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

2. 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

3. 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

4. Block Diagram
Anran

5. Physical Design
Anran

6. 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

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

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

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

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

11. 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

12. 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

13. 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

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

15. 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

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

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

18. Reset Button
Suicheng

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

20. Mechanical Design Solution
Attach a feedback wire to the microcontroller
Anran

21. 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

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

23. Control Design
Achieving Cloth Sensing
Set and check threshold
Xudong

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

25. Control Design Controlling Servo Motors Calibration
Get feedback position
Anran

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

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

28. Questions?
Xudong