Capstone Project
Part A- Presentation and Justification of the Problem
1.Dollars Crumbling: When an aged dollar is crumbled during time, it is difficult for a vending machine to accept it, sort in a wallet, and operate in ATM machines.
2.Cold Hands: Cold hands limit hand movement and precision. In cold weather, this often happens and can lead to sickness.
3.Changing of video game disks: Its a pain for many to get up and manually change disks in a video game console. Sometimes disks can be lost or damaged.
4.Short pencils: Pencils shortened due to over sharpening can be a problem for holding and griping. This leads to hand cramps and lax hand writing
5. Students Locked out of school: At........................ Snow Hill High School, proximity sensors are used to get into the school by means of a key card. However, only teachers have possesion of these cards and students are often locked out of the building if late for class or have a damaged card.
Below is a decision matrix on how we picked our best problem, to solve.
2.Cold Hands: Cold hands limit hand movement and precision. In cold weather, this often happens and can lead to sickness.
3.Changing of video game disks: Its a pain for many to get up and manually change disks in a video game console. Sometimes disks can be lost or damaged.
4.Short pencils: Pencils shortened due to over sharpening can be a problem for holding and griping. This leads to hand cramps and lax hand writing
5. Students Locked out of school: At........................ Snow Hill High School, proximity sensors are used to get into the school by means of a key card. However, only teachers have possesion of these cards and students are often locked out of the building if late for class or have a damaged card.
Below is a decision matrix on how we picked our best problem, to solve.
*Key: 1-5; 1=Bad 5=Good
Problem Statement:
Throughout the world today, many people use paper currency. This money travels all around the world to many different people and often get immensely worn out while in circulation. People with jobs such as waiting or bussing tables, where the pay is predominately in paper currency, experience this problem on a daily basis. The stack of currency gets disorderly and in some situations, become inoperable in machines such as vending machines or ATMs.
Sources with this problem:
1. "LPT Request: How to Make a Vending Machine Take a Dull Dollar Bill • /r/LifeProTips." Reddit. Amiaheroyet, 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
The first link in detailed was a post by an individual who claimed the problem we stated and others shared there solution techniques. These techniques included folding, heating, and wetting dollar bills.
2. "What Are Some of the Reasons a Vending Machine Will Reject a Dollar Bill?Frequently Asked in." What Are Some of the Reasons a Vending Machine Will Reject a Dollar Bill? Scott Parker, 28 Jan. 2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2015. https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-of-the-reasons-a-vending-machine-will-reject-a-dollar-bill
3. "Why Won't That Vending Machine Take My Crumbled-but-genuine Dollar?" News.google.com. Skip Wollenberg, 30 May 1999. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
This final source is a news article. This article writes about the problem of vending machines not accepting dollar bills.
Public Problem Survey:
Throughout the world today, many people use paper currency. This money travels all around the world to many different people and often get immensely worn out while in circulation. People with jobs such as waiting or bussing tables, where the pay is predominately in paper currency, experience this problem on a daily basis. The stack of currency gets disorderly and in some situations, become inoperable in machines such as vending machines or ATMs.
Sources with this problem:
1. "LPT Request: How to Make a Vending Machine Take a Dull Dollar Bill • /r/LifeProTips." Reddit. Amiaheroyet, 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
The first link in detailed was a post by an individual who claimed the problem we stated and others shared there solution techniques. These techniques included folding, heating, and wetting dollar bills.
2. "What Are Some of the Reasons a Vending Machine Will Reject a Dollar Bill?Frequently Asked in." What Are Some of the Reasons a Vending Machine Will Reject a Dollar Bill? Scott Parker, 28 Jan. 2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2015. https://www.quora.com/What-are-some-of-the-reasons-a-vending-machine-will-reject-a-dollar-bill
3. "Why Won't That Vending Machine Take My Crumbled-but-genuine Dollar?" News.google.com. Skip Wollenberg, 30 May 1999. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
This final source is a news article. This article writes about the problem of vending machines not accepting dollar bills.
Public Problem Survey:
Survey Results:
Synopsis: Part A was focused on the justification and identification of a problem. First, we listed possible everyday problems that we could attempt to solve and ultimately decided on one single problem to focus on. Then, we thoroughly researched the problem we selected to determine what the general public's experiences were with said problem and if there were any solutions to the problem that had previously been identified. We successfully completed all these tasks at this point and are going to use the results from the survey to find a target consumer.
Part B- Documentation and Analysis of Prior Solution Attempts
We researched patents which related to our problem and had been previously filed and then documented them in a template.
Patent #1: http://www.google.com/patents/USD384591
FIG. 1 is a right view of the dollar bill straightener showing the new design;
FIG. 2 is a left view thereof;
FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view thereof;
FIG. 4 is a front elevational view thereof;
FIG. 5 is a top plan view thereof;
FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view thereof; and,
FIG. 7 is an isometric view thereof.
The broken line showing of currency, in FIG. 7, is for illustrative purposes only and forms no part of the claimed design.
Patent #1: http://www.google.com/patents/USD384591
FIG. 1 is a right view of the dollar bill straightener showing the new design;
FIG. 2 is a left view thereof;
FIG. 3 is a rear elevational view thereof;
FIG. 4 is a front elevational view thereof;
FIG. 5 is a top plan view thereof;
FIG. 6 is a bottom plan view thereof; and,
FIG. 7 is an isometric view thereof.
The broken line showing of currency, in FIG. 7, is for illustrative purposes only and forms no part of the claimed design.
*There were no blueprints given for the patent listed above (Patent #3)
Here, we attempted to research products which were already on the market that solve our problem. Unfortunately, there were not any that were invented which pertain to our problem in particular. However, we did manage to find three household products which have the capability of doing so.
Product #1: Remington S5500 Anti-Static Digital Ceramic 1" Flat Iron (Color May Vary) - Walmart.com (Walmart.com)http://www.walmart.com/ip/14978527?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227000555761&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=40843019552&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=78656549552&veh=sem
This link provided is a solution using a hair straightener which can be found on the market. It can be used to manually straiten a dollar bill by constantly moving the bills through the heated irons. We are going to incorporate this principle into our product by using heat to "iron" the money |
Product #2: Proctor Silex® Nonstick Iron (Proctor Silex® Nonstick Iron)http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/proctor-silex-nonstick-iron/1017004972?skuId=17004972&mcid=PS_googlepla_nonbrand_cleaning_&adpos=1o1&creative=43742655709&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=Cj0KEQiAsNyxBRDBuKrMhsbt3vwBEiQAdRgPsm2fmkeY-VzBdpW3GDvK1S_fxlP52Q4e1VE8ytOylMkaAres8P8HAQ
An iron can also be used for flattening dollar bills with heat as well as it's intended purpose of ironing clothes. The heated iron is rubbed on top of the dollar bill, flattening the dollar bill. Like the hair straightener, the iron uses heat to flatten items. This principle will also be incorporated in our product. |
Product #3:
Art Supplies from Blick (Rolling Pins)http://www.dickblick.com/products/rolling-pins/?clickTracking=true&wmcp=pla&wmcid=items&wmckw=30345-1006&gclid=Cj0KEQiAsNyxBRDBuKrMhsbt3vwBEiQAdRgPsuVE52Q3D973sp2pYVgGgScqxesPx0KTvvMz1_7B4BsaAvXY8P8HAQ This roller pin can be used to forcefully straighten a dollar bill by applying pressure to and rolling the pin back and forth on top of the bill. We are combining all three of these flattening techniques in our product. We are going to use the combined power of pressure from the rollers and heat from the heating pads to crisp and straighten the money that goes through our product. |
Our product is designed towards individuals and/or companies who are often in possession of paper currency and consider it a problem when said currency is wrinkled and tattered. According to a survey, released by our design team during the fall of 2015, of 200 individuals located within Worcester County, Maryland, 62.5% of those individuals surveyed were paid in paper currency, with 97.5% using it in some regard during their daily life. The survey also conveyed that 88% of the individuals found that wrinkled currency proved to be problematic at one point in time. Based on the results of the survey, our design idea seemed to be one that would receive a large amount of support, given the 84.5% approval rating of designing and constructing a product which would solve the problem we are researching.
Synopsis:
In this component of our capstone project, we researched previous patents which solved the problem we are working to solve. We then preceded to research existing products and also the potential market for our product. We were able to find numerous products on the market which contained the capability to solve our problem, which are listed and elaborated on above. The products consisted of the method of heating and applying pleasure to straiten dollar bills. We considered and ultimately will be using these methods in our final solution.We then used the results from the survey aforementioned in part A to discover the marketability of our solution, which will mostly consist of individuals who's earnings are predominantly in paper currency. Examples of such include, but are not limited to, waitresses, busboys, barbers, and taxi drivers. We also found that the majority of the individuals that took our survey were interested in our design team addressing the problem of crumbled paper currency.
In this component of our capstone project, we researched previous patents which solved the problem we are working to solve. We then preceded to research existing products and also the potential market for our product. We were able to find numerous products on the market which contained the capability to solve our problem, which are listed and elaborated on above. The products consisted of the method of heating and applying pleasure to straiten dollar bills. We considered and ultimately will be using these methods in our final solution.We then used the results from the survey aforementioned in part A to discover the marketability of our solution, which will mostly consist of individuals who's earnings are predominantly in paper currency. Examples of such include, but are not limited to, waitresses, busboys, barbers, and taxi drivers. We also found that the majority of the individuals that took our survey were interested in our design team addressing the problem of crumbled paper currency.
Part C- Presentation and Justification of Solution Design Requirements
Product Appellation: CrispMoney
Designers: Luke Schofield, Jake Blosveren, and Nik Johnson
Target consumer: Individuals who often posses and utilize paper currency as means of purchasing goods.
Design Specification:
Designers: Luke Schofield, Jake Blosveren, and Nik Johnson
Target consumer: Individuals who often posses and utilize paper currency as means of purchasing goods.
Design Specification:
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Part D- Design Concept Generation, Analysis, and Selection
Luke's Concepts-
Two heated rollers, heated by electricity, which turn in opposite directions move the dollar bill through the apparatus and flatten it in the process.
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This wallet consists of heat pads located within the walls of the wallet which, when closed, iron out the dollar bill, flattening it.
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This wallet closes by means of pneumatic compression, sucking all of the air out of the wallet and flattening the bill in the process.
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Jake's Concepts-
Nik's Concepts-
This concept is a wallet which is engineered to decompress the dollar bill pneumatically when closed.
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This concept is a heated conveyor belt which flattens the dollar bill when inserted with a combination of heat & the pressure applied between the two conveyor belts.
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This concept is very similar to a curling iron used to straighten hair, though on a smaller scale. When the bill is inserted between the two irons and pulled in & out, the combination of applied pressure, pulling of the bill between the irons, and heat flatten the dollar bill.
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The decision matrices below were used to decide which design concept we would use to solve our problem.
After careful consideration, our design team ultimately decided to name my second concept (NJ #2 on the first design matrix) as the starting design concept for our final product. This design implements a pair of heated rollers which rotate in the opposite direction inside of a box by means of an internal motor and with a belt suspended on each of the rollers. The rollers are designed to heat to approximately 200 degrees Celsius, hence the protective case on the exterior. The combination of heat and pressure to the dollar bill, when fed in between the rollers, will flatten the bill. Below are our design team's redesigns of my initial concept, created using Microsoft Paint.
Part E- Application of STEM Principles & Practices
A major concept in our product, we needed to know how to heat the belt. We researched around the web and fond electrical resistant heating. This was using resistance in an electrical circuit to produce heat through electrical resistance. The friction of electrons causes heat inside a component such as a resistor and produces heat.
http://electrical-engineering-portal.com/resistive-heating-explained-in-details
For our product we needed a heater, motor, conductive belt, and mechanical parts. We planned on acquiring a straightening iron and removing the heated iron to use as the heating mechanism. The motor would be a stepper motor controlled by an Arduino. This would allow us to control the speed of the belt, as well as the temperature of the iron, by programming the micro controller board. A roller from a printer and heat conductive linen would be used for the conductive belt. In final, we planned to either 3D print our parts(plastic) from a school-provided 3D printer or use a plasma cutter should we choose to use metal parts. All this would be incorporated into our design.
We originally bought a electrical heat pad from www.adafruit.com to use in the "CrispMoney" product. We then tested the pad by applying a 9V battery to the two terminals of the pad. After several minutes, the pad did not heat up. We then cut the pad in half and tried again. This was no more successful than the initial trial. We tested the pad with a multi meter to test the connection before both trials, showing us that circuit was closed and everything seemed properly connected. We also referred to the data sheet provided below from the website of the company who created the electric pad. Ultimately, we had no luck with the pad and as a result had to resort to finding a different method to create heat for our product.
http://electrical-engineering-portal.com/resistive-heating-explained-in-details
For our product we needed a heater, motor, conductive belt, and mechanical parts. We planned on acquiring a straightening iron and removing the heated iron to use as the heating mechanism. The motor would be a stepper motor controlled by an Arduino. This would allow us to control the speed of the belt, as well as the temperature of the iron, by programming the micro controller board. A roller from a printer and heat conductive linen would be used for the conductive belt. In final, we planned to either 3D print our parts(plastic) from a school-provided 3D printer or use a plasma cutter should we choose to use metal parts. All this would be incorporated into our design.
We originally bought a electrical heat pad from www.adafruit.com to use in the "CrispMoney" product. We then tested the pad by applying a 9V battery to the two terminals of the pad. After several minutes, the pad did not heat up. We then cut the pad in half and tried again. This was no more successful than the initial trial. We tested the pad with a multi meter to test the connection before both trials, showing us that circuit was closed and everything seemed properly connected. We also referred to the data sheet provided below from the website of the company who created the electric pad. Ultimately, we had no luck with the pad and as a result had to resort to finding a different method to create heat for our product.
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Part F- Consideration of Design Viability
Loads: Our product deals with a small amount of static load. The load that is handled by the motor consists of the roller's and dollar bill's friction. The load of the roller moves the same direction of the motor's rotation. The dollar bill's load moves lunar toward the direction of where the exit is for the bill.
Materials: The material used on our design involve plastic and metal. The plastic contains the electrical circuits. This protects from shorted circuits. The metal contains the heater and heated parts. This protects from melting the plastic and electrical components.
Mechanical Engineering: The design requires the heat from the heater and the mechanical rotation of the motor. The heat is required to heat the inputted paper money. As for the motor, it needs to rotate the load of the roller and the friction of the money.
Energy: The product requires an outlet of 120V to power the electronics. The voltage is converted into a desired and usable voltage and current through the circuit. The circuit delivers roughly 50V to the heater.
Chemical/Bio Engineering: Our products electrical energy into heat. A potentiometer is used to control the voltage delivered to the heater. for example 50V is converted into 450F. This is the max heat the circuit allows.
Electrical Engineering: The design contains various electronics and components. This includes, an electrical heater, voltage control circuit board, a 120V input plug, a SPDT switch(on/off switch), and a potentiometer to control the heat.
Materials: The material used on our design involve plastic and metal. The plastic contains the electrical circuits. This protects from shorted circuits. The metal contains the heater and heated parts. This protects from melting the plastic and electrical components.
Mechanical Engineering: The design requires the heat from the heater and the mechanical rotation of the motor. The heat is required to heat the inputted paper money. As for the motor, it needs to rotate the load of the roller and the friction of the money.
Energy: The product requires an outlet of 120V to power the electronics. The voltage is converted into a desired and usable voltage and current through the circuit. The circuit delivers roughly 50V to the heater.
Chemical/Bio Engineering: Our products electrical energy into heat. A potentiometer is used to control the voltage delivered to the heater. for example 50V is converted into 450F. This is the max heat the circuit allows.
Electrical Engineering: The design contains various electronics and components. This includes, an electrical heater, voltage control circuit board, a 120V input plug, a SPDT switch(on/off switch), and a potentiometer to control the heat.
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The purpose of this part of the project was to determine whether or not we had done enough research to be able to produce this product. It was also used to decide whether or not it is ethical for us to continue to work on producing this product from an environmental prospective. Luckily for our design group, we had the knowledge that we needed to continue and also found that our product did not produce any materials which were detrimental to the environment.
Part G- Construction of Testable Prototype
Materials List:
- Heated iron
- Heated iron circuit board
- Stepper motor
- Arduino Uno Board
- Outlet to power jack plug
- Roller
- 3D printed case
- Wooden outer casing
Additional Documentation-
Documentation of Building Process-
case.ipt | |
File Size: | 161 kb |
File Type: | ipt |
case.stl | |
File Size: | 29 kb |
File Type: | stl |
Part H- Prototype Testing & Data Collection Plan
The link below claims to have tested different plate materials to discovered which produced the straightest hair. This gave me some ideas to test our prototype. The plastic melting on the prototype has been a big concern. I plan to test the relation ship between distance and temp at which the plastic melts. This would give us an idea of how far the plastic should be from the heater if possible. I also plan to test at which set temp. is the most effective.
http://hair-straighteners-review.toptenreviews.com/#results
We fond that the heater warped the plastic and melted the glue holding it in place. We decided to use wood to encase the heater and plastic to encase the electronics. We also used "Ultra Black" to glue the heater to a holder.
unfortunately we had some technical difficulty with the roller getting stuck against the heater, which jammed and broke the motor. We had to order another motor and had no time for any real market testing.
http://hair-straighteners-review.toptenreviews.com/#results
We fond that the heater warped the plastic and melted the glue holding it in place. We decided to use wood to encase the heater and plastic to encase the electronics. We also used "Ultra Black" to glue the heater to a holder.
unfortunately we had some technical difficulty with the roller getting stuck against the heater, which jammed and broke the motor. We had to order another motor and had no time for any real market testing.
Part I- Testing, Data Collection & Analysis
Our product's roller was the most crucial part of our design. We had to carry out a couple of tests to get it to work properly. The first test below was based on the length of the bristles of the roller. We had to power the motor and see if the roller's bristles were too long. This caused the roller to get stuck against the heater bed and break the motor if running for too long. So we kept powering the motor and cutting the bristles down to even lengths until the roller rolled smoothly against the heater.
The second test was based on the speed of the roller toward the effectiveness of the newly crisp money. If the roller was too fast it would of taken multiple trials to crisp the money effectively. If it was too slow then it would start to smell and the concern toward a fire hazard would become an issue. So to test this we fed a crinkled dollar of equal crinkles through the machine at varying speeds and recorded the time it took the money to feed through and rating of crispness. At the end we compiled our data and choice the best setting as followed below.
The second test was based on the speed of the roller toward the effectiveness of the newly crisp money. If the roller was too fast it would of taken multiple trials to crisp the money effectively. If it was too slow then it would start to smell and the concern toward a fire hazard would become an issue. So to test this we fed a crinkled dollar of equal crinkles through the machine at varying speeds and recorded the time it took the money to feed through and rating of crispness. At the end we compiled our data and choice the best setting as followed below.
After completing our tests we decided to change the bristles's length to 1.5 cm. We also changed the Motor's speed to 0.2 rpm.
These tests were an essential part of our engineering processes toward our product. They gave us the data we need to make necessary changes to the product. After these changes were made, our product was functional at max proficiency (more or less).
These tests were an essential part of our engineering processes toward our product. They gave us the data we need to make necessary changes to the product. After these changes were made, our product was functional at max proficiency (more or less).
Part J- Documentation of External Evaluation
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Dear Teachers, Parents, and Supporters,
Our design team would like to personally thank all of the individuals who assisted us during our design and production of the “Crisp Money” machine. We would like to give special recognition to Mr. Stevens, Mr. Stough, Mr. Asbell, Mr. Timmons and, of course, Mrs. Harlan and Mrs. Zienty. We appreciate all that you have done for us throughout this entire journey and without your presence, we would not have gotten this far with both this product and in life.
With immense gratitude,
Nik Johnson
Luke Schofield
Jake Blosveren
Our design team would like to personally thank all of the individuals who assisted us during our design and production of the “Crisp Money” machine. We would like to give special recognition to Mr. Stevens, Mr. Stough, Mr. Asbell, Mr. Timmons and, of course, Mrs. Harlan and Mrs. Zienty. We appreciate all that you have done for us throughout this entire journey and without your presence, we would not have gotten this far with both this product and in life.
With immense gratitude,
Nik Johnson
Luke Schofield
Jake Blosveren
Part K- Reflection on the Design Project
Nik's Reflection- The overall process of designing and building our product was an incredibly exciting and a real hands-on experience with the design process we'd been learning about the previous 3 years enrolled in Pre-Engineering. While we encountered a numerous amount of trials and tribulations during the process, we were able to fight our way through; often learning a thing or two. Working on this project with Luke and Jake really brought me closer to them and improved my team-working skills dramatically. If I could have a second shot at this opportunity, I would probably have omitted the massive amounts of procrastination we employed during the process.
Luke's Reflection- I had a great time going through the design process and building our money crisper. This project gave me insight on how a real product is designed. This project has also helped me work with teams and presentation skills. If I experience another design process again, I will have a much better idea of how to come about it. As recommendations go, I would organize the Weebly differently so if the product is changed it would not effect the sections written before.
Luke's Reflection- I had a great time going through the design process and building our money crisper. This project gave me insight on how a real product is designed. This project has also helped me work with teams and presentation skills. If I experience another design process again, I will have a much better idea of how to come about it. As recommendations go, I would organize the Weebly differently so if the product is changed it would not effect the sections written before.