objective: provide information necessary to relate...

Project Readiness Package Rev 7/22/11

INTRODUCTION:The primary objective of this Project Readiness Package (PRP) is to describe the proposed project by documenting requirements (customer needs and expectations, specifications, deliverables, anticipated budget, skills and resources needed, and people/ organizations affiliated with the project. This PRP will be utilized by faculty to evaluate project suitability in terms of challenge, depth, scope, skills, budget, and student / faculty resources needed. It will also serve as an important source of information for students during the planning phase to develop a project plan and schedule.

In this document, italicized text provides explanatory information regarding the desired content. If a particular item or aspect of a section is not applicable for a given project, enter N/A (not applicable). For questions, contact Mark Smith at 475-7102, [email protected].

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION:

Project Name (tentative): Improved Bicycle Cell Phone Charger Project Number, if known: P13415

Preferred Start/End Quarter in Senior Design:

Faculty Champion: (technical mentor: supports proposal development, anticipated technical mentor during project execution; may also be Sponsor)

Name Dept. Email PhoneSarah Brownell Various [email protected] (585)330-6434 cell (no txt)

For assistance identifying a Champion: B. Debartolo (ME), G. Slack (EE), J. Kaemmerlen (ISE), R. Melton (CE)

Other Support, if known: (faculty or others willing to provide expertise in areas outside the domain of the Faculty Champion)

Name Dept. Email PhoneMario Gomes (generator testing/selection)

ME [email protected] 585-475-2148

Bill Brewer (VO2/heart-rate testing advice)

SCL [email protected] 585-475-2476

Matt Marshall (human factors)

IE [email protected] 585-475-7260

Alex Lobos (aesthetics) ID Ask for support

Project “Guide” if known: (project mentor: guides team through Senior Design process and grades students; may also be Faculty Champion)

John Kaemmerlen

Primary Customer, if known (name, phone, email): (actual or representative user of project output; articulates needs/requirements)

Sarah Brownell [email protected], (585) 330-6434 cell (no txt)

Sponsor(s): (provider(s) of financial support)

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Fall/Winter Fall/Spring Winter/Spring

mailto:[email protected]




Name/Organization Contact Info. Type & Amount of Support Committed

KGCOE Mark Smith $500

PROJECT OVERVIEW: 2-3 paragraphs that provide a general description of the project – background, motivation, customers, problem you’re trying to solve, project objectives. A quarter of the world—and up to 80% of people in poor countries—do not have access to electricity. The mission of this family of projects is to develop compelling solutions to the problem of providing efficient, reliable, and affordable sources of energy derived from the harvesting of human energy in the developing world. Healthy humans can produce about 0.1 hp for 8 hours or up to 0.4 hp for a few minutes before becoming exhausted. Over the course of a day humans expend 105 J to 107 Joules for activities or on average 40 watts if distributed over 24 hours. Since humans run on food—generally an expensive fuel—the ideal way to extract power from humans is by harnessing energy that is either currently “wasted” during everyday activities, requires minimal additional effort, or provides additional benefits such as entertainment (fun).

The proliferation of phone companies targeting the low income demographic in developing countries has increased overall access to cell phones for communication and business. However, people without electricity must pay to have their phone charged by someone who has access to a generator or solar panel, which requires leaving the phone somewhere for a few hours where it is easily stolen, along with all their contacts. Only 10% of the rural population of our target country, Haiti, has access to electricity [1] but 35% have a cell phone [2]. The objective of this continuation project is to develop an improved charging device which transforms kinetic energy from a bicycle to an electric power source capable of charging small electronic devices.

In Spring 2012, MSD team P12414 prototyped a bicycle cell phone charging device (figure 1) that is easy to install, reliable, and capable of charging a variety of small electronic devices with no significant increase in work required by the rider. According to the team, the materials for this device can be acquired for less than $20.00 (labor not adequately included) and it can be assembled by two people/stations in approximately 1 hour. Some problems with the current design include that it is not able to charge some cell phones used in Haiti (most notably the Blackberry), the manufacturing process is complicated and requires expensive machine tools (lathe and mill), not all testers found it aesthetically pleasing, and the price still needs to be reduced in order for customers in developing countries to afford it. The team makes many suggestions for areas of improvement and further study in their technical paper called “Bicycle Cell Phone Charger for Developing Regions” located on the team’s Edge site: (https://edge.rit.edu/edge/P12414/public/Home).

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https://edge.rit.edu/edge/P12414/public/Home


Figure 1: The roller and box assemblies of the bicycle cell phone charger developed by P12414

The goals of this follow-on project are to: Improve the efficiency and/or increase power output of the device so that all common Haitian cell

phones can be charged, including the Blackberry. Improve the manufacturability of the charger by reducing the number of parts and simplifying the

process. Improve the aesthetics of the product, especially the box assembly for storing the phone. Reduce the overall cost. Additionally, students are encouraged to consider the environmental impact of the device

throughout its life cycle.

No individual team is expected to solve the Harvesting Waste Energy from Humans problem alone. Rather, it is desired that the cumulative impact of the research and development of this family of projects will be felt over time, and there should be no doubt within the international community that this family of student projects was the key contributor to solving the problem of sustainable sources of personal energy generation and storage.

DETAILED PROJECT DESCRIPTION:The goal of this section is provide enough detail for faculty to assess whether the proposed project scope and required skills are appropriate for 5th year engineering students working over two quarters. The sequence of the steps listed below may depend on your project, and the process is usually iterative, so feel free to customize. Emphasis is on the “whats” (qualitative and quantitative), not the “hows” (solutions), except for the section on “potential concepts,” which is necessary to assess the appropriateness of required skills and project scope. Not all of the information in this section may be shared with students. (Attach extra documentation as needed).

Customer Needs and Objectives: Comprehensive list of what the customer/user wants or needs to be able to do in the “voice of the customer,” not in terms of how it might be done; desired attributes of the solution.

Needs

Priority Weight The device…

CN1 9 charges cell phones used in Haiti including the BlackberryCN2 9 connects to electronic devices using standard connectorsCN3 9 attaches to most bicycles

CN4 9is inexpensive to manufacture, assemble, ship, purchase, install and maintain

CN5 9 protects user safetyCN6 9 requires minimal tooling for manufacturingCN7 9 is easy to assemble, reducing labor costsCN8 3 adds only minimal work/effort for the userCN9 3 is easy to install, use and maintainCN10 3 resists environmental damage (water, dust, impact)CN11 3 stays in place on rough roadsCN12 3 operates quietlyCN13 3 is lightweightCN14 1 is a stylish accessory to the bicycleCN15 1 has low environmental impact throughout the lifecycle

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Functional Decomposition: Functions and sub-functions (verb-noun pairs) that are associated with a system/solution that will satisfy customer needs and objectives. Focus on “what” has to be achieved and not on “how”it is to be achieved – decompose the system only as far as the (sub) functions are solution independent. This can be a simple function list or a diagram (functional diagram, FAST (why-how) diagram, function tree).

See: https://edge.rit.edu/edge/P12414/public/Systems%20Design Functional Decomposition Tab

MSD Team P12414’s Product Architecture:

Specifications (or Engineering/Functional Requirements): Translates “voice of the customer” into “voice of the engineer.” Specifications describe what the system should (shall) do in language that has engineering formality. Specifications are quantitative and measureable because they must be testable/ verifiable, so they consist of a metric (dimension with units) and a value. We recommend utilizing the aforementioned functional decomposition to identify specifications at the function/ sub-function levels. Target values are adequate at this point – final values will likely be set after students develop concepts and make tradeoffs on the basis of chosen concepts. Consider the following types of specifications:geometry (dimensions, space), kinematics (type & direction of motion), forces, material, signals, safety, ergonomics (comfort, human interface issues), quality, production (waste, factory limitations), assembly, transport/packaging, operations (environmental/noise), maintenance, regulatory (UL, IEEE, FDA, FCC, RIT).

Cust. Needs

Spec No Specification Direction Units Marginal Ideal Notes

CN1 S1 Percent of tested phones max % 80% 90% + Nokia common in of 9

https://edge.rit.edu/edge/P12414/public/Systems%20Design


that can be charged with the device

charges Blackberr

y Haiti

CN1, CN2 S2 Output voltage target V 4.7-5.3 4.8-5.2

Standard cell phone requirements

CN1 S3

Current output at sustainable (specify) biking speed (15-17 mph?) or cadence (60-80 rpm) max mA >250 >750

need to research blackberry needs, seems like 750 mA needed, what is a sustainable biking speed?

CN1, CN5 S4 Maximum current output target mA 1500 1000

came from previous team, not sure why this is max.

CN1, CN2 S5 Uses standard connectors yes NA no yes ie. Usb

CN3 S6Range of bike tires accommodated max cm

40.6 - 71.1

(kids and adult bikes)

60.6 -71.1 (adult bikes only)

CN9 S7People required to install the device min

# of people 2 1

CN9 S8Number of tools required to install the device min

# of tools 2 <=1

tools should be standard hand tools or supplied with device

CN9 S9 Time to install min min <10 <5

CN8, CN9 S10

Increased effort for bicyclist over biking with no device (heart rate or VO2) min % <10% <5%

CN12 S11Noise reduction over MIT device max % (db)

>10% (db) >20% (db)

CN4, CN13 S12

Cost (parts + machining & assembly labor + shipping estimate) min $ <25 <15

Assuming parts purchased and imported or made in Haiti at $2/hr, lots of 100

CN4 S13 Cost of installation min $ <3 0

CN4 S14

Estimated maintenance/replacement part costs per year of life min <5 <1

CN4, CN7 S15

Manufacturing time reduction from previous device % >10% >25%

CN4, CN7 S16 Number of parts min #

same as current design

3 less than

current

CN4, CN6 S17

Number of expensive/specialized machine tools required for manufacturing min #

less than current 0

mill, lathe, drill press, specialized machines, etc.

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CN5 S18Increased temperature to bike parts min oC 10 5

CN10 S19 Resists impacts/crashes maxIEC60529* Level 1-9 >5 >7

CN10 S20 Resists dust max

IEC60529* digit 1

Level 0-6 >4 6

CN10 S21 Resists water max

IEC60529* digit 2

Level 0-8 >4 >7

CN11 S22 Rough road test?not sure how to test…

CN13 S23 Weight min kg <current

CN14 S24

% of people rating it 4 or above on a scale of 1-5 for aesthetically pleasing max % >50 >70

CN14 S25

% of people rating the device as more aesthetically pleasing than the previous version max % >60 >75

CN15 S26

Reduced environmental impact (embodied energy) over previous device (estimated) max % >0% >10%

not sure what value to put on this as it is not a main requirement

CN15 S27

Reduced environmental impact (embodied energy) over MIT device (estimated) max % >0% >10%

not sure what value to put on this as it is not a main requirement

Constraints: External factors that, in some way, limit the selection of solution alternatives. They are usually imposed on the design and are not directly related to the functional objectives of the system but apply across the system (eg. cost and schedule constraints). Constraints are often included in the specifications list but they often violate the abstractness property by specifying “how”.

1. The charger should attach to an existing bicycle rather than being a new bicycle design.2. The charger should be able to be assembled in developing countries.3. Each team will be required to keep track of all expenses incurred with their project. 4. Students should articulate the reasoning and logic behind tolerances and specifications on

manufacturing dimensions and purchasing specifications. 5. Project success will be based on how fast the technology could be reproduced or re-

manufactured by individuals with low levels of training or exposure. 6. All work to be completed by students in this track is expected to be released to the public

domain. Students, Faculty, Staff, and other participants in the project will be expected to release rights to their designs, documents, drawings, etc., to the public domain, so that others may freely build upon the results and findings without constraint.

7. Students, Faculty, and Staff associated with the project are encouraged to publish findings, data, and results openly.

8. All information researched and created should be clearly documented. Also it should be easily to understand and organized in such a way that allows others to come up to speed with the project quickly.

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Project Deliverables: Expected output, what will be “delivered” – be as specific and thorough as possible.

Working prototype Bill of Materials Design Drawings Manufacturing and assembly plan Test Plan Test Results Estimated production costs in lots of 100, including parts, manufacturing, assembly and shipping

to Haiti (estimate) Life cycle analysis estimate for embodied energy, with clear documentation of assumptions made Technical paper Poster

Budget Estimate: Major cost items anticipated.

Benchmarking and preliminary testing: $ 200Prototyping: $ 200Testing: $ 100 TOTAL: $ 500

Intellectual Property (IP) considerations: Describe any IP concerns or limitations associated with the project. Is there patent potential? Will confidentiality of any data or information be required?

Open Source

Other Information: Describe potential benefits and liabilities, known project risks, etc.

Continuation Project Information, if appropriate: Include prior project(s) information, and how prior project(s) relate to the proposed project.

MSD Team P12414: Harvesting Waste Energy: Bicycle Power Generation (https://edge.rit.edu/edge/P12414/public/Home)

The goals of this project are basically the same as for the previous team. While P12414 was able to lay the ground work and demonstrate proof of concept, the current team will focus on optimizing the design and turning it into a viable product. However, creative brainstorming is still encouraged, and major design changes are allowed in the interest of a better product.

STUDENT STAFFING:

Skills Checklist: Complete the “PRP_Checklist” document and include with your submission.

Anticipated Staffing Levels by Discipline: ~5

Discipline How Many? Anticipated Skills Needed (concise descriptions)

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https://edge.rit.edu/edge/P12414/public/Home


EE

1-2 Generator selection. Conditioning power from the generator for use by the cell phone, heat considerations. Circuit design and assembly. Possible: sensing that power is being wasted and engaging and disengaging the generator.

ME

1-2 Selection and testing of motors to determine optimum speeds/torque when used as a generator. Possible gearing design. Systems modeling and analysis. Design for Manufacture and Assembly. Machining prototype components.

CE

ISE

2 Design for Manufacture, Assembly, and Environment. Streamlining the production process, reducing assembly time and simplifying tooling for production in Haiti. Project management. Design of Experiments to help with motor testing and selection.

Other 1 Industrial design student to improve aesthetics and user interface.

OTHER RESOURCES ANTICIPATED:Describe resources needed to support successful development, implementation, and utilization of the project. This could include specific faculty expertise, laboratory space and equipment, outside services, customer facilities, etc. Indicate if resources are available, to your knowledge.

Category Description Resource Available?

Faculty Possibly Matt Marshall and Bill Brewer re: capabilities of humans on bicycles

Mario Gomes: motor testing set up.

Alex Lobos? Other ID prof. Aesthetics, especially if no ID students on project

Environment Space for storing and testing using a bicycle (MSD area table or cubicle)

MSD and EE labs

Equipment Bicycles to test: may be available from Rochester Community Bikes.

Bicycle test stand (may need to purchase?)

Variety of cell phones for testing

Mario Gomes motor testing set up.

LCA software?

Scale, decibel meter, stopwatch, oscilloscope, thermocouples

Materials Variety of cheap motors for early testing.

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Benchmarks and prototype from previous team.

Other

[1] Verner, D., Egset, W., 2007, Social Resilience and State Fragility in Haiti, World Bank, Washington, D.C., Executive Summary, pp. xv

[2] (French) Le Nouvelliste : "Digicel s'impatiente pour sa licence de fournisseur d'accès internet"

Prepared by: Date:

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http://www.lenouvelliste.com/article.php?PubID=1&ArticleID=77702

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