Progress Update and What's to Come

Over the period of Feb. 5, 2021 - Feb 19, 2021, Team 36 spoke with the MECE 3D printing lab about printing the autonomous fire-fighting device’s heat shield and it was decided that due to the dimensions of the shield it would be better to have the shield made through the machinist, Jamar Murray. A meeting was conducted with the machinist to develop a course of action in ordering an appropriate material and getting it to him to have the shield created before March 8th. The material that was decided for the shield was Aluminum and it was ordered through https://www.mcmaster.com/89015K169/. Large straws with corrugated joints and smooth insides, which allowed for 120-degree movement and low friction to mitigate loss in powder velocity through the device’s nozzle were also obtained. Regarding the device’s code, the device can now locate a fire from a 3 ft distance using 4 IR Flame sensors and can trigger a buzzer that alerts of the presence of the fire. The addition of these IR Flame sensors ensures that the device can monitor the entire perimeter encompassed by the stovetop. The dimensions of the shield were also modified to better fit the back panel and house the electrical components and extinguishing powder delivery system of the device. The dimensions of the outer shell were changed from 10 x 12 x 4 inches to 10 x 6 x 4.5 inches. These changes were made primarily because the powder container was positioned beside the air blower, which made the powder get stuck in the tubes. In the figures below, the powder container was positioned in front of the air blower, so that the powder would not get stuck and flow smoothly. With this setup, the width of the shell was decreased to 6 inches while the thickness was increased to 4.5 inches, to properly house all the components. The back mounting panel of the device is currently being constructed. The new material and modified dimensions of the outer shield and the back panel are shown in the figures below: 

 

                             

 Figure 1                                               Figure 2                                          Figure 3 

There are some foreseeable technical challenges in the future regarding the sensor nozzle mount. Team 36 is experimenting with the type of material to serve as the foundation for the sensors such as foam, cardboard, or 3D printed material. The goal is to create a light enough mount to be moved by the motors while retaining the strength to hold the sensors in place.  

In terms of non-technical concerns, the winter storm Uri that took place on the week of February 15th has caused the team to lose a week of work on the capstone project. This also will delay the fabrication of the device shield since the material has not been delivered to the machinist nor was the machinist in the office during the lost week. However, because of the unforeseen circumstances, the capstone professors plan to reformat the semester schedule to accommodate for this loss and the team will plan the project’s next steps accordingly once that information is made available. 

From February 19th onward, the team will be continuing to refine the code for the Autonomous Fire Fighting Device. A new code will be developed to turn on the air blower once it receives input from the IR flame sensor of a fire being present. The team intends to use a relay module to be able to cut power to the blower once 15 seconds of its initiation have occurred while still maintaining power to the rest of the device. Code will also be developed to control the nozzle’s motor movements once it receives directional input from a specific flame sensor to indicate the location of the fire. The team will also continue working on the extinguishing powder tubing system for the device to ensure that the powder will be delivered to the target fire through validation tests. So far, the team is still on track to perform the functional and heat validation tests as planned. Of these new code additions and modifications, the team anticipates for the integration of the relay module and motors to be the most challenging due to wanting to ensure the accuracy of the device being able to initiate and cut power to the blower and locating the position of the fire.