Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
12 heat exhaustion device for construction workers
 Danny Schaub
Tongli Zhou
Zackary Haycraft
 Prannoy Kathiresan design_document1.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
photo1.jpg
photo2.jpg
presentation1.pptx
proposal1.pdf
video
# Heat Exhaustion Detection
Team Members:
- Zack Haycraft (Zackary3)
- Tongli Zhou (tongliz2)
- Danny Schaub (dschaub2)
# Problem
When working in certain industries such as factory production lines, construction and power plants high heat environments increases the risk of heat stroke or heat exhaustion, which puts the safety of the workers at risk. Generally, by the time the person is aware of the symptoms of heat exhaustion, it is too late. We have talked to some construction workers near campus, and most don’t possess any wearable device that tracks their health information. Besides, most smart watches on the market are more suitable for heartrate and calorie tracking during exercise, rather than tracking and extracting reliable information critical to construction workers in more extreme environment.
# Findings
There are scientific findings that indicate the relationship between sweat chloride concentration and whether the individual is experiencing heat stroke: HS patients have sweat chloride concentration of around 5.3 mmol/L, while it is higher than 20 mmol/L for normal people. (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1658361213001029)
# Solution
To provide this extra layer of safety the device will be a wearable device that the individual will be able to wrap around their arm and as the individual sweats, the sweat will pass through a duct and the conductivity of the sweat will be measured. A temperature sensor will also be used for temperature correction of the sample. This will provide a measurement of the electrolytes present in the individuals sweat and if the electrolyte concentration reaches below an established limit the device will light LEDs to indicate to the individual and other workers in the area that the individual needs to be removed from the environment and replace electrolytes. As an extra precaution a gyroscope sensor will be used to measure the individual’s activity level as well as a temperature and humidity sensor to monitor the hazardous level of the outside conditions.
# Solution Components
## Subsystem 1- Power Supply
-Battery powered, 2 AA batteries
## Subsystem 2-Conductivity Sensor
-The conductivity sensor will be made using two electrodes in conjunction with an AC signal and the voltage drop across the probes will be proportional to electrolyte concentration. Stainless steel electrodes should suffice
-H bridge using switching MOSFET for AC signal (VO617A )

## Subsystem 3- Microcontroller
-The microcontroller will take in the temperature and conductivity data to calculate salt concentration and actuate the indicator light when the threshold is crossed. (Raspberry Pi pico)
## Subsystem 4- gyroscope
-The gyroscope will estimate the work done by the worker and provide supplemental data to the raspberry Pi for analysis.
-accelerometer and gyroscope sensor (MPU-6050)
## Subsystem 5- IOT device
-Use an IOT device to collect information from the sensors on the wearable band, use them to determine when to allow the worker to take a break for rest and get electrolytes.
## Subsystem 6- Temperature and humidity sensor
-This will provide the user with a visual indication of the danger level of the environment utilizing the heat index
-heat index information (https://www.nalc.org/workplace-issues/body/OSHA-All-in-One-Heat-Guide.pdf)
-sensor (DHT11)
# Criterion For Success
-The device can accurately measure the electrolyte concentration of a sample within +/- 10% error
-the device can accurately measure the temperature of a solution sample within +/- 10% error
-The device will illuminate when presented with a solution below the concentration threshold

El Durazno Wind Turbine Project

Alexander Hardiek, Saanil Joshi, Ganpath Karl

El Durazno Wind Turbine Project

Featured Project

Partners: Alexander Hardiek (ahardi6), Saanil Joshi (stjoshi2), and Ganpath Karl (gkarl2)

Project Description: We have decided to innovate a low cost wind turbine to help the villagers of El Durazno in Guatemala access water from mountains, based on the pitch of Prof. Ann Witmer.

Problem: There is currently no water distribution system in place for the villagers to gain access to water. They have to travel my foot over larger distances on mountainous terrain to fetch water. For this reason, it would be better if water could be pumped to a containment tank closer to the village and hopefully distributed with the help of a gravity flow system.

There is an electrical grid system present, however, it is too expensive for the villagers to use. Therefore, we need a cheap renewable energy solution to the problem. Solar energy is not possible as the mountain does not receive enough solar energy to power a motor. Wind energy is a good alternative as the wind speeds and high and since it is a mountain, there is no hindrance to the wind flow.

Solution Overview: We are solving the power generation challenge created by a mismatch between the speed of the wind and the necessary rotational speed required to produce power by the turbine’s generator. We have access to several used car parts, allowing us to salvage or modify different induction motors and gears to make the system work.

We have two approaches we are taking. One method is converting the induction motor to a generator by removing the need of an initial battery input and using the magnetic field created by the magnets. The other method is to rewire the stator so the motor can spin at the necessary rpm.

Subsystems: Our system components are split into two categories: Mechanical and Electrical. All mechanical components came from a used Toyota car such as the wheel hub cap, serpentine belt, car body blade, wheel hub, torsion rod. These components help us covert wind energy into mechanical energy and are already built and ready. Meanwhile, the electrical components are available in the car such as the alternator (induction motor) and are designed by us such as the power electronics (AC/DC converters). We will use capacitors, diodes, relays, resistors and integrated circuits on our printed circuit boards to develop the power electronics. Our electrical components convert the mechanical energy in the turbine into electrical energy available to the residents.

Criterion for success: Our project will be successful when we can successfully convert the available wind energy from our meteorological data into electricity at a low cost from reusable parts available to the residents of El Durazno. In the future, their residents will prototype several versions of our turbine to pump water from the mountains.