A Senior Design Project: Heating and Cooling System for Car’s Interior

Everardo Frias Rios; Ahmed S. Khan; Darryl Vince Padgett

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Conference: 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Publication Date: June 15, 2014
Start Date: June 15, 2014
End Date: June 18, 2014
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Capstone & Senior Design Projects
Tagged Division: Engineering Technology
Page Count: 12
Page Numbers: 24.102.1 - 24.102.12
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--19994
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/19994
Download Count: 4156

Everardo Frias Rios, is pursuing a B.S degree in Electronics Engineering Technology (EET) at DeVry University, Addison, Illinois.

Christopher Aldridge is pursuing a B.S degree in Electronics Engineering Technology (EET) at DeVry University, Addison, Illinois.

Victor Ramirez is pursuing a B.S degree in Electronics Engineering Technology (EET) at DeVry University, Addison, Illinois.

Dr. Darryl Padgett is the Associate Dean of The College of Engineering & Information Sciences, DeVry University, Addison, Illinois.

Dr. Ahmed S. Khan is a senior professor in the College of Engineering & Information Sciences, DeVry University, Addison, Illinois. Dr. Khan served as the adviser to the project presented in this paper.

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biography

Darryl Vince Padgett DeVry University, Addison

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Dr. Padgett is the Associate Dean for the College of Engineering and Information Systems and the Associate Dean for the College of Media Arts and Technology at DeVry University. He is responsible for managing faculty development and ensuring that the faculty delivers exceptional educational service to the students and university. His colleges are also responsible for creating the foundation for the students in their field of studies. Dr. Padgett received his undergraduate and master’s degree from Tuskegee University and his Ph.D. from The University of Alabama in Electrical Engineering.
Dr. Padgett has a diverse background in engineering. His management experience includes directing multiple departments and managing a startup engineering team in Atlanta, Georgia. He has provided technical direction and guidance, as well as hands-on project management, for product design, development, testability and product sustainability. Dr. Padgett has worked as an individual contributor and senior engineering manager for companies such as AT&T, Westinghouse Electric, IBM, Texas Instruments, Lucent/Agere Systems, Department of Navy and Air Force as well as Northrop Grumman.
Dr. Padgett was an assistant professor at Tuskegee University teaching analog and digital IC Design Courses. He has conducted external research for the Department of Defense and defense companies. His external research contracts grew from $6K to $250K per year and funded many undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Padgett provided university service and worked on various committees.
Dr. Padgett spends a considerable amount of time working on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) initiatives. He strongly believes in reaching back introducing STEM into high risk elementary schools. He participates in science nights, science competitions and science demonstrations that expose students to the STEM areas. There are many people that helped Dr. Padgett reach his career and personal goals in life. Dr. Padgett feels strongly about giving back to the community and trying to make a difference in the lives of others. He is paying it back and paying it forward.
Dr. Padgett restores antique automobiles and loves to tinker on things in his spare time. Dr. Padgett is also a long distance motorcycle rider. He commutes approximately 140 miles per day to work on his bike. He has traveled to as far as Ohio, Louisiana, Florida and Texas and it doesn’t bother him to travel 1600 – 1800 miles over three day period. He is currently planning a trip on his bike to Niagara Falls and New York via Canada and next summer to Alaska or California. Dr. Padgett enjoys exploring and seeing the country on two wheels. Being on a motorcycle allows you to see things that you would never notice when you are traveling in a car. Life-long learning on a motorcycle is a wonderful way to learn about America’s history and culture.

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Abstract

Car Heating and Cooling System AbstractThis paper describes the design and implementation of a senior project involving a car heatingand cooling system. During the summer and winter times, for cars parked outside, the interiortemperature can become very high or very low causing discomfort for the driver andpassengers. Therefore a device is needed to keep the vehicle interior at comfortabletemperatures while standing on the parking lot or on the driveway.The goal of this project was to build a light weight compact car heater and cooler. The carheating and cooling system allows car users to maintain a reasonable temperature while sittingat home or in a parking lot. The designed system can fit in a back window. The system runsusing a 12V DC power source powered through a solar panel that is mounted on the backwindow of the vehicle. This location was chosen because the exposure to light is greater in therear and allows the solar panel to recharge faster and more efficiently. All components used inthis system are rated 12VDC, with the exception of the microcontroller; an additional 5V DCregulator is used to power the Arduino microcontroller. Using a thermistor, the microcontrollertracks the temperature inside a vehicle. When a high temperature (i.e. temp > 70°F) condition isdetected by the thermistor, the microcontroller l enable s a power relay to apply power to boththe fan and the cooling element, based on a peltier and heat sink. This process continues untilthe temperature is within the specified range (i.e. 66°F ~ 70°F) or until user disables the system.In the same manner, when a low temperature (i.e. temp < 66°F) is detected by themicrocontroller through the thermistor, a power relay is enabled to apply power to both thefan and the heating element, also based on a peltier and heat sink. This process continues untilthe temperature is within the specified range (i.e. 66°F ~ 70°F) or until user disables the system.As an additional feature, an air freshener pump is also included in the system that can beactivated at 30 minute intervals and will continue until user disables the system. All featuresand temperature measurements are tracked and displayed on the LCD which is connected tothe Arduino microcontroller. The paper covers the details of the design of hardware andsoftware components of the system.

Citation
Format

Frias Rios, E., & Khan, A. S., & Padgett, D. V. (2014, June), A Senior Design Project: Heating and Cooling System for Car’s Interior Paper presented at 2014 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Indianapolis, Indiana. 10.18260/1-2--19994

TY - CPAPER
AB - Car Heating and Cooling System AbstractThis paper describes the design and implementation of a senior project involving a car heatingand cooling system. During the summer and winter times, for cars parked outside, the interiortemperature can become very high or very low causing discomfort for the driver andpassengers. Therefore a device is needed to keep the vehicle interior at comfortabletemperatures while standing on the parking lot or on the driveway.The goal of this project was to build a light weight compact car heater and cooler. The carheating and cooling system allows car users to maintain a reasonable temperature while sittingat home or in a parking lot. The designed system can fit in a back window. The system runsusing a 12V DC power source powered through a solar panel that is mounted on the backwindow of the vehicle. This location was chosen because the exposure to light is greater in therear and allows the solar panel to recharge faster and more efficiently. All components used inthis system are rated 12VDC, with the exception of the microcontroller; an additional 5V DCregulator is used to power the Arduino microcontroller. Using a thermistor, the microcontrollertracks the temperature inside a vehicle. When a high temperature (i.e. temp &gt; 70°F) condition isdetected by the thermistor, the microcontroller l enable s a power relay to apply power to boththe fan and the cooling element, based on a peltier and heat sink. This process continues untilthe temperature is within the specified range (i.e. 66°F ~ 70°F) or until user disables the system.In the same manner, when a low temperature (i.e. temp &lt; 66°F) is detected by themicrocontroller through the thermistor, a power relay is enabled to apply power to both thefan and the heating element, also based on a peltier and heat sink. This process continues untilthe temperature is within the specified range (i.e. 66°F ~ 70°F) or until user disables the system.As an additional feature, an air freshener pump is also included in the system that can beactivated at 30 minute intervals and will continue until user disables the system. All featuresand temperature measurements are tracked and displayed on the LCD which is connected tothe Arduino microcontroller. The paper covers the details of the design of hardware andsoftware components of the system.
AU - Everardo Frias Rios
AU - Ahmed S. Khan
AU - Darryl Vince Padgett
CY - Indianapolis, Indiana
DA - 2014/06/15
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - A Senior Design Project: Heating and Cooling System for Car’s Interior
UR - https://peer.asee.org/19994
DO - 10.18260/1-2--19994
ER -