Automatic Cloth Folding Machine ECE 445 Senior Design Automatic Cloth Folding Machine Group 43 Xudong Li, Anran Su, Suicheng Zhan TA: Yuchen He Xudong

Introduction Problem Folding all the clothes once Solution they come out from the dryer is a tedious and time-consuming task Solution The folding machine redefines the way we interact with laundries by automatically detect the presence of the clothes and fold them in a neat way Xudong

Objective Functionality Cost Effectiveness Safety Convenience Able to fold various types of clothes into a rectangle regardless color, material and size Cost Effectiveness Competitive price to build, operate and maintain without compromising robustness Safety Obstacle detection before and during the folding process Convenience requires little human involvement Xudong

Block Diagram Anran

Physical Design Anran

Power Supply Unit Power Protection Circuit Four serial-connected rechargeable lithium batteries provide 14.8V Protection Circuit Cut off the whole circuit when input voltage is below 4.7V Voltage Regulators Four regulators. One regulates the voltage to 5V, the other three regulates the voltage to 5.8V Suicheng, why use 2 different regulators

Customize the R1, R2 and R3 to change protection threshold Protection Circuit Use LTC4365 Chip from Linear Technology Suicheng

Protection Circuit Prevent the motor from burning Turn off the circuit when input voltage below 4.7V or above 16V Suicheng

Voltage Regulator 5.8V regulator Each one drives one servo motor Regulates output voltage to 5.8V± 0.1V Suicheng

Voltage Regulator 5V regulator Drives the rest of circuit Regulates output voltage to 5V± 0.1V Suicheng

Sensing Unit Cloth sensing Human hands and arms sensing Use photoresistor to detect the presence of clothes Human hands and arms sensing Use passive infrared motion sensor to detect the motion of human hands and arms Anran

Cloth sensing Output voltage is around 4.26V when uncovered Output voltage drops below 3V when covered by clothes Microcontroller detects the change in voltage to achieve cloth sensing Anran Uncovered Covered Black Covered Grey Covered White Current(mA) 0.425 0.07 0.3 0.372 VOUT(V) 4.26 0.6 2.6 2.86 Power(mW) 2.125 0.35 1.5 1.86

Human hands and arms sensing When no motion detected , output voltage 0V, digital low When human hands and arms motion detected, output voltage 3.3V, digital high Time delay between transition from high to low: 4 seconds Sensitivity and detection range: around 3 meters Anran Outputting high Outputting low Current(µA) 140 40 Power(mW) 0.7 0.2

User interface RGB LED Reset Button Indicating the current state of operation Reset Button Reset the folding board back to initial idle state Xudong

RGB LED State Number Status LED Output 1 IDLE White 2 Clothes Ready Blue 3 Folding Red 4 Error Blinking Red 5 Folding Completed Green Xudong

RGB LED Xudong Red Green Blue White Current(mA) 11.94 9.34 8.52 28.33

Reset Button Pull the reset pin of microcontroller to ground Reset the folding board back to initial state Suicheng

Reset Button Suicheng

Mechanical Design Problem Don’t know the current position of the motor Anran

Mechanical Design Solution Attach a feedback wire to the microcontroller Anran

Peak Power Consumption (W) Mechanical Design Torque (kg·cm) Speed (s/60°) Peak Power Consumption (W) Motor 1 18.38 0.23 14.5 Motor 2 18.98 0.25 14.4 Motor 3 18.56 0.26 13.8 Quantitative Measurements of Torque, Speed and Power Anran Assigned Value Actual Value 30° 29° 120° 118° 60° 61° 150° 153° 90° 92° 170° 173° Quantitative Measurements of Rotation Angles

Control Design IDLE Cloth Ready Safety Check Folding Error Complete Xudong Folding Error Complete Simplified Flowchart

Control Design Achieving Cloth Sensing Set and check threshold Xudong

Control Design Achieving Hands and Arm Sensing Read from PIR sensor Controlling RGB LED Set RGB values for LED Suicheng

Control Design Controlling Servo Motors Calibration Get feedback position Anran

Future Work and Improvement Improve cloth sensing algorithm under dark environment Better wire management Use harder and lighter folding boards Anran

Acknowledgement TA Yuchen He Prof. Seth Hutchinson ECE Machine Shop Xudong

Questions? Xudong