User:Emspangler/enes100/My Work P2

Write problem/project Goal
To be able to control water pumps with an arduino, to go off on my command.

My First Task
This weekend i want to look for a starting point to my project. I'm going to look into useable water pumps and relays; which were suggested to me by my professor. With this new knowledge i want to come up with a concept and then be able to design a controllable pump system.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-EgGW6UpO-A

Summary of actual work over first weekend
How is what you did different than what you planned?

I wanted to design a actualy design a model, but i realize i need to start smaller with just a simple start and go of water. I was thinking about using a sprinkler and hack a timer to go off when i want it to.

Week1 Narrative
Tell a detailed story describing what you did for your team over the weekend.

My Second Task
Record what you are planning on doing for the team during the second weekend.

This week, i want to actually start planning with the physical pumps and timers so i can visually see how everything works. i want to find a pump i can use to pump water through a nozzel, and also be controlled by a timer that can be controlled by an arduino. A little complicated but this my new overall goal.

Summary of actual work over second weekend
Last week, i was still really confused, frustrated, stessed and my thoughts were all over the place. Instead of doing anything physical, i changed my plans completely. This week, I designed six water jets, all very different. From these designs, i can choose one and actually start building something. I feel like i'm finally on a good path.

Week2 Narrative
Over this week, I refocused myself and started designing my own versions of water jet systems. I came up with six different designs. I'm not an artist so I would rather keep my amateur drawings in my engineering notebook, however I can describe them for you.

Solenoid Push:
For this design, i would waterproof a box with solenoids inside. The solenoids would push rubber toppers out to cover the holes. The solenoids would go in and out based on how many volts i allow. During the first week, I analyzed the solenoid in the printer part and realized that the solenoid shot out at 12 V and stayed out; it came in with any charge under 12 V. With this knowledge, i can incorporate this in my Solenoid Push design.

Piano Water Jet:
This design is a little out there. I know in certain water shows, the water goes off to the beat of the music. With this design, I want the music to dictate when the water starts and stops mechanically. When the keys are pushed, a topper will shoot out over the hole and when the key is released, the topper will spring back in.

Pendulum Water Jet:
With this design, the swinging motion of a pendulum will be the force that starts and stops the water jet. The hanging part that swings needs to be sturdy enough to endure the pressure pushing up from the water. The hanging part that swings can have holes in it so there is more rapid starting and stopping. Also each individual hole can have it's own pendulum so the water show will be more random.

Spinning Water Jet:
With this design, either the sprinkler or a circular disc with cut out shapes would spin, allowing the water to shoot our whenever the sprinkler nozzles and cut out shapes align. The spinning platform will be attached to a DC motor where the speeds can be controlled, to give a more exciting show.

Tube Water Jet:
Similar to the Spinning Water Jet, this design will have a sprinkler mounted inside a rotating tube with cut out holes along the tube. A DC motor will controlled the rotating speed of the tube allowing myself to speed up or slow down.

Camera Water Jet:
So far all my designs are very mechanical, with this design, i would want something similar to camera shutter lens to sit on top of the nozzle holes, opening and closing when commanded. This design is not as well thought out as the others, but so far my favorite.

This are the six designs i came up with, but any suggestions or tweaks would help perfect this project.

My Third task
Now that I have a good starting point for this project, I plan to make a decision matrix to help me choose which one of my designs is the best based on what i think is important criteria. I will email this to my group so they can also give me their opinions. Once one design is picked, i want to start building it.

Summary of actual work over third weekend
"How is what you did different than what you planned?"

Week3 Narrative
Tell a detailed story describing what you did for your team over the weekend.

My Fourth task
''Record what you are planning on doing for the team during the final weekend of project work. ''

Summary of actual work over fourth weekend
Nothing really differed from what i planned to do, if anything, my ideas grew into better ones.

Week4 Narrative
Over this weekend, I identified the criteria i wanted to use to build my decision matrix. The criteria i came up with was...

1. to start and stop water fast

2. fastest way to command the water

3. to conserve water

4. simplest to build

5. low maintenance cost

Then i wanted to simplify my criteria to only the most important factors. I limited my criteria to...

1. fastest way to command the water

2. to conserve water

3. simplest to build

Based on my criteria, I then ranked my 6 designs from 1 to 6, 1 being the best and 6 the worst.

When it came to the "fastest way to command the water," this is how i ranked my designs...

1. tube water jet

2. spinning water jet

3. piano water jet

4. solenoid water jet

5. pendulum 1 water jet

6. pendulum 2 water jet

When it came to "conserving the most water," this is how i ranked my designs...

1. solenoid water jet

2. piano water jet

3. pendulum 1 water jet

4. pendulum 2 water jet

5. spinning water jet

6. tube water jet

Since i'm not using the water jets for any other purpose besides show, i could be wasting alot of water. I began to think of ways i could recycle the water after it's been shot from the sprinkler. I came up with this idea; under the sprinkler, i would want a baby pool or something that could catch and trap the water after it had been sprayed. Once the water is trapped, a sump pump would turn on and bring the water, through a hose back to the sprinkler system. I'm not sure with how much pressure the water would be delivered so i would want to also keep the sprinkler connected to a hose attached to a water supply. This is just one problem that i wanted to consider.

When it came to the "fastest way to control the water," this is how i ranked my designs...

1. tube water jet

2. spinning water jet

3. pendulum 2 water jet

4. pendulum 1 water jet

5. piano water jet

6. solenoid water jet

When ranking by designs based on this criteria, I wanted to think past just the stopping and starting the of water; which is how i was thinking when designing these water jets. With the tube water jet and the spinning water jet, i can see more of a future with these designs. The two water jets have the ability to increase and decrease the speed of their rotation and even move on the x, y, z plan. With the spinning water jet, i even thought i could add another rotating plate on top and have them spin in opposite directions.

With all the important criteria identified and my designs ranked, i made a decision matrix.

Based on my decision matrix, i can rank my designs from best to worst as...

1. tube water jet

2. spinning water jet

3. piano water jet

4. solenoid water jet

5. pendulum water jet

6. pendulum water jet

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