Hello 👋,

As you might already know, I have a project called Prometheus Fire Alarm System on GitHub. Prometheus is a next-generation fire alarm system Designed to take fire safety to the next level. This fire alarm system is designed to detect, indicate and extinguish fire by using necessary precautions.

Recently, I applied for a proposal for an improved version of Prometheus using the Matter Network and the Nordic Semiconductors nRF7002 Development Kit. The competition Make It Matter, is held by Nordic Semiconductors on the hackster.io platform. As I got selected among the 100 best proposals, I received an nRF7002 Development Kit to build a prototype of the project.

Fire Alarm System... Why?

Let's start with the obvious! One of the key requirements for a smart home is the safety and well-being of the inhabitants. This is why it's important to have devices to actively monitor and rectify any threats that occur within the house. One such threat is the hazard of fire. According to the WHO, more than 300,000 deaths occur every year due to fire-related hazards [1].

Thus we see the importance of incorporating a fire monitoring and extinguishing system into the modern smart home. This should actively monitor the environment for critical changes in the levels of humidity, temperature, and carbon dioxide and take necessary precautions to rectify any fires that get detected. The residents should also get the convenience of actively monitoring the state of the alarm and extinguishing system whenever they require it. This is the premise of the Prometheus Fire Alarm System v2.0.

Big Brother: Prometheus v1.0

This version aimed at developing a cost-effective monitoring and extinguishing system that is robust and scalable. The following were the targets of this project:

1. Cost - Develop a system based on off-the-shelf components that are cost-effective

2. Scalable - Availability for multiple monitoring devices to operate and synchronize in real-time

3. Independent - Whether connected or not, the device should monitor and react on its own without the involvement of the operator

There are four main sections and components for the proper functioning of the system. It will help to complete all the stages that are mentioned above.

1. Fire sensors

2. Extinguishing valves

3. Control unit

4. Software system

5. Structural design

This project was already completed and has been demonstrated to be effective. This demonstration is available under the following YouTube video.

What's Next?

The next step would be to improve the Prometheus Fire Alarm System into a smart home device, bringing in the cost-effective, independent, and scalable fire alarm and extinguishing system to the smart home. This will allow it to sit alongside other sensors and systems to provide all the smart homes with safety from fire.

The improvements thus suggested will be as follows.

1. Add a built-in charging system to allow the system to run when even the power is lost

2. Redesign the system to use the nRF7002 chip instead of an ATMega

3. Rewrite the firmware to incorporate the Matter protocol

What to Expect...

The reason why I started this devlog is to keep track of the progress of the project. I intend to follow a strict development timeline to make sure the final demonstration is ready in time. The biggest milestones are as follows.

In the next article, I will share some of the research I did on the nRF7002 Development Kit and the Matter Network.

Until then... Cheers! 🎉

Some Further Resources

• Prometheus Fire Alarm System Firmware Repo

• Prometheus Command Panel Repo

• Prometheus Fire Alarm System v1.0 Report

• Prometheus Fire Alarm System Demo Video (Youtube)

References

1. Deaths resulting from residential fires and the prevalence of smoke alarms--United States, 1991-1995

2. nRF7002 DK Reference

3. Matter Specification

4. Nordic Semiconductor Homepage