Week 10: Applications and Implications

Individual Assignment:
1) Propose a final project masterpiece that integrates the range of units covered, answering: - What will it do?
- Who's done what beforehand?
- What will you design?
- What materials and components will be used?
- Where will come from?
- How much will they cost?
- What parts and systems will be made?
- What processes will be used?
- What questions need to be answered?
- How will it be evaluated?
Your project should incorporate 2D and 3D design, additive and subtractive fabrication processes, electronics design and production, embedded microcontroller interfacing and programming, system integration and packaging. Where possible, you should make rather than buy the parts of your project. Projects can be separate or joint, but need to show individual mastery of the skills, and be independently operable.

INDIVIDUAL ASSIGNMENT

I chose to procede with the PROJECT B that's in my final project page: smart packaging.

What will it do?

My goal is to create a smart packaging circular system of reusable containers and distributors for dry foods. The dry food such as cereals, seeds, legumes etc. will be stocked in the distributors and the costumer, given a reusable container, can refill the container with the food from the distributors through a servo motor which activates an helix or a transport auger (cochlea), avoiding non-reusable packagings. The containers will be equipped with RFID chips to keep track of their product life, which the distributors will be able to read in real time.

Who's done what beforehand?

My main reference on this project is the Chech company MIWA which provides many food distributors with this technology. This is a picture of their distributors and cups:

What will you design?

I'm going to design the distributor and the container using a CAD modelling software (probabily Onshape). Then I'll insert a RFID chip on both the distributor and the container to keep track of the datas (how long is this cup been out for? How many times is this cup been used?). I will also design a servo motor board with a button to command the helix/cochlea that will permit the leak of food from the distributor.

After this, that is the basics of my project, I would like to explore the possibility to add some features and functionalities:

> a wieght scale either in the distributor or the contanier;
> a humidity and temperature sensor;
> a real time clock (activated by a button) to indicate when the operator filles the distributor to keep track of the freshness of the food;
> an automatic threshold sensor that sends a warning message when the food is about to finish and the distributor needs refill;
> a nice modern interface to connect both the operator and the costumer to the system.

What materials and components will be used?

- PLA for the distributors and the cups as it is biocompatible for food.

- RFID chips for the electronic part concerning the tracking.

- Servo motor, button, helix/cochlea for the electronic part concerning the leak of food.

Where will come from?

- PLA: 3DPrima https://www.3dprima.com/

- RFID chips: WideRFID https://www.widerfid.com/

- ULTRA-MICRO SERVO MOTOR: https://hobbyking.com

- HELIX / COCHLEA: https://www.amazon.it

How much will they cost?

- PLA: 20-50€ / 1 kg

- RFID: 0,30-0,90€

- SERVO MOTOR: 3€

What parts and systems will be made?

The food distributor and the container itself; the food releasing system (servo motor that activates the helix/cochlea); the interface.

What processes will be used?

- 2D design

- 3D modelling and printing

- Electronics design

- Embedded programming

What questions need to be answered?

The thing I need to figure out is how am I going to weigh the food. I was thinking of programming the servo motor, that commands the helix, on laps: e.g. 10 laps means 100g of food. I'm not sure though that this system can be truly reliable so I might have to add a weight scale at some point. I will then have to decide if I want to use an helix or a cochlea:

The next image shows the functioning of a cochlea, the problem is that it takes more space than an helix, so I'm going to have to think it through:

So the questions that needs answering are:
1) Helix or cochlea?
2) Weight scale?
3) Is the servo motor going to be strong enough? Do I need more torch?

How will it be evaluated?

I will consider the project successful if:
- the food dispensing system is strong enough and doesn't get stuck
- the data transfer system works
- the interface works nicely