DEC10-06: F ROZEN P RECIPITATION D ETECTION S YSTEM FOR SODAR S YSTEMS by Ashor Chirackal, Imran Butt and Michelle Tan Advisor: Prof. Tim Bigelow Client: Mr. Doug Taylor (John Deere)

P URPOSE Optimizing the number of times the heater is turned on to reduce power consumption by designing a more efficient and accurate method to detect snow and ice.

F UNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS Power consumption Lower than the current system. More efficient in terms of power consumption to delay hibernation mode. Reduce the number of times the heater is turned on. Heater Control Heater should not be used if smooth and flat ice layer is present. water or rain is present. Heater should be used if there is an accumulation of snow that interferes SODAR operation Variance of ice on the reflector pad

F UNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS ( CONT.) Frozen Precipitation Detector can tell the difference between snow and ice accumulation on the reflector pad. can detect variance on the reflector pad. must withstand the temperature of the heating pad. must not interfere with the acoustic environment of the SODAR

N ON - FUNCTIONAL REQUIREMENTS Financial Economical and affordable. Limited Budget (subsidized by John Deere). Installation/Manufacturing/ Maintenance Simple. Adaptable. Easy to maintain. Reliable. Weather Must be able to withstand various weather conditions i.e. snow storms, blizzards. Rain or flat layer of snow or ice will not be an issue as long as they do not disrupt with the operations of the SODAR system

C ONCEPT S KETCH Piezoelectric sensors plates Heater Secondary Sensor SODAR speakers

S YSTEM BLOCK DIAGRAM

I NPUT /O UTPUT Input Piezoelectric Sensor Temperature Sensor Trigger from the SODAR Output Generator Heater

U SER I NTERFACE The Frozen Precipitation Detector is designed to be autonomous. User interface should be kept to a minimum. The microcontroller will be determining optimal heating conditions.

H ARDWARE / S OFTWARE Piezoelectric sensor Detects sound waves emitted from the SODAR Minimal power consumption Must be able to tell the difference in wavelengths between the surface that has precipitation accumulation and a clear surface. Amplifier Microcontroller Should be autonomous collect and process the data from the temperature sensor and the detector (piezoelectric sensors) determine whether the heater should be turned on or off based off the data collected C programming Used to program the microcontroller

T EST P LAN Obtain several piezoelectric sensor applicable to the project Small level testing the piezoelectric sensor characteristics to determine the best option Test piezoelectric sensors under specific conditions Obtain microcontroller and programming the microcontroller Connect the piezoelectric sensors with the microcontroller and the temperature sensor High level testing using the completed design

P IEZOELECTRIC F ILM

T ESTING S ETUP

O UTPUT Without any sound input

O UTPUT (C ONT.) With a 3.5k Hz. input

O UTPUT (C ONT.) With a 3.5k Hz input and peak detection

P ROGRESS Completed Project Plan Testing the characteristics of the piezoelectric sensors Future Order parts necessary to complete the design Experimenting using the sensors Implement the design with snow and ice

C URRENT I SSUES Finding the right piezoelectric sensor Ideal piezoelectric sensors are expensive Need to be custom made Better amplification system Find a microprocessor Installation of the detector Learn C programming

D ELIVERABLES Frozen precipitation detector Temperature sensor Microprocessor Manufacturing Manual

W ORK B REAKDOWN Ashor Chirackal (Team Leader) Sensors Programming Imran Butt (Webmaster) Sensors Programming Michelle Tan (Communications) Sensors

Q UESTIONS ?