Hi guys! This will be my last blog of the semester as i have FINALLY completed my project and I can't wait to share with you my entire project development journey. It's been a blast since I start recording my learning activities here.
In this page, I will
1.Briefly describe my team chemical device
2.Show how the team planned, allocated the tasks, and executed the project.
3.Document the entire design and build process of the chemical device and include videos, pictures, and screen captures of the processes.
4.Include “Hero shot” of every milestone of the processes, example the part A that was 3D printed, part B that was laser-cut, electronics components moved/worked according to the program. Hero-shot is taken with the person-in-charge holding/working/making the parts.
5.Include the name of the person who was in-charge of every part of the project.
6.Document my individual contribution to this project.
7.Provide the link to the page of the blog of my teammates.
8.Describe problems encountered and how the team solved them.
9.Include all the project design files as downloadable files.
10.Embed the final prototype design file, i.e., the final fusion360 design file showing the entire prototype.
11.Type my Learning reflection on the overall project development.
1.Our team Chemical Device
In this section, I will briefly describe my team chemical device.
My team's chemical device is a CO detection system which is able to detect the presence of carbon monoxide in the air in a car repair shop and blow it out with the aid of CO detector and a fan that is programmed using Arduino kit. As the CO level in the air exceeds the predetermined value, the sensor will send a signal to the Arduino Kit, which thereafter starts the fan and discharge the air to the atmosphere through the vent. Moreover, as the fan is working, the LED in the car repair shop will start blinking to signal that the system is working.
I almost forgot to mention that our chemical device also has a mechanism involving the use of gears. The front door of our car repair shop is 3D printed and it is open/closed through the gear on top of it.
Video of our chemical device
What it is. What problems will the chemical device solve?
Before I further describe my team's chemical device, let me give you some background infromation on carbon monoxide.
Concentration of CO in the air and its harm to human
Concentration of CO in car repair shops
Carbon monoxyde (CO) exposure is an occupational hazard for car mechanics. Following two cases of CO poisoning and a preliminary environmental assessment of four car dealerships, a descriptive study was initiated in 76 car dealer repair shops in the Quebec City area to evaluate CO exposure. Alveolar CO of 496 mechanics and ambient CO in 47 car dealer repair shops were measured: 44.6% of non smoker workers had an alveolar CO level greater than 27 ppm which is equivalent to a 5% level of carboxyhemoglobin (HbCO). Ambient CO was greater than 35 ppm in 42.6% of car repair shops, a level considered a risk for chronic health effects. The following measures were proposed to car dealership owners to reduce mechanics' exposure to CO: 1) Install or improve local or general ventilation systems, 2) improve the layout of the repair shops, and 3) prohibit running of car engines without proper connection to the ventilation system.
Problems that our prototype tackles
As mentioned earlier that car repair shops generally have unhealthily high concentration level of CO present, posing chronic health problems to the workers. Our prototype effectively resolve this problem by installing a local ventilation system that not only detects the presence of CO, it also discharge the air with high CO to the atmosphere with the vent. As a result, the CO level in car repair shops will be maintained at a safe level all day long, creating a conducive working environment for the workers.
Below is the hand sketch of the chemical device.
Initial sketch of the product
Initial dimension of our product
Final sketch of the product
Final dimension of our product
Due to limited resources for the prototype, we had lesser space to work with as we were only given a single acrylic sheet (3mm thickness, 800mm x 420 mm). Therefore, we elected to downscaled the total number of fans so that our prototype would still have all primary items and features required. For example, our prototype is still able to suck out air containing high concentration of Carbon Monoxide with the aid of CO sensor and fan.
2.Team Planning, allocation, and execution
In this section, I will list down my team member's name and their respective roles (CEO, CFO, COO, CSO)
I will show the FINALIZED BOM (BILL OF MATERIALS) table.
I will show the FINALIZED Gantt chart (planned and actual) and the tasks allocation for each team member
Our FINALIZED Gantt chart (Part 1)
Our FINALIZED Gantt chart (Part 2)
Task allocation
Fusion 360 & 3D printing: Aminur
Laser Cutting: ME
Programming of motor and CO sensor: Diana
Assembling all parts of the system: Jian Lun
3. Design and Build process
In this section, I will provide documentation of the design and build process.
Part 1. Design and Build of Cardboard (done by Aminur).Link it to Aminur’s blog
Documentation for task 1.
Initially, our group did not intend to make a cardboard. However, on the first day of 3D printing, our group failed to get a 3D printer as all printers were in use by our fellow classmates. Hence, Aminur decided to make use of the time in workshop and make our prototype using a cardboard, which turned out to be one of the most important parts in our project development as it gave us an overview of what we wanted to make and we could play around with the cardboard before we proceeded to 3D printing and laser cutting. It also played an important role in helping us determine the dimension of our prototype.
Link to Aminur's blog: https://aminur1080.wixsite.com/cp5070-2022-2a01-gro/post/project-development
Hero shot for task 1
Part 2. Laser Cutting (done by ME, Iron-man).
Part 3. CAD using Fusion 360 and 3D printing (done by Aminur).Link it to Aminur’s blog
Part 4. Programming of motor and Icd (done by Diana).Link it to Diana’s blog
Part 5. Integration of all parts and electronics (done by Jian Lun). Link it to Jian Lun's blog
4. Problems and solutions
In this section I will describe the problems encountered in the design and build process and how the team solved them.
Problem 1 and how we solved it (wires getting tangled up during final assembling)
There are too many wires needed to connect between the bread board and the components such as the LED and the motor. Wires tend to tangle up during our final assembling and we had to resolve the issue by changing the placement of our breadboard and arduino kit to create more space to separate each component.
Problem 2 and how we solved it (Laser cutting)
Problem 3 and how we solved it (3D-printed vent could't fit into the holes of acrylic sheet)
Problem 4 and how we solved it (Acrylic glue took very long to dry)
5.Project Design Files as downloadable files
In this section, I will provide all the design files (Fusion360 files, .dxf files, .stl files, arduino
programs files) as downloadable files.
Link to download all the files in google drive:
The above link contains the following: 1. Arduino programming
2. Laser cutting file (.f3d)
3. Rack & Pinion in fusion 360 (.f3d and .stl)
4. Vent (.f3d and .stl)
Feel free to download any of these files and take a lookat them :)
6.Below is my Learning Reflection on the overall Project Development
To start off, I believe that this final project development has utilised all the skills we have learnt from ICPD and CPDD. From digital modelling using Fusion 360 to laser cutting using laser cutting machine, it is a good practice that covers all aspects of the core skills that we have learnt, let alone mention the use of mechanism with the help of gears.
This activity also makes me realise the importance of having good teamwork in order to finish the project efficiently. We had to split the workload equally so that we can leverage the skills everyone has. For example, Jian Lun and Diana are good at programming and playing around with Arduino. Therefore, they would be in charge of the coding part of the project. Aminur and I mainly focused on 3D printing and laser cutting, as well as the integration of acrylic sheets using acrylic glue. This helped us execute our plan smoothly as all of us were working in our comfort zone.
As the olding saying goes, "no man is an island". Our group met up as a group during brainstorm sessions to generate more ideas. Due to insufficient access to the acrylic sheet, we had to downscaled our prototype and made some crucial changes to our dimension to ensure that our prototype could be made with what we were given. Aminur proposed the idea of reducing the number of fan while Jian Lun and Diana came up with the idea we could squeeze our breadboard and Arduino circuit to save more space.
This whole journey taught me a number of useful troubleshooting skills that I can use in the future. During laser cutting, I realised the file we made beforehand did not take the gap between objects into consideration. As a result, we had to re-design our files to leave a gap in between objects. Another problems we faced was our 3D-printed vent was too tall to fit in and we had to shorten it to fit it in after a few trails. Oftentimes our initial idea or product might not be peferct but we got to keep trying and trying to make it work in the end. It takes heart and commitment on the road to success.
All in all, I feel previleged to be part of this project development after working with my wonderful teammates for several weeks. I enjoyed the grind and I hope I will have the opporunity to work on similar projects in the future. I am pround of myself for having learnt many technical skills and non-technical skills from this project. The next project will be capstone project next sememster and I look forward to applying the skills I have acquired and turning over a new leaf to become a better teammate and individual.
Picture of our team with "Mr Chua"
Peace out!
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