This project is proposed by Teknatool (www.teknatool.com), a global manufacturer for wood and metal working equipment.
In this project Teknatool wants to combine the recent advances in technology and tiny programmable microcontrollers for improving operator safety in workshop machinery. The project will research into sensors and sensor technology for workshop machinery. A prototype "safety shield" array of sensors will be developed, which will communicate with existing motor in the equipment and react based on the sensor inputs. The intelligence will be programmed in the prototype microprocessor such as Raspberry Pi, C.H.I.P., Arduino or our custom STM32 board to implement and demonstrate the safety capabilities of the sensor array.
Therefore, the task involved in the project are
• Carry research into the novel sensor technology as well as commercially available sensors and identify their advantages.
• Create a prototype sensor array with the C.H.I.P board and designed to work with a workshop cutting tool
• Implement on a workshop cutting tool that works with both metal and wood material, identify when an unsafe situation has occurred and stop the motor in order to prevent hard to the user.
Undergraduate
1. Students identify the types of sensors which are commercially available as well as up and coming sensor technologies.
- The sensor array must be at a reasonable price point for the product to remain competitive in the market place
2. The students will learn to create a prototype board which can interface with existing communication protocol to a motor control board. The prototype board will replace the existing user interface used in teknatool machines.
3. The students will then add sensors and interface them with the prototype board and have the motor react to the environment and stop the motor if it has detected a unsafe working condition
- The workshop cutting tool must be able to work with both metal and wood material
4. The students will demonstrate the prototype system working to stop the motor based on the sensor input and processing and demonstrate their excellent understanding of current and up and coming sensor technology.
MECHENG312
Lab allocations have not been finalised