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Career Episode 1INTRODUCTIONProject Duration 21 November 2014 to 20 May 2015Project Location Dharmaj, IndiaProject Name Design and Manufacture of Solar Panel Dust Cleaning SystemName of Organisation ARIS Automation 657, GIDC, Makarpura, Near Himalaya Machinery, Vadodara, Gujarat, 390001 India. www.arisconveyors.com Project Supervisor Mr Sagar ShahProject Submitted to: Mr Nilam Patel, Head of DepartmentPosition Individual ProjectThis project was carried out in partial fulfillment for the degree of Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical from 21 November 2014 to 20 May 2015 at the Ipcowala Institute of Engineering and Technology. This Institute, established in 2011 is approved by the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), the national Apex Advisory body and is affiliated with Gujarat Technological University, Ahmedabad, ranked #16 by UniRank 2018. This project was carried out at ARIS Automation as part of my internship within the Engineering Programme.
ARIS Automation provides Engineering Solutions to other companies. ARIS works at making solutions or systems that are fully automatic for those companiesBACKGROUNDCE1.1Working under the supervision of Mr Arpan Shah, the project was to design and manufacture a Solar Panel Cleaning System.
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“ She followed all my directions. It was really easy to contact her and respond very fast as well. ”
As this was an individual project, I was responsible for its entirety. The main objectives of the project were;To design a Solar Panel Cleaning SystemTo build the Cleaning System after the design is completedTo make the finished design safe and easy to use, efficient and practical to assemble and disassembleCE1.2This project aimed to design and build a Solar Panel Cleaning System.Design the device. Draft the plan and drawings for submission to my Supervisor. Oversee the cost structure a. Calculating the material cost of the productb.
Calculating the maintenance costc. Operational Costd. Marketing and advertising cost Coordination in working with our Key PartnersIdentifying revenue streamsDeveloping the proto-type model for my final submission. a. Identifying the components that made up the modelb. sourcing suppliers at the most cost-effective price to produce the model on a larger scaleBuild, test and submit my final device for evaluation by my Supervisor. CE1.3As part of my internship, I needed to follow rules and meet criteria to achieve the necessary standards. I was assigned the project and was given 6 months to complete it. I needed to complete this project to get the qualification certificate to boost my future engineering career. CE.1.4The reporting structure for this project is displayed in the diagram below164782513970ARIS AutomationProf. Nilam Patel00ARIS AutomationProf. Nilam Patel2352675444500169545036195Director Mr Kandarp Shah00Director Mr Kandarp Shah2381250508000170434073660Supervisor Mr Arpan Shah00Supervisor Mr Arpan Shah23717257366000456247520955University FacultySagar Shah00University FacultySagar Shah157162542545Project LeaderMy Position00Project LeaderMy Position3324225952500Fig 1 Organisational Chart of the ProjectCE1.5My duties were specifically:Run the project, consult with my supervisor and other Engineers in the companyTo carry out research to identify the current Solar Panel Cleaning Systems available on the marketTo research the sponge material to give the cleanest surface in the least amount of passesTo perform the calculations required in developing the dual rope pulley solid model and the bill of materialsLeading and supervising the team in manufacturing, assembling, and testing of the system partsLiaising with the Supervisor and faculty as needed, collating feedback, and preparing the final submission thesis.CE1.6As a first step I undertook a survey of the available international literature mainly from India, Canada, Malaysia and Iraq to understand what devices had already been developed and tested in removing dust from the solar panels. Specifically, I looked at Rupali NazarMtech's. (Student, Lingaya's University), review of the Rugged Robot (NOMADD) from Saudi Arabia and the Robotic Vacuum Cleanerand Xiang Gao, Lukasz Golab and S. Keshavs' (University of Waterloo Canada) analysis of Solar Panel Output efficiency and Kutaiba Sabah (Universiti Tenaga Nasional, Malaysia), Sabah Nimma Faraj (Assistant Lecturer, Institute of Technology, Baghdad, Iraq) study of a Robotic Cleaning System. These papers provided me with sufficient knowledge in the theory behind the drop-in efficiency caused by accumulated dust and particulates plus the design and selection of device components and elements. They also provided instruction on useful software tools and the development of solid models on CAD software platforms. This project enabled me to utilise my engineering knowledge and skills to design and build the Solar Panel Cleaning System.CE1.7I faced problems with my initial design which was to work with a wiper, similar to a car windscreen wiper, however it proved ineffective as the wiper was unable to reach all the corners of the panel as well as across the top. Since it was my task to design the system, I needed to reanalyse my approach. I worked through the design and then had to breakdown the objectives of the system which was to clean the entire surface. I then had to rethink our concept. I then took elements from my research, the most salient points from each and worked them into a design. I came up with the double rope pulley powered through a small motor attached to the base. CE1.8This then became my major task in this project, the design and development of the dual rope pulley system of our ultimate design. In order to do that I then had to read further, specifically;1. WINSOL Laboratories, "How to Clean Solar Panels."N.p., n.d. Web. Dec. 2012.2. M. K. Mazumder, R. A. Sims J. D. Wilson, Transparent self-cleaning dust shield, US Patent 6,911,593, 2006.3. Song, W. K., Lee, H. and Bien, Z., Robotics Autonomous Syst., 1999, 83"94.4. M. S. El-Shobokshy and F. M. Hussein, "Degradation of photovoltaic Cell performance due to dust deposition on to its surface," Renew Energy, vol. 3, pp. 585"590, 1993.5. Rajiv Kohli, Kashmiri L. Mittal, Developments in Surface Contamination and Cleaning: Methods for Removal of Particle Contaminants William Andrew, Elsevier, Volume ThreeFrom this research, I was able to incorporate the acquired knowledge and insights into the design. I was also able to develop a reference note for future use. I was helped by my Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering studies and my own personal research. Some of the topics studied which were useful included Engineering Graphics, Vector Calculus and Linear Algebra, Machine Design and Industrial Drafting as well as Machine Design " 1 and Dynamics of Machinery. Through my studies, I also incorporated software programmes such as AutoCAD, MS Excel, MS Word and MS PowerPoint. CE1.9The development of the conceptual design had input from my supervisor, but it was my design that was finally decided upon between me and my supervisor. After the design was decided I used the programme, AutoCAD to develop the solid conceptual modes of the main parts, namely the base and the nozzle attachment. The dimensions I used were estimated as the models were not yet actualised. The dimensions were arrived at through analysis and calculations.167639922716900The solid conceptual model is shown belowFigure 1: Solid conceptual design of Solar Panel Cleaning SystemCE1.10Using the data collected I calculated the that it was taking 20 seconds to clean solar panels. The forward movement of sponge takes 10 seconds for cleaning and reverse motion takesanother 10 seconds. The time duration of the water supply is 35 seconds. I was also able to change the time duration of cleaning as per requirement.CE1.11I used 600mmx300mm solar panel with 2mm nozzle to supply of water. The motor and submersible pump was rated at 12V. The rope and pully drive were used for the forward and backward movement of sponge (300mmx40mm). I calculated that 125.6mm area is covered in 1 rotation of the pully, so to cover 1200mm2 area the required rotations are,= 1200/125.6= 9.55‰€ 10 rotationsCE1.12I also tried to carry out this project by using rack and pinion instead of rope and pully drive. Rack and pinion:_Rack :- 800mm x 30 mm thick. (60 teeth)Pinion :- 40mm dia. x 30mm thick.Periphery area = 2r= 2 x 3.14 x 20= 125.6 mmPinion C/S area = 40 x 30= 1200 mm2However in the, the overall cost of project was increased. My brief was to make a low cost-efficient cleaning system. If we were to use a rack and pinion drive than I needed to use metal material and do some machining work to make teeth on the outer surface which proved expensive. That is why I decided to use the rope and pully drive which needs less maintenance. CE1.13On completing my design task, I had a meeting with my Supervisor and presented my findings. I had had daily meetings with him and he was up-to-date with my work and designs from my project task record. So I was able to compile the expected results. From their data I was able to update the solid model I had made using AutoCAD software. Using the same software, I then developed solid models for all the parts and created the final assembly. The final step was to generate assembly drawings, including a detailed parts list and bill of materials (BOM). After I was working through the final models and drawings I then worked on the final cost analysis process CE1.14When all the results were tabulated, and we agreed on the design results, I then started the manufacturing and assembly of the system. I worked on the build of the parts to manufacture and were able to complete the prototype within 2 weeks. Figure 2: Prototype of Solar Panel Cleaning SystemCE1.15It was my final design that was worked into the presentation of this project in partial fulfilment of the Degree of Engineering in Mechanical. The design was efficient and cost effective. I consulted much of the available literature to ensure the development and manufacture of the system to be safe, efficient and cost effective. This literature also helped me with the data to prepare the final Thesis as per the guidelines of the University.CE1.16This was an individual project. I designed the System and manufactured it. I was able to utilise my Engineering knowledge and skills to assemble the parts of the system. I tested the system, once completed, it ran as predicted. The project was completed within ethical norms and conduct.SUMMARYIn the end the aim and objectives of my project was successfully achieved despite my initial setback and having to redesign the system from the beginning. The project was completed on time. The Solar Panel Cleaning System proved to be fully functional. My role was to take full responsibility for the project. This included performing the various calculations for the speed of the motor and length of the trajectory. I was able to create the solid models used to build the system and also generated the assembly drawings. I was able to solve problems in a professional manner enabling this project to be a success as evidenced in this Career Episode. The entire project was achieved through working diligently through the task and staying focussed and managing my time in such a way that the project had a successful outcome.
Career Episodoe 1 Final approved. (2019, Aug 20). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/career-episodoe-1-final-approved-essay
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