170
M. R. Zoolfakar and M. A. M. Din
approximately 19 dB. The load of the circuit is the solenoid where it will be turned
on based on the position of the shaft. The circuit will deliver a square wave type
modulation to the solenoid. The principle of operation for the circuit is similar to the
internal combustion engine timing operation.
The operational amplifier that was used is the LM324 while the power amplifier
uses the TIP122 transistor. A comparator was included to avoid false-positive signals
from the sensor. A 12VDC is used for power supply and an L7805 5 V regulator is
used to reduce voltage from 12 V to 5 V for the sensor and tachometer. The sensor
used is an infrared sensor which is used to detect the position of the crankshaft
while avoiding any contact and are installed in front of the flywheel. The flywheels
are modified so that both of them operate similar to the rotary encoder principle. An
auxiliary component which is a 5 V fan is installed to cool down the power transistor.
16.2.3 Fabrication of the Prototype
The finished engine prototype is included with bearings and ring locks to minimize
friction and ensuring that no loosening joint will occur. Lubrication is added to further
reduce losses from friction. The design of the fabricated prototype is modified but
the concept and operation is unchanged as shown in Fig. 16.4. A light weighted
flywheel is used to ensure faster engine revolutions as the output is measured in
terms of rotational speed.
16.2.4 The Procedure and Data Collection
The operation of the solenoid engine should work as shown in the flowchart in
Fig. 16.5 where when the sensor detects a certain position, the solenoid will turn on.
The solenoid will be triggered by the IR sensor. The control system block diagram is
shown in Fig. 16.6 where the operation of the engine can be controlled by adjusting
gain to vary the voltage across the solenoid thus delivering different amount of torque
to the crankshaft.
The data collected is the engine speed in rev/min, value of current entering circuit
to determine the power consumption and the effective varying voltage across the
solenoid. The data collected is the average of three tests. The tests and analyses are
conducted are done after the prototype is functioning correctly.
The engine’s speed is calculated by the microcontroller which is an Arduino
Uno that is programmed to comply with the flowchart shown in Fig. 16.7. The
microcontroller will detect how frequent the sensor is turned on and off in one
second and will multiply it by 60 to obtain the revolutions per minute. The power
consumed by the circuit can be calculated by using the Ohm’s law which is:
P = I x V
(16.1)
M. R. Zoolfakar and M. A. M. Din
approximately 19 dB. The load of the circuit is the solenoid where it will be turned
on based on the position of the shaft. The circuit will deliver a square wave type
modulation to the solenoid. The principle of operation for the circuit is similar to the
internal combustion engine timing operation.
The operational amplifier that was used is the LM324 while the power amplifier
uses the TIP122 transistor. A comparator was included to avoid false-positive signals
from the sensor. A 12VDC is used for power supply and an L7805 5 V regulator is
used to reduce voltage from 12 V to 5 V for the sensor and tachometer. The sensor
used is an infrared sensor which is used to detect the position of the crankshaft
while avoiding any contact and are installed in front of the flywheel. The flywheels
are modified so that both of them operate similar to the rotary encoder principle. An
auxiliary component which is a 5 V fan is installed to cool down the power transistor.
16.2.3 Fabrication of the Prototype
The finished engine prototype is included with bearings and ring locks to minimize
friction and ensuring that no loosening joint will occur. Lubrication is added to further
reduce losses from friction. The design of the fabricated prototype is modified but
the concept and operation is unchanged as shown in Fig. 16.4. A light weighted
flywheel is used to ensure faster engine revolutions as the output is measured in
terms of rotational speed.
16.2.4 The Procedure and Data Collection
The operation of the solenoid engine should work as shown in the flowchart in
Fig. 16.5 where when the sensor detects a certain position, the solenoid will turn on.
The solenoid will be triggered by the IR sensor. The control system block diagram is
shown in Fig. 16.6 where the operation of the engine can be controlled by adjusting
gain to vary the voltage across the solenoid thus delivering different amount of torque
to the crankshaft.
The data collected is the engine speed in rev/min, value of current entering circuit
to determine the power consumption and the effective varying voltage across the
solenoid. The data collected is the average of three tests. The tests and analyses are
conducted are done after the prototype is functioning correctly.
The engine’s speed is calculated by the microcontroller which is an Arduino
Uno that is programmed to comply with the flowchart shown in Fig. 16.7. The
microcontroller will detect how frequent the sensor is turned on and off in one
second and will multiply it by 60 to obtain the revolutions per minute. The power
consumed by the circuit can be calculated by using the Ohm’s law which is:
P = I x V
(16.1)