Lingjie (Kimi)
Damien Blake
Yuling Shen
Yue Teng
Overview of Status of Analysis, Design, Fabrication, Tests, etc.
Completed image processing and blob analysis code (Kimi)
Finished hardware setup (All)
Figuring out automated control, i.e. processing/algorithm communication (Kimi and Teng)
Troubleshooting system prototype (All)
Accomplishments from Previous Week
Finalized image processing code (Kimi)
Finished hardware setup (All)
Set up communication between image processing software and matlab (Kimi and Teng)
Created isopropyl alcohol / distilled water solution to drop HDPE sphere at 1mm/s for testing (Damien, Kimi, and Teng)
Confirmed actual flow profile using TiO2 powder (Damien)
Calibrated pump RPM with respect to flow velocity (Yuling)
Goals for Next Week (list names after each item). Use specific and measurable objectives.
Use PID controller to successfully balance the plastic ball in the center of the FOV (Kimi and Teng)
Test real plankton and improve the robustness of the image processing as well as PID controller code (Kimi and Teng)
Identify and resolve cause of diffuser deformation (change design?) (Damien)
Eliminate rogue bubbles (Damien)
Determine exact velocity relation between pump rpm and centerline velocity after diffuser (Damien)
Determine quick-disconnect size (Yuling)
Build final prototype (All)
Sponsor Comments from Last Meeting and Actions Taken to Address these Comments (indicate date of comments and if via email or in person)
14 May 2015 Meeting with Dr. Franks and Jessica
Try to use plastic ball to build a working system and then switch to real plankton to test robustness (May 14th in person)
Dead plankton
Instructor Comments from Last Meeting and Actions Taken to Address these Comments (indicate date of comments and if via email or in person)
Comments from Other Students in the Class (indicate date of comments and if via email or in person)
Risks and Areas of Concern
Communication between image processing result and PID controller
RS-485 frequency limit
When we tested the control algorithm we did not set a buffer time which caused the loop to run too fast. The RS485 module got burned out from too frequent commands. The pump has a 1200 baud rate and each command string is approximately 120 bits, so the maximum frequency to send command is 10Hz.
Resources or Information Required but not Available
Schedule
Describe upcoming milestone
Update Gantt chart.
Budget (list amount spent and amount remaining)
Total: $3000
Spent:
$2.95 (Fish eggs)
$346.91 (Mightex Camera)
$335.4 (Pump)
$43 (RS485 Cape)
$139.12 (Assembly Material McMaster)
$24.24 (Pump A.V. Control Module)
$30.86 (Parker O-ring)
$21.84 (Nylon 6/6 Balls for testing)
$95.78 (Acrylic and off the shelf parts)
$38.47 (Metric Screws & Tap)
$14.17 (3mm Tubing)
$34.46 (3mm Tube Fitting)
$23.91 (2mm Tubing)
$76.93 (Tubing Fitting with barb size 10-32)
$6.00 (1/16'' Tubing fitting)
$99.36 (1/16'' acrylic and standoff)
$6.47 (Glycerin)
$2.15 (Ethanol)
$213.36 (RS-485 modules for backup)
Remain: $1375.69
Progress on Report and Webpage
Finished first draft of the report and will finish second draft of the report this week
Finished first draft of the team webpage