INDUSTRY DAY (Week 14)

This week is INDUSTRY DAY.

It is hoped nothing goes wrong and that I can do it well.

PROJECT RESULTS, COMPLETE POSTER (Week 13)

A complete poster and three tables of the results of the distance covered by the shuttlecock when it is propelled using the project that i have completed which is the badminton trainer.

Below is the picture of the complete poster that will be printed out in an A1 sized paper.

Below is the tabulated results of the distance covered by the shuttlecock. These results are based on a 2.5HP air compressor with 125 psi or pressured and compressed air. Three tables were taken to show the consistency of the badminton trainer.

POSTER - DRAFT (Week 12)

This is the draft of my poster that will be shown during the Industry Day.

Basically this is only a rough sketch of the poster as you can see there are a lot of empty spaces to be filled up.This is because the result of my project have not been inserted on the poster. Final and complete poster will be posted on the next entry on the blog.

PROJECT DESCRIPTION AND COMPLETE PROJECT (Week 11)

The description of the project will be explained in point form below:

• Main power supply is turned ON
• The first motor on the base of the badminton trainer will starts to rotate 90 degrees from left to right and right to left continuously.
• Shuttlecock feeder will feed the shuttlecock in front of the firing mechanism.
• The servo motor will trigger the nail gun (firing mechanism)
• Enough pressured air from the nail gun will propel the shuttlecock.
• This process will repeat until the main power supply is turned off.

On the other hand, below is the picture of the complete project of the badminton trainer.

ARDUINO TO CONTROL RC SERVO MOTOR (Week 10)

For the triggering of the firing mechanism (nail gun),since it is not triggered manually by user, it has to be triggered automatically by something. So my choice of triggering is using an RC servo motor (C36R).

In my project, 2 RC servo motors are used. One servo motor is used as the catalyst to trigger the nail gun. Another servo motor is used as a collector for the shuttlecock to guide the spring which grabs the head pf the shuttlecock to the mouth of the nail gun. These servo motors are wired in parallel connection with the ARDUINO.

For your information, I used ARDUINO as my program to control the movements of the RC servo motors because it is much simpler. ARDUINO is an open source single board microcontroller. It is designed to make the process of using and programming electronics parts and components projects more accessible and much simpler.

For my badminton trainer, I had purchased ARDUINO from Cytron Technologies. The model for my ARDUINO is the ARDUINO UNO R3 - Compatible.

NEW MATERIALS ASSEMBLING (Week 9)

For the new materials that I had chose to replace the paintball gun, I had found a suitable nail gun and a small air compressor for the badminton trainer.

The nail gun has to be mounted on the steel structure that was used to place the paintball gun. the nail gun is a bit smaller than the paintball gun so I have to do some adjustments to make sure the nail gun is placed perfectly and it will not provide another problem with the shuttlecock feeder.

For me to fit the nail gun and place it properly, I used additional materials such as cable wires. This is so that I can placed it and tie the gun with the cable wire around the steel structure.

It is placed perfectly fine and it is hoped that it will not cause any more problems regarding the materials used to propel the shuttlecock and also known as the shuttlecock firing mechanism.

The picture of the firing mechanism (nail gun) already mounted to the steel structure of the badminton trainer is as shown below.

PROBLEMS, MATERIALS SHIFT AND DC MOTOR (Week 8)

Due to some problems regarding the main material which is the paintball gun, I had to go and look for other material that can be use as a projector that can project enough high air pressure to propel the shuttlecock.

The paintball came out with a problem that it is a fully manual triggered gun. This is a problem that I had failed to notice when I first purchased the gun. A suitable paintball gun that can be used is the fully automatic triggering which is known as the tactical paintball gun for professionals. Furthermore, the gun I purchased is a basic gun for beginner.

Another problem  is that the high pressured tank containing Hydrogen is empty. In order to refill the tank again I have to spend another few hundreds and because i cannot use the paintball gun, I have to really come out with another solution fast.

After doing another research and discussion made with friends and lecturers, the suggestion is to use a nail gun. It has the same concept of pneumatic which it can provide enough air pressure to propel the shuttlecock perfectly.

Due to shortage of budget and critical amount of time because of last minute problems, I decided to look for a second hand nail gun and a small air compressor to provide enough pressured air to the nail gun.

Another addition to my final year project (Badminton Trainer) is that i mounted a DC motor which is specifically used in car windshield wipers. It is mounted on the base of the badminton trainer along with the wheels. This is made so that the badminton trainer will do a rotation from left to right or right to left exactly about 90 degrees continuously until the power supply is turned off.

The picture is as shown as below.

STRUCTURE SKETCHING, LOGBOOK UPDATE (Week 7)

During this week, regardless that it is the mid term break for BMI. I have stayed in BMI doing the final year project research and buying materials that are needed for the project. I also have come out with a new structure for my project.

It is drawn this way because I want to send it to the welding shop so that I can come out with an exact and perfect and desired measurement of my final year project. Below is the drawings that I have done and sketched.

Also during this week, I have updated my logbook and inserting every single important details into my logbook just as I have updated my final year project blog. Because in the blog I cannot insert all of the materials and hard copy of my findings, I decided to insert them in my logbook.

EXTRA RESEARCH, HPA TANK PURCHASE (Week 6)

During this week. Regardless that I have already purchased the Tippmann Gryphon paintball gun, I still have not purchased the HPA tank. This is because I have been confused either to use the carbon dioxide gas or hydrogen gas in order for my shuttle projector.

So, after some extensive research through the internet, I decided to buy a high pressure hydrogen tank. Also referring to these information that I have gained on a web (above), I decided to buy a 48ci 3000psi with output of 800psi for my hydrogen tank. Through some consideration as I will need to do a test run for my project to record the data, I chose that particular specification (48ci 3000psi). With that type of specification, it can fire up to 590 paint balls which means it can also propel about the same amount of shuttlecocks for one tank of that specification. In my opinion, the tank has enough capacity for a test run and also during the Engineer's Day demonstration.

Below are some of the websites that I have visited to do some extra researches for my project. I found out that the websites are somewhat helping me a bit for my project.

 I have researched about the paintball gun, how to auto-trigger the paintball trigger so that it can propel the shuttlecock and also I have my consideration to use Arduino.

 Above is a picture of the website that I am thinking of controlling the DC servo motor with Arduino.

 Above is a picture of a website where I get to know a lot more regarding the type of paintball gun that I chose to do the project with, which is the Tippmann Gryphon.

The last picture above is a screen capture of  website that I surfed having a question regarding on how to trigger a paintball gun automatically.

BRAINSTORMING IDEAS (Week 5)

On the fifth week, I have met a friend of mine to discuss about my project. As I am new regarding making a final year project, i have asked for a friend of mine as a guidance besides having my supervisor too.

I have brainstormed with my friend looking at the project and also what other materials that i missed to list out. We had came out with a few of good and doable method in order to make my project a success.

When discussing about my final year project, I also learned how to make my project according to schedule and also neatly and tidily arranged schedule in order to finish my project on time.

FURTHER RESEARCH (Week 4)

In week 4, as i am still waiting for my parcel to arrive, all i do during this week is doing further research regarding the air pressure theories and also digging deeper for my main material which is the paintball gun.

Based on my research on the net and also based on what my friends told me, different paintball gun has different function. And as for the paintball gun that i have purchased online, it is used for beginner's level. As i only needed it for projecting a light mechanism such as the shuttlecock, it is perfect for my project. I do not need a tactical paintball gun as it requires higher maintenance.

As for the paintball gun tank, i have found out that Tippmann Gryphon (the paintball gun i purchased online) can also use a Nitrogen tank. And so i have decided to purchase a 3000psi N2 HPA tank. HPA refers to High Pressure Tank.

PROJECT DESIGN SKETCHING - ATTEMPT 2 (Week 3)

During this week which is the third week of the new semester, looking at my sketching of my project design, it felt that it should be altered due to some improvisation regarding the materials to be used in the project.

For my project, i would want it to be as neat and tidy without any wires dangling around it or having anything to be left open without any effort to cover it up in order to produce a neat project design.

Below is the new sketch of my badminton trainer that i have done roughly by drawing it by hand myself. Until i found a perfect design for my trainer, i will keep upgrading the design and once i have concluded my design, i will transfer it into a software which is Google SketchUp.

PAINTBALL MARKER AND HIGH PRESSURE TANK (Week 2)

Two materials are essential in my final year project in order for shuttlecock projection. They are:

• Paintball gun - I have chosen a Tippmann Gryphon as a material that will be used in my project because it is somewhat affordable, light and fulfilled the characteristics of a paintball gun that i need.

• HPA tank - I have chosen a high pressure aluminium tank (48ci 3000psi) with an output pressure of 850psi on preset. This is enough to provide enough air pressure to propel the shuttlecocks.

MATERIALS PURCHASING (Week 1)

This is the first week for my 7th semester in UniKL BMI which means this is my FYP 2.
On the very first week of this new semester, I decided to purchase some materials and items needed for my final year project as a kick start constructing my project.

For the beginning, I only started to purchase small items at Jalan Pasar somewhere in Kuala Lumpur and a few items from online shop as well. On the other hand, main materials and components such as the paintball marker and high pressure tank are keep on hold as I am still surveying them to find more affordable pricing.

Below are the list of items that I bought;

• RC servo motor
• 40 pins start up kit
• PIC programmer
• Power supply adapter
• Shuttlecocks

MY SLIDE PRESENTATION

These were my slide presentation for my project during the Presentation Day.

PROJECT PRESENTATION DAY (Week 12)

On the 12th April 2012, Thursday a Presentation Day was held at Gemilang Hall, Academic building and TTL foyer for the Final Year Project 1 students.

This week I completed almost all of my presentation slides. On Monday and Wednesday I met my supervisor and asked him if there were some mistakes that i still do. Fortunately, my supervisor only commented about the Gantt Chart and stated that I should changed the format and that other slides are acceptable.

During the Presentation Day, while waiting for my assessors, I went through all my presentation slides and tried to put all the words together to explained to them.

PROJECT SLIDE PRESENTATION (Week 11)

This is the week before the Presentation Day where all of the students taking the module FYP1 will present their slide presentation regarding their project to the assessors assigned to them.

On the first day of this week I have started my preparation for my slide presentation. My supervisor reminded us that the slide preparation does not have to include a lot of slides and we only have to include important keys for the project.

I made my slide presentation and meet up with my supervisor. He commented that there were too many words and some of the ideas included are not compulsory and some are not suitable. He studied the slide and he gave me some ideas and corrected my mistake.

He then asked me to go back and re-do the slide presentation and asked me to come and see him at the office the following week before the Presentation Day.

So far, my presentation slides do not have a lot of problems but I will make sure that the mistakes made will be corrected and the next time I show it to my supervisor, he would be satisfied.

PROJECT POSSIBLE OUTCOMES (Week 10)

As the date for the Presentation Day draws nearer, I have done some studies related to the possible outcomes for my badminton trainer. This is done in order to ensure that the materials listed are enough and also to avoid spending on things that will not be used in fabricating the project.

The studies are also done to determine or to plan as we future engineers, we need to construct some things according to our plan and not by just following how it goes. by learning the possible outcome, I will be able to explain to others about my plan for my badminton trainer.

For my badminton trainer, I am planning to make it a mobile machine as it can moves from left to right and the 'head' of my badminton trainer, it can rotate 45 degrees by using the middle of the machine as its point of rotation.

Anyhow, I will post another entry explaining more detail about my project soon.

PROJECT MATERIALS (Week 9)

Based on the researches that i have made for the past few weeks, i have listed some materials, items and components needed for fabricating my badminton trainer.


The materials needed are as listed below;

• RC Servo Motor

• PIC 16F877A

• 40 Pins Start-up Kit

• PIC Programmer

• Power Supply Adapter

• Paintball Marker

• HPA Tank

• Shuttlecocks

Above are some of the materials needed. In the future there might be some addition on the list of the materials as I have not really confirmed that the above are all I need to complete my project.

Based on the materials listed above, I might have some problems regarding the Paintball Marker. From past researches that I have made, purchasing a Paintball Marker requires a license and it is sold with an expensive price. I will discussed with my supervisor regarding the problems and we will come out with some solution to overcome it.

PROJECT PROPOSAL SUBMISSION (Week 8)

I have submitted my project proposal to my supervisor on the last day of the academic week that is on Friday. My supervisor revised my project proposal and he commented some mistakes that i made.

However he did not ask me to re-do the proposal as he is satisfied with my work. He just commented that I should list the objectives in point form and also the literature review does not have to include the writers name or initials after each statement made.

Overall, my supervisor said that my proposal is acceptable and I can proceed with the next agenda for my project.