Make (almost) anything.
Tracking the Progress of Final Project.
My final Fab Academy project is to develop a wearable wild animal
distraction device. The primary motivation for this project is to help farmers in wild
animal-prone zones. I belong to the same rural area, where farmers greatly fear wild animal
attacks. They are attacking livestock, small kids, and young people.
Most of the time, farmers need to go to the farm late at night for watering or cultivation.
At the same time, it's high time for wild animals to wander on the farm.
So, for the farmers' safety, I want to design a wearable safety device with which farmers
can work in the field freely. It consists of bright lights for visibility at night. The LED
lights will start blinking, and the speaker mounted on the device will produce an intense
firecracker sound to distract the wild animal. The device also consists of a motion sensor
mounted on the backside of the device. A motion sensor will detect the motion of the wild animal
attacking from the backside of the farmer and alert the user with a buzzer.
1. PCB design and soldering are completed. All the electronic peripherals used in the project
were tested with programming using a developed PCB board.
2. All the electronic peripherals like LEDs, speakers, MP3 decoding boards, and motion
sensors (RCWL and PIR) are purchased.
3. A safety Jacket is purchased from the market, and the stitching of some attachments
on the jacket is done.
4.2D and 3D modeling of different parts and the project assembly are done.
3D printing of the microcontroller, speaker, headlamp, and sensor casing is done.
Laser cutting of the stretchable fabric for embedding LED is done.
1. All the input and output devices are tested individually. Final integration of all
devices with the microcontroller board and programming remains.
2. The stitching of LED strips embedded in the belt to the safety jacket remains.
3. Selection of a motion sensor out of RCWL or PIR remains.
4. The dome-shaped LED mounted on the headlamp heats up very fastly needs to be
designed on a separate board with more bright through-hole LEDs.
5. The stitching pocket for the battery remains.
1. The ESP32 Microcontroller board is working very well.
2. MOSFET BOARD design for switching speakers and LEDs working correctly.
3. A radar sensor is used for motion detection, precisely sensing motion from a distance
of 6 m.
4. All the 3D printed parts fit correctly with the safety jacket. A safety jacket with
3D printed parts is not that much of bulky. There is no restriction on the movements of the
user.
The radar sensor gives false-sensing signals. Even though there is no movement, the system alerts
with a buzzer.
The LED board made for the headlamp heats up very fast, which will be hazardous for the
user.
The DOME-led strip also heats very fast and drains too much power.
1.Routing of connections for the wearable device is a challenging task. Still, I am
confused about the route. All the connections need to be hidden.
2. Radar sensor detection morion over all 360 degrees. Will it detect the motion of the
device user?
3. A selection of the heat sink for the headlamp, which heats up very fast.
4. Dome LED strips consume more power and heat up very fast.
| Tasks to be completed: | Date: |
|---|---|
| Heat sink attachment for headlamp LED and dome shaped LED with the design of the PCB board. | 2th June |
| Stiching of fabric sleeve to the belt for wire routing. Stiching of belt by mounting 3D printed parts into it. | 3th June |
| Combining all devices with the main microcontroller and testing of devices with programming as per the project requirements | 4th June |
| Final testing of the device by mounting all electronic peripherals onto it. | 5th June |
| Final packaging of the devices and connections Calibration of sensor and trials and tests Troubleshooting | 6th June |
| Organizing the images and videos for Slide and Video Presentation Preparation. | 7 th June |
| Video Editing and Pushing on the Repo. and final documentation of the project. | 8th June |
The final project and the Fab Academy course are great learning experiences for me.
Starting from the GITLAB, Web development for the documentation was one of my most
remarkable learning experiences. We usually do a lot of work but fail to document it. I was
not very fond of mobile cameras, but lectures made me capture the evidence of the work for
the documentation.
As a mechanical engineer, I have basic solid modeling, laser cutting, and 3D printing
knowledge.
But I was new to electronics, starting from the soldering to the board design. But with the
course structure, I am confident about PCB board design. We need a lot of improvements in
the soldering of PCB boards. I will need to enlist the help of a colleague to solder the
ICs.
The final project board design was the most significant achievement for me. I designed
this board very carefully with a slight shape factor, and it worked fine for me.
I used 3D printing and laser cutting earlier, but machine characterization was great
learning.
In molding casting week, I learned about different materials for molding casting, such
as metals and polymers. I enjoyed that week a lot. Also, soft robotics was excellent
learning for me. I tried a soft gripper and got some success; I will move further to explore
more of it.
I started learning electronics for all the weeks related to electronics, from electronics
production to application development. Still, some doubts are there, but I can search for
relevant material and clear them.
Now I have started to understand the datasheets of electronic components, configurations of
different ICs, their pinouts, power requirements, and types of communication protocols.
Developing applications and networking with the Raspberry Pi was excellent learning for me.
I tried the most awaited cyanotype printing on my T-shirt in wild card week. It was a
wonderful experience for me. For the final project, Prof. Neils insisted on the excellent
packaging, teach me a lot.
Also, as a faculty in the college, after Professor Neil's lecture, I feel delighted to have
become rich in resources to learn new things and teach these advanced technologies to my
engineering students.
After this, now I am thinking about the mechanical system from an electronics point of view.
New ideas are starting to come into my mind, and different problem solutions are coming into
my mind—thoughts about problem-solving are getting more precise with my knowledge of
electronics. I am pleased about this.
This course taught me to prepare a detailed plan from idea generation to final
prototyping and how to disseminate it to the target audience along with IPR, marketing plan,
business model, financing, etc.
I am falling in love with electronics and hope to create something great for the
betterment of society and the kids in a rural area.
Thank you, Prof. Neil and all the Fab Academy team, my instructor, Mr. Suhas Labade, and
Mrs. Apeksha Kulkarni.