Project Idea Selection and First Sketch
Project Idea Conception

One of the task given to us for the first week of the Fab Academy was to select an idea for our final project and to make a basic sketch of the project Initailly when we discussed the ideas for our final project, I had couple of ideas that I wanted to work on. However, I finalized to work on the idea to build an electric kiln

Why this Project idea?
There were many reasons for choosing this idea as my final project but my personal interest in pottery was the main factor in pushing me to select this idea. Some of the reasons that pushed me to select this ideas are;

  • Pottery a declining artform: Pottery is one of the 13 art forms/ craftsmanship known as zorig chusum in local bhutanese language which has prevailed in the country for years. However, this art form is declining and from among the 13 art forms it is the least popular with very few people still practicing it. One of the main reasons for its decline is the lack of accessibility to resources such as kilns. Very few kilns are available in the country and majority of those are in villages which are unaccessible to the interested youths in the urban regions.

  • Environmental Impact of traditional firewood based kilns: Those prevailing kilns in villages uses traditional heating through firewood which is not environmental friendly. It is also difficult to get firewood for the kilns since the country's constitution states that 60% of the country's land must be under forest coverage.

  • Cheap and Clean Electricity: One of the major source of revenue for Bhutan is its hydro-power sector. Bhutan has the potential to produce upto 30,000MW electricity using is natural river sources. Currently the country produces about 1614MW power with a surplus of 80% being exported to India. As of 2017, 99% of the the country's population has accesssibility to electricity and more than 95% of the country's electricity comes from hydro-power. Bhutan ranks at 9th position for the cheapest electricity cost in the world with a price of 2 US cents per kWh. With these statistics in mind, I felt that shifting to an electric kiln would not only be environment friendly but also cheap.

    • First Project Sketch

    The idea for my final project is to build an electric kiln that is safe, portable, functional and semi-automated. The idea is to include temperature sensors to regulate the temperature inside the kiln and a timer to automatically turn the kiln off as per the set timer

    Outer body Components;
    The project has multiple components most of which is to be fabricated during the fab academy session

    1. Outer Body/skeleton: The outer body of the kiln is to be made using galvanized sheet and the skeleton to be build using steel angle bars.

    2. Insulation:Refractory fireclay brick along with balsatic fiber is to be used for insulation inside the kiln

    3. Heating/kiln ElementA nichrome or khantal wire with a diameter of 1-2mm and spiral diameter of 6-7mm is to be used as a heating element for the kiln

    4. Kiln Controller: The main controlling element for the kiln. Will have the features to control temperature and set timer.

    Kiln Controller


    source: https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/MrRoboto19/electric-kiln-controller-f5c633

    Components of a kiln controller



    The kiln controller is the main commanding component of the electric kiln. The controller includes components such as timer, display screen, temperature regulator and exhaust/vent regulator

    While searching for kiln controller connections, I found this picture on the left. I plam to make my kiln controller in a similar manner with an additional timer and vent regulator options. The components to be used for a the kiln controller are as follows;

    1. Micro-controller board: Here in the picture, they have used an arduino micro-controller board but for my project I plan to make my own micro controller board.

    2. Temperature sensor: I plan to use a type-k thermocouple module for the temperature sentor. I would also require a compatable pyrometer for the thermocouple.

    3. Display Screen: I will be using an LCD for the display sceen

    4. Switch: For turning the kiln on and off

    5. programmer module/board: For storing the programme for the kiln

    6. Cable Guard: Heat resistant cable guard for the element

    7. Wires: for connecting the components

    8. LED: to display on/off status

    CAD Design
    2D design

    The 2D design of my final project was made using the Inkscape software. The design can be seen below;

    The deatioals on how to make the design can be found in my week2 assignment page.

    3D design

    I created the 3D design of my project using the fusion 360 software. The 3D model is as shown below;


    The details about the design process can be found on my week2 assignment page.