Boeing NFC Part and Process Tracking System Team 41 Alper Olcay – Vigneshwar Karthikeyan – Jinjoo Nam

Overview Objectives & Goals Information about NFC Features Revisions Results & Challenges Future considerations Acknowledgements

Objectives & Goals Our main objective was to demonstrate the effectiveness of NFC (Near Field Communication) technologies within Boeing’s manufacturing processes through two vignettes. –Case Study 1 simulates a heat treatment facility within a manufacturing plant in order to show NFC’s applicability to creating a smarter furnace. –Case Study 2 demonstrates the usefulness of NFC in logistics operations and part verification after transportation of supplies and parts.

What is NFC? NFC is a short range wireless technology that is comparable to Bluetooth, but with very short range (typically around 4cm’s) Operates at MHz. Works with inductive coupling between a reader and a tag, with the reader initiating the magnetic field.

Features MHz is the operating frequency of the system Expected operating range to be between 2cm ~ 6 cm. Able to detect temperature range between - 40 to 120 °C for both case studies 2-axis Accelerometer measures ±3G SD Card provides storage capabilities for Case Study 2.

Flow Chart of All Case Studies Part is “checked- in/out” at a given work location by a specific employee; data is sent to server Jig aids an employee in manual drilling; automated QA process data is sent to server Part undergoes process, data stored to NFC tag on part and transferred to server Temperature sensor and accelerometer ensure part is not tampered with during transportation Part Tracking (1) Heat Treatment (2) SmartBench (3) SmartJig (4) Backend Server (Cosm) -Resembles actual server that Boeing would use -Uses http put/pull requests -Sends notifications via Twitter

Overall Block Diagram

Block Diagram: Part Tracking and Verification

Schematic: Part Tracking and Verification

PCB Design: Part Tracking

Requirements: Part Tracking Arduino runs on 9V battery Able to measure temperatures in the range of -40 to 120 degrees Celcius Able to measure accelerations in the range of ±3G Badges and tags should be accessible in the range of 2 to 6 cm’s. SD card should store 2 GB’s of data.

Testing: Part Tracking Tested the temperature sensor and the accelerometer on a breadboard. Ran Arduino on battery for multiple hours. Stored placeholder data on a SD card to make sure that it actually has the required storage capabilities.

Revisions: Part Tracking Due to PCB being damaged, switched to a breadboard sensor bundle using a digital temperature sensor and a 2 axis accelerometer. As Arduino memory was not large enough to possibly store data during a week long transportation case, switched to an Arduino SD shield and a SD card for storage.

Part Tracking: Sensor Logging Acquires data from the both sensors with sensorLogging method. Filters out the data that is in the desired range for storage considerations. Stores information on SD card by adding the logged values to a string.

Part Tracking: NFC Read &Write readBadge() function confirms that a badge is scanned and that employee has access to the facility. readPartTag() function confirms that a part tag is scanned and writes a QA check mark on the tag.

Results

Results Summary: Part Tracking Accelerometer successfully logs data in mG’s to SD Card when greater than ±.5G for Case Study 2. Temperature Sensor successfully logs data to SD Card when greater than 25°C or less than 20°C. A QA check mark is successfully placed on the part at the end of the process.

Challenges: Part Tracking Were not able to get the SD card slot on the Arduino WIFI shield working which led to not being able to send data to server. Had to use a 9V battery to power up Arduino (size considerations) SD card shield and NFC shield were not compatible.

Future Considerations: Part Tracking Use a dedicated memory chip in the place of the SD card. Streamline the process of getting the data out of the SD card, or any other means of storage. Implement means to prevent employees from taking the SD card or the memory out without scanning their badge.

Next step in the part’s lifetime: The Heat Treatment Facility.

Block Diagram: Heat Treatment

Schematic: Heat Treatment

PCB Design: Heat Treatment

Requirements: Heat Treatment Able to measure temperatures in the range of -40 to 120 degrees Celcius with an accuracy of ±1 degree Celcius. Able to access tags in the range of 2-6 cm’s. Able to connect to a WIFI hotspot. Able to display states of process on LCD.

Testing: Heat Treatment Tested thermistors on breadboard. Tested LCD using Arduino. Used Arduino to read and write tags, as well as initializing employee badges and tags. Connected to the WIFI hotspot of a Samsung Galaxy SIII with password.

Revisions: Heat Treatment Visual aid with LCD screen rather than a control circuit. Streaming data onto Cosm rather than using a Google spreadsheet to store the data.

Heat Treatment: Server Connection and Data Transmit Connects to WIFI hotspot on a smartphone Sends a PUT request to the server with the information provided by Cosm.

Heat Treatment: NFC Read & Write Capabilities 3 NFC Related functions –Read_NFC_Badge() confirms access to the facility –Read_PartTag() gets the serial number of part –Write_To_PartTag() places a QA check mark on the part.

Heat Treatment: Overall Control Method Displays visual aid to show either success or failure of process. Interacts with NFC functions to go on with the process.

Results

Results Summary: Heat Treatment Arduino successfully aids the employee visually with the help of LCD. Arduino can successfully determine if a particular employee has access to the facility. A QA check mark is put on the heat treated part at the end of the process.

Challenges: Heat Treatment Accuracy of temperature sensing. Arduino SRAM not large enough to handle all the code that was written, so had to dismiss some possible features in order to get the code running. Implementing a time out for the case of temperature never reaching 50 degrees Celcius

Future Considerations: Heat Treatment Use an actual backend server instead of a cloud storage system like Cosm Increase the overall accuracy of measurements. Fix the latency issue and frequent dropping of connection between Arduino and the WIFI hotspot.

Acknowlegements Special thanks to: –Bryan Wilcox –Prof. Carney –Kevin Bassett –Eric Nicks –Dallas Scholes –Mark Smart

Questions?