Design a System for Sorting and Recycling Containers
💡This particular undertaking centers around highlighting the significance of recycling and addressing the issue of many recyclable plastics that end up in landfills due to incorrect disposal. Improper disposal occurs when food or drink residue remains in containers, rendering them unsuitable for recycling . To tackle this issue, Our group were assigned the job of developing a recycling system that would use an automated process to sort disposed of items based on various characteristics.
Therefore, our whole team has separated into two sub-team: modelling and programming sub-team.
The computing team aimed to develop a program that could sort recyclable containers and place them in their respective bins. They utilized a Q-bot, Q-arm, servo-sorting table, and a sensor mounted on the Q-bot to achieve this. Groups had the option of using up to two sensors, but the sub-team initially used the ultrasonic sensor to identify the bins based on proximity to the bot's position. They also intended to use the colour sensor as a fail-safe. As the project progressed, they found that the ultrasonic sensor was sufficient and implemented a dispense container function and a load container function using a for loop and if statements to set conditions for the Q-arm to follow. The bot followed a yellow line to transfer the container and used an ultrasonic verification function to ensure it was at the correct bin location. The containers were then deposited, and the bot returned to its starting position. This process continued until the user stopped the program.
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The modelling sub-team was responsible for creating a mechanism to deposit recyclable containers into bins. The mechanism needed to be connected to the base plate, connecting plate, and actuator of choice. The optimal design solution was determined to be a stationary gear profile concentric with the hopper's axis of rotation and fixed to it, connected to a rotary actuator placed at a set distance on the base plate using a gear train. This design was chosen because gear ratios could be optimized for different motors, gears could be swapped for other power transfer methods, it offered a wide range of possible terminal angles, and did not have large swinging moving pieces like linkages. These features allowed for scalability and safe use in various applications, while still maintaining the same fundamental design.
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Our team designed the mechanism to lift up hopper that holding some container to recycle. The mechanism motivated by the rotary actuator; our team used an assemble of spur gears fastened by two mounters on the base to transport the rotary torque to a large gear that fastened by two mounters under the hopper. Therefore, the hopper lifted up as the large fixed gear rotated. If the mechanism scales up, that means there is also greater weight of the hopper that the device needs to afford. Therefore, power of the rotary actuator needs to increase, and we could have multiple sets of the rotary actuator spinning at the same time to accumulate greater torque. In order to build a unidirectional rotary actuator that could meet the requirements of continuous rotation, high output torque, and stall torque, five rotary actuators were sequentially attached on one shaft.[1] However, when the mechanism scales up, the material of the spur gears and mounters should be changed to achieve long lasting. First, the spur gears should afford certain amount of weight to supply the hopper and containers. Composite materials have become a superior substitution for metallic gears since offer acceptable strength while reducing weight. Gears made of steel alloy and an aluminium silicon carbide composite have been created in this study. Composites have much higher mechanical characteristics, such as a greater strength to weight ratio and increased stiffness, which reduces the odds of failure.[2] There fore The material of mounting part needs to be considered as well. Since the mechanism are exposed to outdoor environment. Therefore, it should be corrosion-resistance in order to extent its duration. The bars, strips, and sheets made of Fibre-Reinforced Polymer (FRP) are becoming more common in building
Fri-03_P3_DesignReport_compressed (1).pdf