Automated Oscillating Fan

Iftekhar Ibne Basith

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Conference: ASEE 2021 Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference
Location: Waco, Texas
Publication Date: March 24, 2021
Start Date: March 24, 2021
End Date: March 26, 2021
Page Count: 6
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--36361
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/36361
Download Count: 349

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Paper Authors

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Iftekhar Ibne Basith Sam Houston State University orcid.org/0000-0002-6605-5966

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Dr. Iftekhar Ibne Basith is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Engineering Technology at Sam Houston State University, Huntsville, TX, USA.
Dr. Basith has a Ph.D and Masters in Electrical and Computer Engineering from University of Windsor, ON, Canada with concentration on 3D IC, MEMS and Testing.
Dr. Basith has published several IEEE transactions, articles and conference proceedings over the last few years. His research interest lies on Automation & Robotics, Testing of 3D IC, MEMS, Analog/ Mixed-Signal Devices, RF circuits, Low Power CMOS and Wireless Communication.

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Abstract

This paper describes an automated oscillating fan which incorporated temperature sensors to inform the fan motor on when to turn on its propeller and a servo motor to position the fan motor in the direction of the highest temperature. The circuit developed is not supposed to activate the fan motor unless a temperature sensor registers a temperature of greater than certain degrees Fahrenheit and be able to determine the area of greatest temperature rise. For instance, if sensors one, two, and three all had same temperature reading, then the micro controller should be able to conclude that the best position would be in the middle which in this case would be sensor 2. This design utilizes both analog and digital components. The main components are self-explanatory. Temperature sensors read/measure the outside ambient room temperature. The fan motor operates the propeller which acts as the cooling agent sending air flow through the area of greatest temperature. The servo motor rotates the pillar that the fan motor is attached to the top of in order to direct the fan motor in the appropriate direction. The jumper wires attach all temperature sensors and the fan motor to the UNO MAX microcontroller board. The metal octagonal cylinders are connected through a cut apart wood screw that is also used as a turning shaft for the servo motor. This in turn is attached on its opposing side to the fan motor with the only used circuit screw. The servo motor is screwed to the wooden housing on the underside of the base (the circular piece of wood) with the turning shaft poking out through a hole in the center of the base to have the fan motors propeller blades safely above all wires and electric components. All temperature sensors and the microcontroller board itself are screwed in place to keep them from shifting their wires around to again keep them away from the fan motors propeller blades. Finally, the structure is held up in the air by four wooden legs to keep the servo motor from taking any of the weight of the device thus not receiving any internal damage which may lead to it grinding through its rotation under strain. The legs were attached by first etching or burning out indentations in the underside of the base to provide more surface area for the adhesive bonding agent to apply to; essentially establishing greater bite to secure the legs to the base. This built prototype has great versatility and a wide range of applications that it can be applied to. Anywhere a traditional oscillating fan can be used this would operate more efficiently such as a cubical office to keep the user of the office space cool or the main frame of their computer cooler in hopes of not overheating; the driver’s area of a mass transportation bus, such a school bus so they don’t have to worry about positioning the fan or turning it off if it starts to cool down from the sun hiding behind clouds or from rain; any non- air condition regulated environment such as housing on the west coast side of America. Also, as far as upgrades go, of course adding a compressor to condition the air would be a highly expected choice, though this would remove it from use on the west coast of America and any other section of the world with air pollution regulations. Using a Bluetooth connection to connect multiple fans in one room to keep a room cool as a whole would be very beneficial in areas like California if you had sensitive and expensive equipment in a place in your home and were worried about it receiving damage from overheating or excessive heat from the surrounding environment. Adding additional servo motors for longitudinal as well as lateral directions would help point the fans propeller blades more precisely in the specified direction; such as directing the fan motor up or down as well as left or right. With Bluetooth it could even connect to other devices in order to adjust its temperature controls or to simply turn it on or off in order to conserve your electric bill or its own self supplied battery power source. Some of these options would just be parts added to the base product at a user’s discretion but in order to use them to their fullest one more important part must be incorporated and that would be a hard drive, after all if a user was to tamper with the source code and not know how to correct what they changed there is a strong chance the device may no longer operate the way it was originally intended to and the base source code is quite long.

Citation
Format

Basith, I. I. (2021, March), Automated Oscillating Fan Paper presented at ASEE 2021 Gulf-Southwest Annual Conference, Waco, Texas. 10.18260/1-2--36361

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - This paper describes an automated oscillating fan which incorporated temperature sensors to inform the fan motor on when to turn on its propeller and a servo motor to position the fan motor in the direction of the highest temperature. The circuit developed is not supposed to activate the fan motor unless a temperature sensor registers a temperature of greater than certain degrees Fahrenheit and be able to determine the area of greatest temperature rise. For instance, if sensors one, two, and three all had same temperature reading, then the micro controller should be able to conclude that the best position would be in the middle which in this case would be sensor 2. This design utilizes both analog and digital components.
The main components are self-explanatory. Temperature sensors read/measure the outside ambient room temperature. The fan motor operates the propeller which acts as the cooling agent sending air flow through the area of greatest temperature. The servo motor rotates the pillar that the fan motor is attached to the top of in order to direct the fan motor in the appropriate direction. The jumper wires attach all temperature sensors and the fan motor to the UNO MAX microcontroller board. The metal octagonal cylinders are connected through a cut apart wood screw that is also used as a turning shaft for the servo motor. This in turn is attached on its opposing side to the fan motor with the only used circuit screw. The servo motor is screwed to the wooden housing on the underside of the base (the circular piece of wood) with the turning shaft poking out through a hole in the center of the base to have the fan motors propeller blades safely above all wires and electric components. All temperature sensors and the microcontroller board itself are screwed in place to keep them from shifting their wires around to again keep them away from the fan motors propeller blades. Finally, the structure is held up in the air by four wooden legs to keep the servo motor from taking any of the weight of the device thus not receiving any internal damage which may lead to it grinding through its rotation under strain. The legs were attached by first etching or burning out indentations in the underside of the base to provide more surface area for the adhesive bonding agent to apply to; essentially establishing greater bite to secure the legs to the base.
This built prototype has great versatility and a wide range of applications that it can be applied to. Anywhere a traditional oscillating fan can be used this would operate more efficiently such as a cubical office to keep the user of the office space cool or the main frame of their computer cooler in hopes of not overheating; the driver’s area of a mass transportation bus, such a school bus so they don’t have to worry about positioning the fan or turning it off if it starts to cool down from the sun hiding behind clouds or from rain; any non- air condition regulated environment such as housing on the west coast side of America.
Also, as far as upgrades go, of course adding a compressor to condition the air would be a highly expected choice, though this would remove it from use on the west coast of America and any other section of the world with air pollution regulations. Using a Bluetooth connection to connect multiple fans in one room to keep a room cool as a whole would be very beneficial in areas like California if you had sensitive and expensive equipment in a place in your home and were worried about it receiving damage from overheating or excessive heat from the surrounding environment. Adding additional servo motors for longitudinal as well as lateral directions would help point the fans propeller blades more precisely in the specified direction; such as directing the fan motor up or down as well as left or right. With Bluetooth it could even connect to other devices in order to adjust its temperature controls or to simply turn it on or off in order to conserve your electric bill or its own self supplied battery power source. Some of these options would just be parts added to the base product at a user’s discretion but in order to use them to their fullest one more important part must be incorporated and that would be a hard drive, after all if a user was to tamper with the source code and not know how to correct what they changed there is a strong chance the device may no longer operate the way it was originally intended to and the base source code is quite long.
AU  - Iftekhar Ibne Basith
CY  - Waco, Texas
DA  - 2021/03/24
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Automated Oscillating Fan
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/36361
DO  - 10.18260/1-2--36361
ER  -