RecycleBot, Spring 2024 OSHE Capstone
Week of January 19th
Excellent progress last semester resulted in finishing the extrusion unit, building and wiring a cooling unit, and modularizing all of the units. The team built a test circuit for the rewind unit and proved it worked for future unit building.
The extrusion unit can be improved in terms of wiring to allow for a more compact and well routed machine, this is the primary goal that will be worked on.
The wiring on top of the cage mount will need to be reroute first. On the underside, the new face mount will be in placed before long and the back wiring can be organized and redone to remove the current rat’s nest situation that was done in haste. Operational, but not effective.
Week of January 26th
Bad weather kept me out of the lab and class most days, but on days where progress could be made it is effective. Wires freed from the nest can be redone and cleaned up to wire in effective bundles. More work will be required.
Week of February 2nd
Took the extruder unit back to apartment for Winter Break. There was a reported arc flash on the power supply from last semester that had me worried for final review and long term production. Using Winter carnival I hope to find the cause and fix it.
Many wires on the extrusion unit have exposed copper and InkBird control unit 2 has frayed wire strands from the thick wire used that may cause a short. Given the situation the wires were removed and reapplied with an electrical tape barrier to help mitigate a shorting contact.
The wires needed replacement and allowed for a rework to avoid the rat’s nest of last semester. Replacing and rerunning the wires between the terminal connections allows the wires to not be routed through sharp edged of the bot. Many previous connections were unshielded and/or run across sharp metal edges which cut into the wires and created several shorts to ground. NOT GOOD!
The cause of the power supply spark was found. A large frayed live wire next to the power supply. The exposed copper on the live wire touched the metal frame, which is grounded, and caused a short to the wall. The copper melted back instantly as the shielded shifted and broke the connection.
Week of February 9th
Returned extruder and waiting on team to make permanent faceplate for final rewire. Waiting on PCB’s, error in order and were never shipped.
Sketching ideas for a cage safety cutoffs and additional safety measures.
Current idea is for a cable with two connector pairs. This idea would have a small section of cable from the power supply to the rest of the unit. With each connector pair requiring to be set and locked in to operate. With them being connected to the cage, the cage would need to be engaged to operate.
This is not an ideal situation as the connectors would require a complete latch and could be subject to wall voltage which could damage the connectors after repeated use. Also the method of securing it to the cage would easily be rudimentary and difficult to lock.
Week of February 16th
Waiting on front plate. PCB’s have arrived and are able to be coded.
Waiting to work on extruder after team tests and makes adjustments. Was told that other work was being done and it would need to run in order to be worked on.
Week of February 23rd
Spring Break.
Week of March 2nd
Waiting on team to produce front plate for final rewire and PCB is finished for the board. BREAD made it an easy plug and place. Code is going to take time.
Week of March 9th
Spoke with team on the idea of a buck boost converter which brought up the idea of a DC-to-DC voltage converter. They are cheap and a quick solution. With the wires already run through the cooling unit from last semester and the connector end already made in anticipation for this, the buck converter is the ideal solution as it can be a quick place and plug off the 12V line run to the rewind unit. Still allowing for both the 12V and 5V sources to be powered.
Shane brought up the idea of an LM7805, I am unfamiliar with the device, but I trust him to know a good suggestion. More investigation will be needed.
Week of March 16th
After talking with Shane and reviewing the capabilities of the LM7805 it may be the ideal solution to cancel noise that may travel down the line to the loaf. Between the DC-to-DC converter and the LM7805 two solutions exist to provide power to the loaf.
Week of March 23rd
Using a tuned LM2596 DC-DC converter on an IC chip I was able to provide both 12V and 5V on the appropriate lines while stepping p the current for the stepper motor to ensure that it’s high draw at low speed will be fulfilled. With the integrated connector pairs the electrical bus through the units is complete and tested to power all functions of all connected units. The two slices on the BREAD board have been confirmed to electrically function and even at long term running the motor is sufficiently able to run to produce almost 500g of continuous filament on a spool.
Rough handling of the modules has led to a couple of wires being fatigued and one breaking from it’s connection. The team has been informed to handle the connection sites with care and the wires/connections were reinforced to ensure they would not break again. Other connections were checked and seemed secure, but touch ups were made to increase robustness of the machine.
The code is not complete for the diameter sensing and adjusting loop at this time, however at constant speed filament is produced at a steady and easily controllable rate.
Week of March 30th
Demonstrated the project to Shane and through a thorough demonstration and verification the project received a reported grade of 100%. The week required a large amount of final effort and and checking over to make sure the demo went smoothly, the team made the decision to take the meeting off.
Week of April 6th
More testing was done to finally run 3D waste material with virgin resin to produce a recycled resin. During set up the connectors between the extrusion and cooling units were pulled on and the sensitive connector had to be repaired for the third time. With an adequate connector pair the robustness of the connection could withstand rough Human interaction. The team was warned to be careful with the connection a third time and again in the Discord as a reminder. The connection was taped excessively to help the connector endure rough treatment.
Recycled material was finally produced in a brown filament.
Week of April 13th
Working on Senior Capstone Presentation to present Thursday. RecycleBot is fully functional, completed 4 entire rewires as functionality and redesigns were implemented, all modules are working and capable of function, Correct voltages and currents are being read at all points on the machine during operation, and the connections broken or damaged by the sharp aluminum extrusion, rough handling, were repaired at each stage to meet objectives and demonstrations.
Week of April 20th
Finals week. All goals met and the sections of the report as well as two grammar checks of the report have been made. The sections covering my work were submit and all comments were covered and corrected.
Successful Project.
RecycleBot, Fall 2024 OSHE Capstone
Week of Sep 9th
New RecycleBot design with only the extrusion unit mostly complete. Electrical schematic and Inkbird heater wiring diagram found, pictured below for records. Using diagram, wiring connections and pinouts were verified before test operation. Operation of Inkbird, thermal sensor, motor, and readouts were confirmed to be functional.
Neutral wire cut, reason unknown, but suspected to be a potential splice point for future mica band heaters.
To Do:
Order Mica Band Heaters
Order Inkbird
Wire Inkbird in tandem with other two
Remove old coil heaters
Install new Mica Band Heaters
Wire Mica Band Heaters to receive Inkbird control
Assist fellow Team Members with electrical developments (Catch-all for helping team with EE skills)
Week of Sep 16th
Got sick this week reducing the amount of work I intended to accomplish, however tasks were still accomplished and preformed to further the understanding and competency with the new RecycleBot model.
Confirmed the reasons for the Neutral wire being cut. – To splice new heaters into the chain electrical harnessing.
Calculations and estimations for new Mica Band Heaters were done to allow for purchasing.
I was put under the impression that the new Inkbird and Mica Band Heaters were ordered following giving the calculations to the team. This needs to be confirmed.
To Do:Order Mica Band Heaters
Order Inkbird
Wire Inkbird in tandem with other two
Remove old coil heaters
Install new Mica Band Heaters
Wire Mica Band Heaters to receive Inkbird control
Assist fellow Team Members with electrical developments (Catch-all for helping team with EE skills)
Coordinate to meet with sponsors Monday. Current time set is Monday, Sep 23rd at 10:00 AM
Week of Sep 23rd
The components have been ordered on the 24th and will be delivered in short order. In preparation for the parts arriving the old coil heaters and the micron tape has been removed. The neutral and live wires for the Mica Band heaters are prepared for splicing for when they arrive. More components were found and with clearance from Shane, we have the old TAZ 6 printer to use for parts and components.
Met with sponsor and discussed requirements for funding as well as updating project progress. Discussed with the team about progress as well as roadblocks in the project.
Personally, I am waiting on the Inkbird and band heaters to install and test them next week. This tasking being priority 1 and will be fit in around exams to avoid stalling the project.
To Do:Order Mica Band Heaters
Order Inkbird
Wire Inkbird in tandem with other twoRemove old coil heaters
Install new Mica Band Heaters
Wire Mica Band Heaters to receive Inkbird control
Assist fellow Team Members with electrical developments (Catch-all for helping team with EE skills)Coordinate to meet with sponsors Monday. Current time set is Monday, Sep 23rd at 10:00 AM
Break down TAZ 6 for parts
Work with Konnor to develop a plan for the cage e-stop
Page Centering Space
—————————————————
—————————————————
—————————————————
—————————————————
—————————————————
—————————————————
—————————————————
—————————————————
—————————————————
—————————————————
—————————————————
—————————————————
—————————————————
—————————————————
—————————————————
—————————————————
—————————————————
—————————————————
—————————————————
—————————————————
End of Page Centering Space