Article
Reprinted with permission from the Bechtel Globe
Bechtel
Construction sponsored an FAA Warning Light Monitoring project
for one of Michigan Tech’s Enterprise teams during the
2005 fall and 2006 spring semesters. Work on the project was
performed by “Blue Marble Security” an internal
MTU entity created to help provide a realistic corporate and
project environment for the participating students.
The
Bechtel / Blue Marble team was challenged with the development
of a cost effective, self contained device capable of continuous
monitoring and status notification regarding the function of
telecommunication structure FAA warning lights. The device was
required to reliably function unattended for an extended period
in an area with no permanent power, landline or local cellular
service. The monitoring device was required to provide annunciation
of two status notifications to a specified email address; a
daily “all is well” heart beat and an emergency
notice upon the failure of any tower warning light.
Throughout the project the Blue Marble Team
held documented bi-weekly conference calls with their Bechtel
Sponsor, Jeff Bryson, as they designed, procured, constructed
and tested the device.
The team encountered and overcame numerous hurdles
during the project and in the end completed the project on time
and within budget.
Upon completion of the project, Mike Hickey
and Jeff traveled to Houghton Michigan where the system’s
normal operation and warning light failure modes were demonstrated.
The system performed as intended and the prescribed notifications
were successfully sent to Jeff’s Blackberry within moments.
