Embedded Files
Project Ideation
Project Ideation
My project Idea and inspiration
My project Idea and inspiration
Ever get tired of the piles of clothes in your room but you're just too tired to fold them?
Do you want to go easily from
This
to This
Well, I had the same problem and I Hopefully this project gives you the solution you want.
So, my room has the balcony of the house and all the laundry ends up in my room, so I wanted to make something that can fold the laundry that takes less time and effort.
My project is a simple laundry folder that is made using arduino and 4 servo motors and a simple structure.
Basic laundry folder
My project is based on this basic laundry folder, that you just use by putting your shirt on it and then start to flap the folders "Right, Left, then Down", and then you have a folded shirt.
well, my project does the same actually but the difference is that it's automated movement done using motors, it also has some additonal features like another folder that is located at the base to slide the folded shirt after the cycle is over.
Also, it has been done before and i got inspired by this video;
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhWaHSUVGco
and later found this video
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/X-I2AnT5ajM
I also found someone who made the project on instructables with cardboard and I got the idea for the motor places from his project.
https://www.instructables.com/Automatic-Clothes-Folding-Machine/
Project Construction
Project Construction
2- Explain the CAD process of your project. How did you use the software to design your project? (List the softwares/tools/materials...etc that you used)
2- Explain the CAD process of your project. How did you use the software to design your project? (List the softwares/tools/materials...etc that you used)
For the cad Design I used Fusion 360 and some tutorials to help me in the design
Fusion 360
First thing, and the main thing in the project are the folders.
I wanted first to set the dimentions, Initially it was 40*20 cm for the folder (40*60 for the whole machine) but I had to scale it down because of the motors so l decided to make it 30*15 cm for the folder.
Then I took into consederation the sheet size for the laser cutting and finally it became 288* 144 mm.
After deciding on the dimentions the rest was easy as it is so simple just the folder with places for the henges and connectors to motors.
lt took 3 sketches as following.
simple sketch to extrude
Adding holes for henges and motor connector
Project sketch to export to dxf
clearer picture to the holes dimentions
Base folder
Sketch to be extruded
Henge and connetor holes
places for the IR sensors
Project whole sketch to convert to dxf
Bottom Flap
Sketch to be extruded
Enclosure Base
Sketch to be extruded
Enclosure Side
Sketch to be extruded
Box Back
Sketch to be extruded
Motor Wall
Sketch to be extruded
Electronics power inputs side
Sketch to be extruded
places for the arduino and power jack
Enclosure Top
Sketch to be extruded
Control Panel
Sketch to be extruded
Motor Holder
Sketch to be extruded
IR Module Holder
Sketch to be extruded
For the henge I followed this tutorial :
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cGJdwOwvbC8
And modified the dimentions to suit me. for both normal and 90 degree henge.
For the motor connector I had many ideas and designs and that is the final design I decided on.
Sketch to be extruded
Sketch to be extruded
Sketch to be extruded
Assembly
Assembly all parts together
3- Explain the fabrication process of your project. How did you use the machine to fabricate your project? (List the softwares/tools/materials...etc that you used)
3- Explain the fabrication process of your project. How did you use the machine to fabricate your project? (List the softwares/tools/materials...etc that you used)
The machines to be used are the FLE laser cutter for the laser cutting
and the pursa i3 3D printer for printing.
FLE Laser cutter
LaserWork Software for laser cutting
UltimakerCura For 3D Printing
Laser cutting:
DXF File preparation for cutting:
I collected the files I wanted to cut in small spaces so I can reduce the number of sheets used.
For the folders l wanted to hollow them out to be lighter on the motors and i downloaded the engravings from 3axis. co because fusion is so slow at processing complex drawings as I've experienced so l downloaded an existing dxf file and added the shape on the folder in laserwork.
Electronics enclosure box
base / bottom folders and connectors
right folder and base folder (because the first one had a problem)
cutting the enclosure
Cutting the folders and motor connectors
3D Printing
Preparation for printing:After converting files to stl, I opened cura to preview files first to see if the parts are going to be well printed and if I had to change the design.
Motor holder
Henge
90 deg henge right
90 deg henge right & Left
(Mirrored)
All parts ready to print
Machine is getting ready for printing
first try in printing failed because the machine wasn't able to draw materials but it made me rethink a part in the design so it wasn't so bad after all \0/
2nd try for printing thee prototypes and test them
Time to test!
After printing I found a mistake in the motor connector and the henge so I tried again
3rd Try and it works perfectly so let's print the rest of the parts.
First layer of the final print going great.
Last layers of the final print
\excited/
The machine is done printing and it's time to take the parts!!
Spraying alcohol to get the rest parts out from the bed.
Project Electronics & Power Management
Project Electronics & Power Management
4- Describe your electronic circuit. What are the input and action components? What is the function of each? How do the components integrate together to form your smart system? (List the softwares/tools/components...etc that you used)
4- Describe your electronic circuit. What are the input and action components? What is the function of each? How do the components integrate together to form your smart system? (List the softwares/tools/components...etc that you used)
Fritzing
Arduino IDE
Bread Board
Jumpers
Adaptor 6V
Push Button
Metal Geared Servo motor *4
Arduino UNO
LCD screen 16*2
IR sensor
ON/OFF switch
5- What is your power source? How did you select the suitable power source for your project? (List the softwares/tools/components...etc that you used)
5- What is your power source? How did you select the suitable power source for your project? (List the softwares/tools/components...etc that you used)
My Power source for the motors was a 6 v adaptor,
The IR Modules are powered from the arduino 5V pin,
And for the arduino I used the 9V adaptor.
I actually wanted to power the arduino with the same adaptor but I honestly was afraid to do it but i'll try it with the complete features.
But if l tried it l should use the lm7805 to regulate the voltage from the adaptor to 5 volts then connect it to the Vin pin in arduino
circuit on fritzing
(couldn't find a power source so i connected the motors to batteries)
Project Programming
Project Programming
6- Describe the code of your project. How did you program each function of the project?
6- Describe the code of your project. How did you program each function of the project?
For the minimum features my Program is supposed to get the order from the switch as it is manual or automatic mode,
If the switch reads high, then it is automatic mode and the flapping cycle should start when we press the button.
If the switch reads low then it is automatic mode and the cycle will start when the 3 IR sensors read low (when there are clothes on the machine).
First Testing the servos
Sensors Function Testing
Testing Flapping Function
Project Integration & Testing
Project Integration & Testing
7- Demonstrate with text and visuals how did you integrate the project’s modules together? What are the testing results? (Include a Demo video separately, showing a proof of functionality)
7- Demonstrate with text and visuals how did you integrate the project’s modules together? What are the testing results? (Include a Demo video separately, showing a proof of functionality)
Assembling parts together and putting the motors
putting motors and sensors in thier places
arduino in place
trying to separate wires using scotch tape
connecting to the breadboard and arduino
WhatsApp Video 2022-03-23 at 1.22.42 PM.mp4Sharing & Collaboration
Sharing & Collaboration
8- Did you ask for feedback? What are the ideas that others have contributed or suggested? What was someone else’s idea that you built upon? How did you help your peers? How did your peers help you?
8- Did you ask for feedback? What are the ideas that others have contributed or suggested? What was someone else’s idea that you built upon? How did you help your peers? How did your peers help you?
During designing the henge My Instructor "Ahmed Abdelnasser" advised me to leave 1mm between the two holes so that there is clearance in printing to make it able to move.
Also I wanted to empty out the folders to be lighter so I tried to use fusion to draw a pattern but it was so slow and hard in processing a large number of lines so "Nada" (Group A4 instructor) said it was okay to get a design online because it's not a major thing in the design and it's nice that I try to draw it anyway.
When I got the designs online for the folders I didn't know how to place them to avoid the holes and slots i made for the other parts, So, "Noha" the lab specialist helped me choose from one of the designs I found advised me to place them in that orientation to look nice and avoid the holes and slots in my design then I took her advice and worked on it alittle bit and reached the current design.
Overcoming Challenges
Overcoming Challenges
9- When you got stuck, what/who did you turn to? At what point did you have to pause to research or learn more before moving on? What are some mistakes, pitfalls, or challenges that others can avoid if they were doing this project?
9- When you got stuck, what/who did you turn to? At what point did you have to pause to research or learn more before moving on? What are some mistakes, pitfalls, or challenges that others can avoid if they were doing this project?
In this project I got stuck alot in the motor folder connection,
So, The thing is that i want to put the motors inside the enclosure and not outside like I saw in some projects similar to that one, so i have to have a connection between the motor and folder to translate the motion.
lnitially l made a connection that looks like a semi circle or an arc but it didn't really work in the cardboard model so I had to change it but I just didn't know how.
After many attempts I asked Ahmed in the session and he told me to design a joint connected to the motor connector instead of fixing it because it tends to move, So I reached the final design which is a connector fixed to the servo arm and connected to a joint in the folder.
Alas, it didn't work, turns out that the movement is not translated well enough with that design (and i think the problem could either be the mechanism or the dimentions).
Anyway, after cutting and trying the design I asked ahmed again and he figured out that we can put a slider instead of the joint that is connected to the motor.
I had another 2 ideas, one of them is that i make the slider between the servo arm and the connector, and the other idea is that I put another revolute joint between the arm and the connector.
I actually designed the 3 solutions but l did'nt have time to go to the lab and cut them so I took the easier solution for me and made it at home.
My dad has a drill at home, so I used it to make holes in the connector that I cut earlier and tried it with the mechanism.
After many iterations it worked fine and I completed the project and integrated it with the code.
I later found out that it simply is a 4 bar mechanism and I should've treated it like that and see how to design it to give me the desired movement (I'll try to do that in future work with the complete user features).
Future Work
Future Work
10- If you had more time, what is one thing you would change/ Do next in your project?
10- If you had more time, what is one thing you would change/ Do next in your project?
Add the complete user features
Put led indicators for each motor.
Design the 4 bar mechanism for the motor folder connection.
Put an opening to the electronics enclosure to be able to modify wires with the arduino easily.
Try to make place for the wires to look nice and be able to know which wire belongs to a certain component, Itried to do that with scotch tape but it's not the best.
Final Project Design Files
Final Project Design Files
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