Wall Climbing Robot (WCR)

You would rather hesitate to do the inspection and maintenance in a typically dangerous environment like the exterior of a tall building or a nuclear facility and pray to God to provide for someone else to do the same. Well, consider your prayers answered! A wall climbing Robot is willing to go through the trouble so that you can still keep smiling!

But, the idea of developing a wall climbing robot is always held back by the mighty force of GRAVITY!

And BEWARE. This won’t be an Easy Project for you. But this definitely is a fantastic Mechanical Engineering Seminar Topic, especially if you can demonstrate how it defies gravity.

You need to move against gravity to accomplish the task. Adhesion is what is required primarily, to help keep the robot firmly on to the wall. Reliable adhesion is a major factor in developing a WCR. Once a proper suction is obtained, locomotion is the next step.  It is also equally important to keep the weight as low as possible so that the effort to stick on to the wall is quite low.

Adhesion is achieved by making use of

1. Suction cups

Suction cups offer excellent grip (almost upto 1 atm). But, the negative aspect of using a suction cup is that it needs a vacuum pump. Since the vacuum pump is bulky and has high power consumption it is rather difficult to accommodate one in a WCR. Moreover, a suction cup would find itself useless when trying to stick to a rough surface.

2.    Electrostatic  chuck (ESC)

ESC achieves controlled adhesion by means of electrostatic forces.

Mobility is achieved by making use of an electric motor.

With these things in mind, I hope you would have got an insight of the Wall Climbing Robot.

 

Ref: http://spectrum.ieee.org/robotics/robotics-software/wallclimbing-robot-spies

Pneumatic paper cup forming machine

“Pneumatic paper cup forming machine” is a wonderful project topic for mechanical engineering students.

In a pneumatic system, energy is stored in a potential state in the form of compressed air. Working energy is produced in a pneumatic system when the compressed air is allowed to expand. So, in order to do work, a device is required which is able to supply an air tank with sufficient amount of air at a desired pressure. This device usually happens to be a positive displacement compressor.

Advantages of using a pneumatic machine:

1)    Lower cost than Hydraulic Machines

2)    Works on air which is freely available.

3)    Compact when compared with Hydraulic Machines

4)    Energy can be controlled relatively easily using valves.

 

The procedure for the development of the paper cup has been broken down into 5 stages

Stages of development:

1)      Body Sealing

A Cup fan wall shaped sheet of paper should be first sealed so as to obtain a cone shape.

2)      Bottom inserting

Round pieces which serve as the bottom of the cup is inserted into the cone and sealed

3)      Bottom knurling

Knurling of the excess portion of the cone is done

4)      Rim Curling

Rim curling is done to make the cup end curled.

5)      Dispensing

The finished cups are automatically discharged from machine.

Factors to be taken into account while designing the cup:

1)      Bottom diameter

2)      Top diameter

3)      Height

4)      Bottom knurling height

5)      Side sealing width

Note:

For best results double PE coated paper is used in the development of cups. Since, in one side PU coated paper cups the paper becomes softened and the chances for the beverage to leak out are high.

Magnetic Levitation Train

Love to turn a 45 minute car ride to an 8 minute blur?

China was the first to country to have an up and running Maglev you could buy tickets to. Back in 1979 the Germans developed the 1^st Magnetic levitation (Maglev) train.  The first to overcome the limitation of wheel and rail, because the rail moves entirely without contact!

This is a wonderful topic for your mechanical engineering seminar as well as project if you dare to make a working model.

The functions of the wheel and rail on a normal rail road including support guidance propulsion and braking are accomplished through an electro magnetic levitation and propulsion system. The mechanics have been replaced by electronics. Support Magnets draw the vehicle towards the guide way from below. While, guidance magnets hold’s the vehicle laterally on track. These support and guidance magnets are mounted on both sides of the vehicle along its entire length. An electronic control system ensures that it levitates at a constant height above the guide way. The Maglev train is propelled and braked by a synchronous long stator linear motor. This motor is not located in the vehicle itself but rather in the guide way. It functions on the same principle as a traditional rotating electrical motor, whose stator has been cut open, unrolled and stretched length wise along both sides of the guide way. But, instead of a rotating magnetic field a traveling magnetic field is generated in the windings, one that pulls the vehicle along the guide way without contact.

The guide way can be elevated where it makes ecological sense. in this way it won’t divide the landscape or developed areas and the area beneath the guide way can continue to be used as before. The guide way can be built at ground level to allow easier co location with existing transportation systems. Therefore, the guide way can be adapted to the landscape instead of being the other way round.

The operation control system controls and safe guards the vehicle’s switches, guide ways and stations along the maglev route. The vehicle communicates with the control system by means of directional radio data transmission. The vehicle’s location is monitored by means of a location reference system integrated into the guide way. The only motor section in operation along the guide way, is the one in which the vehicle is currently traveling. When the vehicle passes from one section to the next, the new motor section is automatically switched on. More power is supplied on gradients and acceleration segments along the route than on flat segments this way the propulsion power is distributed very economically. It is always available exactly where it is needed.

The technology’s success in India could ultimately hinge on a combination public funding and private investments.

 

References:

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