ortberg, 2007) we spend about 16 minutes a day looking for lost possessions. Another study of 3000 people in Britain (Daily Mail, 2012), found that they spent 10 minutes every day rummaging for lost items. The same study also found that the average person loses up to nine items everyday or 198,743 in a lifetime. That is an outstanding amount of time, money and value wasted.

Surface problem: Surface problems contribute to this fundamental problem. Criminals commit burglaries because they think they can get away with it. It is widely believed that the New Zealand Police do not consider burglaries a priority, as it is time consuming to investigate every crime and this will not generate revenue (Ekers, 2004). Furthermore, people in general do not care about where they place their good when they are busy or thinking about other matters. Width: The width of this issue is very wide. An area with a substantial amount of people is prone to have something taken or missing, such as music festivals and concerts. The working man/student may important documents saved onto a usb drive/disc etc, valuable information or data will be hard to retrieve. Limited edition products may cost and arm and leg and besides its value, these items will be difficult to replace. Small spaces in our home are where we can generally misplace the most common things like car keys and mobile phones. According to a survey of 2000 music lovers, one in three revellers at music festivals have items lost or stolen resulting in their experience being "completely ruined" (NZ Herald, 2013). Depth: Our economy is growing, our technology is improving todays society rapidly, which means more prime valuables to protect. There are so many negative outcomes in regards to leaving our valuables unprotected. Losing these items may lead to stress, depression, burglary, money and time wasted. The severity of burglary in New Zealand was noted at 57,247 recorded offences in 2013 (NZ Police Stats, 2013). The stress of seaching the same places over and over again can overwhelm a person into high stress levels. Theses situation types are becoming a standard thing and is an important issue to cover.

PROBLEM TREE

Symptom 3: Chain reactions caused by lost items

Symptom 4: Some goods cannot be substituted

Symptom 1: Time wasted to find lost items

Symptom 2: Value of lost items could be substantially large.

Problem: The average person loses up to nine items everyday or 198,743 in a lifetime.

Cause 1: Items can be stolen at any time.

Cause 2: People cannot remember every actions they make.

Cause 3: Memory impairment is common for old people.

2 - RECOMMENDATION SECTION SOLUTION: MINI SOUNDING ALARM

Description and feasibility This wireless device will sound an alarm when it is meters away from its receiver. How it works will be similar to a car alarm. The transmitter will send a constant signal to the receiver using a radio pulse signal modulation (How stuff works). The signal range will detect when valuable items go beyond the set distance. The receiver will then start to beep, alerting the owner that the item is out of range. This device will feature portability and a compact design for convenience. Idealy, it will used for protecting wallets, keys, purses and phones/phone cases with key ring holes . The alarm used is the Transducer Low Profile 1.5-30V Chasis Mount which will give off a long toned frequency of 4500Hz 500Hz. The range will be adjustable from 1 20 meters. Advantages Small and easily operated. Very inexpensive. Higher chances of valuable item being noticed before forgetting or theft occurring.

Disadvantages It is limited to certain items. Other valuables like laptops, credit cards or usb drives may not be suitable. This is device is battery powered. As a result, battery may lose power at an inconvenient time if not replaced. This will only alert nearby surroundings. There is no way of tracking it after the item is taken.

(Global PC, 2013) (How stuff works)

SOLUTION: GPS CHIP

Description and feasibiltiy GPS these days are smaller than the size of a babys fingernail. Tiny GPS chip can be fitted into any devices that you want to track. For example, watches, cellphones, USB, laptops and other devices as small as these. GPS usually mean a GPS receiver. The Global Positioning System (GPS) is actually asconstellation of 27 Earth-orbiting satelites (24 in operation and three extras in case one fails). Each of these 3,000 to 4,000 pound solar powered satelites circles the golbe at about 12,000miles (19,300km), making two complete roations every day. The orbits are arranged so that at any time, anywhere on Earth, there are at least four statelites visible in the sky. A GPS receivers job is to locate four or more of these satelites, figure out the distance to each, and use this information to deduce its own location. (How suff work) Ideally, the chip is inserted in the item and will be able to track a item when it is lost.

Advantages Available distance of tracking is almost unlimited. It can be tracked from many soures by using internet connectivity. It can direct you in real time as you locate your lost item.

Disadvantages The cost varies depending on which device it is going to be inserted in. However, the cost is generally high. This is device does not provide where exactly the item is placed at. It only gives the coordinate. Some areas have little or no internet connectivity.

SOLUTION ORIGINALITY.

After analysing both potential soultions, we believe the best is solution two, The GPS chip. This system covers almost unlimited distance and also can be tracked from more than one source. Thereby, it reduces the chance of losing the item forever. It is better than solution one because the alarm system will only alert nearby surroundings. There is no way of tracking the item after it is taken. Additionally, the owner may lose the transmitter which will defeat the purpose of the issue. Our sloution is innovative because nowadays value of some items are substantially high (e.g. USB that contains a company trade secrets). Even with the extra care, some goods can be lost easily and chain reactions caused by the lost good can be critical for oneself who lost the good. With the GPS chip solution, people who hold valuable and important good do not have to concern about losing them. Current solution depends on humans memory and eyes which is not really solution. With Improved techonology, GPS chip solution, people do not have to waste their time on trying to remember or searching for the lost goods. KPI (Key Performance Indicator) Problem occurs when people lose goods and they try to find them. With the GPS chip solution, people can save their time.

REFERENCES

1. NZ Herald. (2013, June 24). Survey: Music festivals ruined by thefts. Retrieved from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/

2. NZ Police Stats. (2013). Crime Statistics for calendar year ending 31 December 2013. Retrieved from http://www.police.govt.nz/

3. MicroTrax Statistics. (n.d.). Alarming Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.microtrax.com/statistics/

4. Ortberg, J. (2007). When the game is Over, It all goes back in the box: Zondervan. We spend sixteen minutes a day

5. Daily Mail. (2012, March 21). Lost something already today? Misplaced items cost us ten minutes a day. Retrieved from http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

6. Global PC. (2013). Transducer Low Profile1.5-30V Chasis Mount. Retrieved from http://www.globalpc.co.nz/

7. How stuff works. (1998-2014). How Car Alarms Work. Retrieved from http://auto.howstuffworks.com/