Project Development
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's Chemical Device
- In this section, I will briefly describe my team's chemical device.
- What it is. What problems will the chemical device solve?
- Below is the hand sketch of the chemical device.
My team's chemical device is an automated breathalyser. It functions to measure the amount of alcohol content present in the user's breath.
It has a mechanism to block off the keyhole of the car to prevent the driver from starting the car if the alcohol content detected is too high. It also has features of an alarm clock where it will light up and produce a continuous buzzing sound to alert the driver when there is too much alcohol in his/ her breath.
This is a hand sketch of of our chemical device:
With our chemical device, we aim to reduce the number of car accidents caused by/ related to drunk driving.
Under Section 67 (1) of the Road Traffic Act, it is a criminal offence to drive while under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
According to statistics, it has been reported that the number of drink-driving accidents decreased by 9.0%, from 78 in the first half of 2021, to 71 in the same period in 2022. However, the number of people arrested for drink-driving increased by 7.0%, from 741 in the first half of 2021, to 793 in the same period in 2022.
Although the numbers may seem small when compared to other causes for car accidents, it is still crucial to control these numbers because drink-driving is a dangerous act and people's lives are being held at stake. The consequences one has to face if convicted of drink-driving can also be severe.
Hence, we chose this chemical device in hopes to promote safe driving practices.
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
CEO: Yeung Juen (https://cp5070-2022-2b04-group4-leeyeungjuen.blogspot.com/)
CFO: Me, Mavis
COO: Alvin (https://cp5070-2022-2b04-group4-alvin-chuah.blogspot.com/)
CSO: Isabelle (https://isabelleadora.wixsite.com/cp5070-2022-2b04-gro)
COO: Alvin (https://cp5070-2022-2b04-group4-alvin-chuah.blogspot.com/)
CSO: Isabelle (https://isabelleadora.wixsite.com/cp5070-2022-2b04-gro)
Finalized BOM (Bill Of Materials)
Link to BOM: Click here
Bill of Materials (BOM)
Finalized Gantt chart
Link to Gantt chart: click here
3. Design and Build Process
Part 1: Design and Build (Done by everyone)Cardboard prototyping:
Firstly, we marked out how much space the Arduino board, breadboard and servo will be taking up on the cardboard.
Final:
First, select the file and export it as STL file
"Save as mesh":
Change the format to "STL (Binary)" and save the file to downloads:
Open the STL file from downloads and click "Slice" to see the duration of the printing job.
Collect the printed part after it has been cooled:
From the Fusion design that was created by YJ, I retrieved the dimensions for every sides of the box that needs to be cut out using the laser cutter.
(drawings below are just rough sketches solely for my own visualization and may not be proportional)
Top part of the box:
Measurements for the face where holes for the tube and LED will be cut:
Measurements for face where the hole for the servo will be cut:
Measurements for the face where the hole for the USB will be cut:
With the measurements, I used this website to help me create the .DXF files for the planes that needs to be cut.
In the website, I entered the measurements I want and selected "Open Box" and "Flat" for edge joints for both the top and bottom part of the box.
Top:
Part 6: Laser cutting of box faces (Done by Alvin and Isabelle)
Part 7: Programming of electronics (Done by Isabelle)
Part 8: Integration of parts and electronics (Done by everyone)
We realized that the hole for servo was too small and we had to manually file it to make the hole bigger.
Next, we attached the faces of the box that were being laser cut, together using acrylic glue.
Then, we realized that the hole for our USB was misplaced and we had to file again.
Hero shot:
4. Problems and Solutions
- Tubing was too long
Since the tube was too long, we decided to shorten it so that the user's breath can come out more concentrated and the sensor will be able to measure the alcohol content.
- Locks and hinges could not be attached to the acrylic
Our initial plan was to drill the screws onto the acrylic so that we can attach the hinge, and since we bought the hinge and screws before we have the box ready, the size of the hinge was too small.
We also received advice from our lecturer that it is not recommended to drill a screw through the material because it has a high chance of breaking due to it being too thin.
After many attempts, we managed to glue the hinge on to the acrylic.
We also had trouble attaching the locking mechanism on to the box. We took our TEs suggestions into consideration and ended up using velcro.
5. Project Design files as downloadable files
6. Below is my Learning Reflection on the overall Project Development
Through the activities that we have done for this CA, I still find myself rather incompetent with coding and programming. There is also still a lot for me to catch up on for my Fusion360 skills.
My contributions for this CA were mainly for laser cutting. Since we learned how to operate the laser cutter earlier this semester, I did not have much trouble creating and preparing the files for laser cutting.
In my opinion, I think the biggest challenge that I face for this CA is communication. From my point of view, there was little communication between our group because everyone seemed to be working among themselves and I found it hard to keep up and be included. For example, when coming up with the CAD design for the prototype. Initially, the original plan was for Yj and I to work together to come up with the design on Fusion, but in the end, he completed it himself in the span of 2 days and without having any discussion with me. This resulted in me having almost 0 contribution for that area of this project.
I understand that he might have a different working style which is more fast paced as compared to mine, and that maybe it is my fault for not being fast enough to initiate the discussion with him, but still... 😕. This made me feel excluded and I most definitely do not want to give an impression that I am bad teammate who pushes things on to someone else. I believe that every group member should have a chance to learn and contribute and that communication would have made things better for us.
From this, I learned that even though a team may consist of members who have abilities that compliment each other, communication within the team is still an important aspect because it affects the group work experience that everyone has. I will be keeping this experience I had in mind for FYP because it would not be ideal for such situation to happen again. I will be more outspoken and try to be more pro-active.
But on the positive side, I am quite happy with how our product turned out. It was satisfying to see how our sketch turn into a real working product.
Comments
Post a Comment