Closed-Loop Rotational Speed Control of Cooling Fan David ChoiJay Gainer Shad LawsKarl Stensvad
Objectives Closed-loop control of cooling fan based on desired speed Fine tune LabVIEW parameters to quickly and accurately adjust between speeds To plot power usage and efficiency at different fan speeds To plot power usage and efficiency with different intake restricting
Overview Use small light bulb and photoresistor to create encoder Encoder relays fan speed to DAQ LabVIEW interprets encoder input and varies voltage across fan to maintain desired RPM Read current to the fan to calculate power usage and fan efficiency
Logic Overview
Mechanical Features Cooling fan housing Encoder Airflow resistor plates Circuit board
Electronics Tachometer Proto-board Circuit Board
User Interface
Software
Setting Trial Speed
Determination of Speed
Changing Output Voltage
Determination of Error
Calculating Power
Demo
Results and Analysis Fan Rotational Speed Power Draw Efficiency Error
Conclusion We successfully wrote a program that controls the fan speed We verified that power draw increases as airflow restriction and RPM increase We found that efficiency decreases as airflow restriction increases