week 4 lab

on Friday the 26th of February, we met in the lab and started to solder wires and test the entire system before placing the circuit inside the box ( see the pictures ). also, we cut the aluminium bar and placed the pieces on the actuator as well as taking measurements  (to place the coverage sheet later).

in the second half of the session, we all went to the computer room to finish the sustainibility assignment and start desinging the poster. the table of components was done as well as a part of the method part.

Picture 1:  system with the main circuit

picture 2: system with the main circuit inside the box

week 4 tutorial

on Tuesday the 23th of February, we met with our academic advisor to discuss the update of our project. we started by discussing the sustainability assignment regarding the project. then we planned the hardware parts. the project was pretty much in its final stage and only few touches needed. the following are the targets for that week:

1- ordering a 2 metres aluminium bar with 0.5 cm in diameter to cut and be placed on the linear actuator to support the coverage sheet.

2- thinking about a box in which the main soldered circuit will be put in as well as soldering few wires and wrapping them.

3- planning the poster layout to make it ready by week 5

Week 3 lab

on Friday the 19/02/2016, we met in the lab and started a quick simulation for the system on the sk10 board before soldering it on the veroboard and draw its circuit diagram on the laptop. After successful output, we started the two tasks and finished them and here are some pictures of the result of that Friday

the circuit diagram:

very similar !

Week 3 tutorial

On Tuesday the 16/02/2016, we met with our academic advisor to talk about the updates of the project. He liked it and recommended us to solder the system into a vero board so that the user does not have to worry about the connections. Therefore, battery holders were ordered and delivered. Also,  two tasks were set and the group was divided into two.

Group 1: that will do the final design of the circuit diagram

Group 2: that will do the soldering of the system into the veroboard

Week 2 Lab

On friday 12-02-2016, we arrived the lab with mostly all the components of our system. This includes the rain sensor, Not-gate, H-bridge and the linear actuator. We simulated the whole system several times and was working as expected. Here is a picture for the system ( the purple wires are output to the linear actuator)

selfie with the actuator:

Later on that day, we also decided the layout, material and shape of the cover that will be used in the system, whose function is to prevent the rain. This means it is supposed to expand and shrink due to the actuator movement. Primirly it was decided to use kitchen table sheet due to its cheapness and high immunity against the rain.

Week 2 tutorial

on tuesday 09-02-2016, we met with professor Yi Huan to tell him what we had done so far. The feedback was good which made us move to the next stage. However, There was a small problem with our system. The output current from the H-bridge was low in a way that the actuator will not operate. most actuators would operate with approximately 1A and highier, while our H-bridge gives only a 600mA current as output. We thought it over and we decided there are two possible approaches:

Either

1- finding an actuator that operates with equal or less than 600mA. Which will be convienient with the H-bridge output.

OR

2- finding a H-bridge that gives a high output current so that it can operate the actuator.


This problem is then sorted by finding a H-bridge that gives an output current of 1.1A


During that week, the water sensor and linear actuator were ordered and delivered.

Week 1 lab

On friday 05-02-2016, we met in the lab to work on the target that we had set. Although we did not have two important components which are the actuator and the sensor, we managed to make an initial simulation of the systems input and output. we constructed the H-bridge circuit with its two inputs (the original value and its inversion) and the output was shown in the multimeter as expected.

- when pin 2 of the H bridge is logic 0, and pin 7 is logic 1, the output on the multimeter shows 5 volt

- when pin 2 is logic 1, and pin 7 is logic 0, the output on the multimeter shows -5 volt

this means the H-bridge is responding to the given input. of course the actuator later will need 12 volt not only 5volt to operate

Week 1 Tutorial

On the Tuesday 02-02-2016, we met with our academic advisor prof. Yi Huang to confirm our project which is ' Rain Sensing Application '. all team members were present and we discussed the layout of the system ( we made diagrams ). we also planed the components that the system require such as h-bridge ic, linear actuator, water sensor and so on.

How the system will work ?

The idea of the system is to sense the rain using a rain sensor, then a change of voltage will make a cover automatically open as a result.

Firstly, the sensor will give a signal to the system once the rain is present. Then the signal divided into two paths, one is the original value coming straight away from the sensor, the other is an inverted value ( using NOT gate ). These two values will be the input of the H-bridge IC so that it can operate the linear actuator motor in both directions, making an opening/closing of the cover depending on the output of the sensor.

At the end of the meeting, we set a target for that week which is making the initial expected simulation of the system when we meet in the lab. 


this is the diagram that shows our system ( dont worry ;D just start from the top-right side and you will understand it, good luck)