My mistakes are my stepping stones to success.

HOW TO MAKE ALMOST ANYTHING
FAB ACADEMY 2K19 HEMANG VELLORE

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Assignment 13 : Applications and Implications

I love my lappy as all my assignments live inside it.

Task Individual Assignment –

What is the purpose to be served?
This Smart Air Cooler serves to maintain cool temperature in the room by evaporating the water in its water storage tank. The energy needed to evaporate the water is taken from the air in the form of sensible heat which affects the temperature of the air.
What is it function?
My Smart Air Cooler keeps the hot air away, thereby avoiding sweat on our body and lowers the heat in the room.
Who’s done it before?
A lot of people have done Air Coolers before, but this is my unique custom made design.

https://www.google.com/search?q=smart+air+coolers+from+fab+academy&rlz=1C1CHBF_enIN815IN815&oq=smart+air+coolers+from+fab+academy&aqs=chrome..69i57.12736j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8


What is your design?

What are the Material & Components used and how and from where will you will you procure them/BOM?
I’ve procured the material from the resource person at the fab lab, which are as under –
SL.No Item Cost INR
1 DC pump 15v 1 amp 250
2 DC Remi Fan 12 V 1090
3 Solar Panel 15V 1 amp 700
4 Battery 12v 1 amp 650
5 Plastic tube 2 Meters 40
6 Temperature Sensor LM35 70
7 LEDs 5
8 Bluetooth Module 240
9 Electric Wires 1/2 Meter 20
10 Acrylic Sheets 800
11 Resistors 2
12 Relay 5v 120
13 Hot Glue Tube 30
14 Screws 2 2
15 FRP Material 500
16 Charge Controller 1000
17 Cooling Pads - Vettiver & Lily Cool 180
18 MSeal 50
19 DC Adaotir 15v 150
20 Grand Total 5,899/-

Assembling @FABLAB 0
What are you making and developing at the Fab Lab?
I’ve designed and cut the Acrylic Sheets on the Laser Machine.
Design file

Acrylic Stands for the Air Cooler Frame

FRP Smart FAB Air Cooler Water Storage Tank – Made during the Wild Card Week.

Custom Made PCB for the input and output of the temperature sensor.

This Micro Controller ATTiny44 used to run a program as specified below -
When will it Turn On – Will Turn On when the temperature is higher than 30 degrees centigrade.
When it will Turn Off - Will Turn Off when the temperature is less than 30 degrees centigrade.
3D printed Temperature sensor holder – Made during Assignment 6 - 3D Modelling, Scanning and Printing.Reference Link

Custom Made Natural Cooling Pads using Vettiver and Lily Cool Pads made during the Wild Card Week.

Assignment 18
Material Procured – After the calculations as seen below.

The battery is used for the storage of solar energy which will be converted into electrical energy. The qualities are, low cost, long life, high reliability, high overall efficiency, low discharge, minimum maintenance, Ampere hour efficiency and Watt hour efficiency. So I decided to go with 12v Battery for powering the Air Cooler. Charging 12v battery with solar panel needs to output 13.6 volts to 17.0 volts so the solar panel has to put out at least that much under worst-case conditions. A standard 12volt solar panel system typically takes 5 to 8 hours to charge 12v battery (100ah) in a full sunlight day. The Lithium Ion Battery Charge Time from Solar Voltaic carries a full line of IoT Power Banks. Since the charge cycle slows down considerably after the battery reaches 90% capacity, this calculation assumes full is about 90% of complete capacity.
Panel Power (in Watts) / Battery Capacity (in Watt hours) X 2
Example: 6 Watt Solar Panel charging a 4,000mAh, 3.7V Battery – Time = 14.8Wh / 6 Watts X 2 = 4.9 hours

So, I decided to go with this battery, as shown above.
Solar panels generate free power from the sun by converting sunlight to electricity with no moving parts, zero emissions, and no maintenance. The solar panel, the first component of electric solar energy system, is a collection of individual silicon cells that generate electricity from sunlight. The photons (light particles) produce an electrical current as they strike the surface of the thin silicon wafers. The 18v Solar Panel to be used as it has been designed to 12V battery, the 18V solar panel is also known as "12V" solar panel. Solar panels can be wired in series or in parallel to increase voltage or current respectively. The rated terminal voltage of a 12 Volt solar panel is usually around 17.0 Volts, but through the use of a regulator, this voltage is reduced to around 13 to 15 Volts as required for battery charging. I have used this solar panel for the project.

The Solar Panel and Sun radiation time is seen from the picture below. During dull hours, the Solar Panel can produce 1 amp current.
Power produced from solar panel = 20 watts
Battery storing capacity = 7 amps
Motor capacity =1.4 amps
Pump capacity =1.4 amps
Average working time =5 hours per day
Voltmeter shows 16 volts in stationary condition=20watts/16volts =1.25amps/hour.
Formula for Calculation:
P=V X I
Where P=power
V=volts
I=current
P=16volts X1.25amps =20Watts per hour.

Environmental Factors Will Likely Increase Charge Time. The solar charge times above assume a 25 degree Celsius day with the panel pointed directly at the sun. Some quick rules for estimation:
Heat: Power output of a panel will decrease by about 1/2% per degree over 25 Celsius.
Angle: As the panel rotates away from the sun, power output drops.
SL.No Angle to Sun in Degress %Output
1 90 100%
2 75 97%
3 60 88%
4 45 75%
5 30 61%
6 15 32%
7 0 3%
Clouds: Any haze or clouds will slow down charge time, often significantly. https://blog.voltaicsystems.com/estimating-battery-charge-time-from-solar/

DC Adaptor 15v for powering the Air Cooler to prevent the Battery failure in case if it is not charged. It indicates how much current it is capable of supplying at the given voltage. 15V 2.5A, means it can provide the current of 0A to 2.5A, while maintaining its 15V.
Charge Controller – Regulator

A charge controller is basically a voltage regulator to keep batteries from overcharging. There is no requirement for a charge controller with small maintenance of 1 to 5 watt panels, but for higher capacity panels the charge controller is required. We must use higher voltage solar panel to charge the battery, at the same time we also need a solar charge controller which can stabilize voltage at a certain level to avoid damaging the battery. Charge Controller as explained in the picture below – Voltage Regulator.
The 12v DC Fan which I’m using is from Remi. http://www.remigroup.com/fans/solarfans.html

The Fan Impeller rotates inside the shell, consists of 4 blades. The number of blades increases the amount of cold air rushed out forcibly. The impeller blades are slightly bended. So that the cold air is forcibly transmitted to the outside. The shell is so designed that the air is rushed out forcibly. The blower consists of two main parts. They are D.C motor and Blades of the fan. The D.C motor is directly coupled with Impeller blades. The water pump is used to circulate the water to the blower. The cool air is rushed out forcibly. The battery is connected to the D.C motor, so that it runs directly. This 12v DC Fan I’m using is from Remi. It can lift water up to 1.2 meters high. A DC motor uses an internal arrangement of magnets with opposing polarity, as the current passes through the coil around this arrangement, a strong magnetic field is produced. http://www.remigroup.com/fans/solarfans.html
The movement of the conductor is explained by the force given by the equation below -
F = B I L Newton’s
Where,
B = Flux density in WB/sq.m
I = Current passing through the conductor
L = Length of the conductor
Let us consider a single turn coil. The coil side A will be forced to move downward, whereas the coil side “B” will be forced to move upward. Due to this movement, the coil is made to rotate.

The Water pump is used to circulate the water inside the air cooler. I want to use a 12 V DC water pump. The battery is connected to the DC water pump, so that D.C water pump runs directly. The Submersible Water Pump 12V DC to pump water from the Storage tank when fully submerged in. The pump operates by pushing the water in the submerged storage tank up to the cooling pads. The Plastic Tube is used for water circulation to pull water from the storage tank and the supply water to the cooling pads.

These electric wires to be used to connect the fan, battery, water pump and the solar panel.
What is the Task and Procedure involved in designing them?
Digital Fabrication tools and Techniques used –
SL.No Tools Techniques
1 Laser Cutting 2D and 3D Design
2 Temparature Sensor Holder 3D Printing
3 PCB Design Eagle Software
4 SRM 20 PCB Milling
5 AUTODESK Fusion 360 3D Design
6 Maker Case Chamfer Design
7 Vinyl Cutting Glimp Design

How will you be evaluated for this project?
I need to be accurate in designing, making, assembling and presenting a functional final project without any duplication. Most of the parts used in the final project must be self-assembled and made by me, though a few parts like motors can be procured.

What are the configuration, functionality and purpose of this final project?
This Smart Air Cooler dehumidifies the air thereby maintaining freshness in the room. It keeps the room cool emanating natural scent through Khus Khus cooling pads. The temperature sensor detects and measures data about the hot and cold temperatures and converts it into an electric signal.
Positive Points – This Solar Air Cooler requires no installation. It’s durable and super easy to use which quickly cools the indoors in a short time span.
Works on Solar Energy, reducing the cost of electricity bills, thereby lowering the operating costs of monthly maintenance.
Since Solar Air Cooler plays a major role in saving the environment and reducing the carbon footprint, it’s termed as Green Energy.
It is Eco friendly with no contamination as other CFC gas coolants have played a significant role in the depletion of the ozone layer.
The Solar Air Cooler is versatile and can be used anywhere. This means that you don’t have to worry if you come from a rural/cold areas with no electric grid.
This Solar Air Cooler is the best cooling system you can use to convert solar energy into a refreshing breeze.

Drawbacks – Solar PV panels do not produce electricity when the sun goes down or when heavily shaded or during the rain.
The sun does not shine 24 hours.
Hence solar power is not 100% reliable, so have to rely on electricity.
You have to use the battery to store the solar energy which will be used later.
There is scope for improvement in this project.
Summary - Mechanical Engineering without production and manufacturing is meaningless. The production and manufacturing process deals with conversion of raw materials inputs to finished products as per required dimensions, specification and efficiently using recent acquired skills in digital fabrication. The new developments and requirements inspired me to think of new improvements in air cooling. My final project, solar powered Air Cooler is captured and stored in a battery. This power is used to run the air cooler whenever required. Solar energy means the radiation energy that reaches the earth from the sun. Unlike the conventional air coolers that use electricity, this solar air cooler is powered by energy produced directly from solar panels or battery. On a sunny day, the solar panel produces the DC current which is directly used by the air cooler which is custom made by me for the final project. The radiant energy from the sun is converted into electricity using solar cells that are in the solar electric system. The generated DC energy is then stored in the backup battery, which is charged by the solar panel and used during night times or low sunshine days.
The advantage of using solar cooler is that it is economical because it totally eliminates the consumption of AC power. Hot and dry air is pulled by the fan and pushed through moist cooling pads. This, in turn, converts the dry air into fresh cool air. The pads are evenly saturated by water pumped from the bottom pan to the top and left to flow down. The air is then pulled through the pads which forces the water to evaporate. It gives you a consistent and comfortable breeze in your room. This Air Cooler works with water evaporation, which in turn, lowers the room temperature, as the DC Fan blows the cool air indoors. This is a Smart Portable Air Cooler because it uses the Solar Energy which has proved to be an effective way of generating renewable energy and requires no installation. In addition, buying a solar power cooler is cheap as you will get back your money in a short period. This is because of savings you will make for not using the costly electrical power.
Group Assignment –There is no Group Assignment this week. The focus is on questions to help me plan my final project.

Learning Outcome – I got a clear picture of my final project, The Smart FAB Air Cooler through this assignment.
Reference – Fab Academy Tutorials

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