Lectures

Spring 2020 Lecture Material:

Pre-Lecture #1:


(before class on January 21st, 2020)

Brainstorming and Ideation

  • Brainstorming and Ideation slides (pptx)
  • Videos (watch before coming to class)

Lecture #1:


(January 21st, 2020)

Getting Started

  • Welcome and Course Overview (pptx)
  • Pitches
    • Nate Ogden: John Deere Modular Interface PCB (contact)(pptx)
    • Ann Witmer: Agricultural Applications of ECE (contact)
    • Greg Tucker: Dryer Sensor (contact)(pptx)(doc)(vid)
    • Prof Arne Fliflet: Autonomous Sailboat (contact)(pptx)
    • Prof Jonathon Schuh: Solar Panel Submetering of ECEB (contact)(pptx)
    • Thomas Dillavou: Fagan Scooters (contact)(pptx)
  • Brainstorming & Ideation Activity (pptx)
  • RFA Process (pptx)
  • Winter is Coming (pptx)

Pre-Lecture #2:


(before January 28th, 2020)

Beyond Ideation

Lecture #2:


( January 28th, 2020)

Moving Forward

  • Agenda
  • Lab Rules and Safety (pdf)(pptx)
  • Pitches
  • Project Management (pptx)
  • Design Process (pptx)

Pre-Lecture #3:


(before February 4th, 2020)

Design and Writing Tips

Lecture #3:


(February 4th, 2020)

Last Stop Before RFA

  • Welcome and Q&A (pptx)
  • Project Resources (pptx)
  • Intellectual Property (pptx)
  • Lab Notebook (pptx)
  • TA Meetings (pptx)
  • Building a Good R&V Table (pptx)
  • Writing Tips (pptx)
  • Communication Tips (pptx)
  • Ethics and Closing Remarks (pptx)

Spring 2020 Video Lectures:

Brainstorming

Finding a Problem (Video)
Generating Solutions (Video)
Diving Deeper (Video)
Voting (Video)
Reverse Brainstorming (Video)
Homework for Everyone (Video)

Important Information

Using the ECE 445 Website (Video)
Lab Notebook (Video , Slides)
Modular Design (Video, Slides)
Circuit Tips and Debugging (Video , Slides)
Eagle CAD Tutorial (Video)
Spring 2018 IEEE Eagle Workshop (Slides)
Spring 2018 IEEE Soldering Workshop (Slides)

Major Assignments and Milestones

Request for Approval (Video, Slides)
Project Proposal (Video, slides)
Design Document (Video, slides)
Design Review (Video, slides)
Writing Tips (Video, slides)

Control System and User Interface for Hydraulic Bike

Iain Brearton

Featured Project

Parker-Hannifin, a fluid power systems company, hosts an annual competition for the design of a chainless bicycle. A MechSE senior design team of mechanical engineers have created a hydraulic circuit with electromechanical valves, but need a control system, user interface, and electrical power for their system. The user would be able to choose between several operating modes (fluid paths), listed at the end.

My solution to this problem is a custom-designed control system and user interface. Based on sensor feedback and user inputs, the system would change operating modes (fluid paths). Additionally, the system could be improved to suggest the best operating mode by implementing a PI or PID controller. The system would not change modes without user interaction due to safety - previous years' bicycles have gone faster than 20mph.

Previous approaches to this problem have usually not included an electrical engineer. As a result, several teams have historically used commercially-available systems such as Parker's IQAN system (link below) or discrete logic due to a lack of technical knowledge (link below). Apart from these two examples, very little public documentation exists on the electrical control systems used by previous competitors, but I believe that designing a control system and user interface from scratch will be a unique and new approach to controlling the hydraulic system.

I am aiming for a 1-person team as there are 6 MechSE counterparts. I emailed Professor Carney on 10/3/14 and he thought the general concept was acceptable.

Operating modes, simplified:

Direct drive (rider's pedaling power goes directly to hydraulic motor)

Coasting (no power input, motor input and output "shorted")

Charge accumulators (store energy in expanding rubber balloons)

Discharge accumulators (use stored energy to supply power to motor)

Regenerative braking (use motor energy to charge accumulators)

Download Competition Specs: https://uofi.box.com/shared/static/gst4s78tcdmfnwpjmf9hkvuzlu8jf771.pdf

Team using IQAN system (top right corner): https://engineering.purdue.edu/ABE/InfoFor/CurrentStudents/SeniorProjects/2012/GeskeLamneckSparenbergEtAl

Team using discrete logic (page 19): http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/86206/ME450?sequence=1