Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
59 Dynamic Ferrofluid Lamp
Chen Huang
Chong Lu
Luke Wendt design_document0.pdf
design_document0.pdf
final_paper0.pdf
other0.pdf
photo0.png
presentation0.pptx
proposal0.pdf
Teammates:
Chen Huang chuan102
Chong Lu chonglu2

My partner and I would like to take on the challenge left over by group 32 of last semester in building a lava lamp with ferrofluid replacing wax and heaters.

Like group 32 of last semester, we would like to use a stronger permanent magnets controlled by a servo to manipulate the main up and down motion of the ferrofluid. Expanding upon their previous work, we would like to develop a way of controlling the distance the permanent magnets are pushed and pulled along the chamber to increase the degree of control the low power consuming permanent magnets have on the ferrofluid. We might scrap the idea of controlling these magnets with electromagnets and use servos instead for more precise manipulation.

Also, we would like to add an array of electromagnets that directly interact with the ferrofluid, giving us even more means of manipulating the display. And in the case of us using servos to manipulate all the permanent magnets, this array of electromagnets will provide us with the ability to produce much faster changes to the magnetic field. Due to possible power restrictions, these electromagnets can be relatively weaker and produce more subtle manipulations on the ferrofluid. Since the main motion of our ferrofluid lamp will be up and down, controlled by the permanent magnet on the top of the lamp, it will not be necessary for all electromagnets to be powered at the same time.

The basic construction of the lamp will be two concentric cylinder containers, with the outer compartment holding ferrofluid and the suspension fluid, and the inner container holding electromagnets and possibly permanent magnets. We would also like to experiment with the effects of electromagnets on the outer casing of the lamp. These electromagnets would have to be relatively weak due to physical space restrictions in the location they are placed. However, we would like to experiment with the degree of manipulation and possible display effects this configuration can provide.

The electromagnets will be arranged such that the magnetic field is perpendicular to the central cylinder axis and forms a grid of electromagnets on the surface of the center cylinder. We would like to experiment with arranging the electromagnets in a Halbach array to increase the magnetic field on one side of the array. We believe this may enable us to produce stronger magnetic fields using electromagnets with lower current draw.

The aim of the project is not to make high resolution display, but to create an artistic art piece that can manipulate ferrofluid in a relatively controlled to create a wide range of display patterns.

Idea Link: https://courses.engr.illinois.edu/ece445/pace/view-topic.asp?id=15088
Last Semester Group 32 Link: https://courses.engr.illinois.edu/ece445/project.asp?id=1706

Economic Overnight Outlet

Chester Hall, Sabrina Moheydeen, Jarad Prill

Featured Project

**Team**

- Chester Hall (chall28), Sabrina Moheydeen (sabrina7), Jarad Prill (jaradjp2)

**Title**

- Economic Overnight Outlet

**Problem**

- Real-time pricing in ISOs, such as the Midwest, California, New England, and New York, provides differentials in electricity prices throughout the day that can be taken advantage of. The peak price of electricity compared to the minimum prices can feature variations of up to 70%. With price agnostic charging, this results in unnecessary costs for those who charge devices (see attached spreadsheet). This same principle can thus be scaled for large commercialized applications requiring high-capacity batteries, resulting in a higher savings potential to be taken advantage of.

- Calcs: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JBzt2xm0Ue4a_teosdak623h0zSP5nHRKi7Wi8rMcPo/edit?usp=sharing

**Solution Overview**

- We will create a device that can fetch real-time prices from regional ISOs and enable charging when prices are lowest. Our primary application will be centered towards warehouse electric vehicles using high-capacity, fast-charging lithium ion batteries. Such vehicles include forklifts, cleaning machines, and golf carts.

**Solution Components**

- [ISO LMP API] - Through use of a WiFi-enabled microcontroller we can fetch real-time prices and build our control system around these values.

- [Passive High Performance Protection] - In order to provide downstream safety to the loads, we will ensure the device features surge protection and is rated for the high current of fast charging. The switching of the connection will be done with a contactor whose coil is energized according to the microcontroller.

- [Device Display] - LCD display to show information about the current energy price and the current day’s savings.

- [Manual User Override] - The device will feature a manual toggle switch to either enable or disable the cost-optimized charging feature allowing users to charge loads at any time, not necessarily the cheapest.

- [User Interface] - Software application to allow for user input regarding the time of day the device must be charged by. The application will also display information about total savings per week, month, or year and savings over the device’s lifetime.

- [Control Power Converter] - In order to run the low voltage control systems from the outlet, either 120VAC or 3-phase 480VAC, we will need to step this down to a low DC voltage of around 3.3VDC.

- [Memory System] - Microcontroller capable of performing control function within user specified parameters.

- [Device Connection] - Connectivity to the battery of the device being charged so that current state of charge (SoC) information can be used. Potential experimental filter algorithms will be used in order to estimate the SoC automatically, without requiring the user to input the specific data of the device being used.

**Criterion for Success**

- Able to charge devices at lowest cost times of the day and display current pricing and savings information. The upfront cost of a large-scale reproducible product must be less than the lifetime savings incurred by purchasing the product. Users without an engineering background can easily analyze their savings to visually recognize the device’s benefit.