Automated Belt Loader Evan Kellogg, Nan Sun, Andrew Wadsworth Faculty Advisor: Prof. William Leonard

1. ABeL ATMega32 8-bit Timer with PWM EEPROM Automated Belt Loader Evan Kellogg, Nan Sun, Andrew Wadsworth Faculty Advisor: Prof. William Leonard Belt Belt Production Cost Pressure Sensors Pressure Sensors Motor Motor • Although it was our aim to replace existing belt loading systems, our system is scaled back due to size and budget constraints. The following totals represent the amount of $500 budget that was spent, and the total amount it would cost to reproduce our system with new components. • Project Total • Treadmills (2): $20 • Pressure Mats (4): $160 • Electronics (FETs, diodes, etc.): $10 • A total cost of $190 was spent on parts • Reproduction Cost • PMDC Motors (2): $300 • Pressure Mats (4): $160 • Electronics (FETs, diodes, etc.): $15 • Frame Materials (Wood/Metal): $150 • Power Supply: $200 • Building Materials (screws, wires, etc.): $30 • PCB Fabrication: $20 • In order to reproduce our project with new, professional components, it would likely cost around $875. Abstract Block Diagram Anyone who has travelled via plane has noticed the extremely inefficient and possibly damaging manner in which bags are handled at an airport. If a luggage handler is behind while unloading luggage from an airplane, he/she must manually stop the belt, proceed to unload the luggage, and once caught up manually flip the switch to start the belt again. If a luggage handler were attempting to load/unload the plane as fast as possible he/she may be inclined to mishandle the traveler's luggage, potentially causing damage to their property. Our proposed system will eliminate both these situations, resulting in a more efficient way to load/unload luggage from airplanes. Luggage ABeL 20VDC 20VDC PCB Power Circuit Power Circuit 5VDC Signal 5VDC Signal PWM PWM PCB Design A view of ABeL after construction, prior to enclosing it The final PCB after etching and the soldering of components The PCB layout designed in EagleCAD • Requirements • The system must be able to autonomously vary belt speeds in order to reduce the amount of distance between luggage • The system must be able to accurately sense the luggage’s location • The system must be able to operate at an incline of at least 20 degrees • The motors’ speeds must be able to reach the desired set point in under 2 seconds • The height of the bottom of the system should be between 2ft and 3.5ft • Acknowledgements: • Russell Tessier, Christopher Salthouse, Alfred Defonzo, & • William Leonard • T.B. Soules & • Michael Zink • The ECE Department • Fran Caron • Sean Klaiber & M5 Staff From Left to Right: ABeL, Nan Sun, Andrew Wadsworth, William Leonard, & Evan Kellogg Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering ECE 415/ECE 416 – SENIOR DESIGN PROJECT 2012 College of Engineering - University of Massachusetts Amherst SDP 12

2. State Chart Diagrams Control Flow Project Description The goal of this project is to create a more efficient belt loading systems than ones that exist today. With this project, our team wants to provide an automated belt loading system, partitioned into various belts, each operating at various speeds. Currently, belt loading systems operate at a single operating speed and must be manually turned off when the user is running behind. Our system would be a solution to this problem by utilizing sensors at discrete points along the belts and using this data to automatically stop, slow down, or speed up each belt. Experiments Experiments were designed and performed in order to determine the efficiency of our system. In order to compare with contemporary systems a chip that ran ABeL with no pressure input and ran both belts at the same speed. Average Time to Unload System (20 Pieces x 5 Trials) Data Flow Luggage Falling off Edge of System (20 Pieces x 5 Trials) Average Distance Between Luggage (20 Pieces x 5 Trials) Average Distance of Luggage from Edge (20 Pieces x 5 Trials)