Category Archives: Mechanical Seminar Topics

Wireless Battery Charger | Inductively Coupled Universal Battery Charger | Charging Batteries Without Wires | Inductive Power Transfer | Inductive Charging

Inductively Coupled Universal Wireless Battery Charger based on Inductive Power Transfer

Inductively Coupled Universal Wireless Battery Charger based on Inductive Power Transfer – powermat-iphone-4-wireless-battery-charger-wireless-charging-mat-wireless-receiver-case-new-wireless-technology

In the future all electronic devices will be wireless powered. Small, battery-powered gadgets make powerful computing portable.

The battery charger should be capable of charging the most common battery types found in portable devices today. In addition, the charging should be controlled from the base station and a bidirectional communication system between the pickups and base station should be developed.

Inductive Power Systems based Wireless Battery Charger:

Inductive Power Transfer (IPT) refers to the concept of transferring electrical power between two isolated circuits across an air gap. While based on the work and concepts developed by pioneers such as Faraday and Ampere, it is only recently that IPT has been developed into working systems.

Essentially, an IPT system can be divided into two parts;

Primary and
Secondary.

The primary side of the system is made up of a resonant power supply and a coil. This power supply produces a high frequency sinusoidal current in the coil. The secondary side (or ‘pickup’) has a smaller coil, and a converter to produce a DC voltage.

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Working of Inductive Power Transfer based Wireless Battery Charger:

In this system communications signals are encoded onto the waveform that provides power to the air gap. Communication from the primary side to the secondary is implemented by switching the power signal at the output of the resonant converter between its normal level and a lower level which is detectable by the pickup but still provides enough power to control the pickup micro-controller. This process is called Amplitude Shift Keying (ASK). This is achieved by varying the output voltage of the buck converter which provides an input DC voltage to the resonant converter.

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Communication from the secondary to the primary is achieved by a process called Load Shift Keying (LSK). This involves varying the loading on the pickup. Any load on the pickup will reflect a voltage on the primary circuit proportional to the load. Therefore a variation in the load on the pickup can be detected by the charging station.

The communications system must provide two discrete levels of voltage reflected onto the primary side, to represent the on and off states for digital communications. The difference must be easily detected on the primary side to provide a robust communications channel. Signals are decoded by simple filters and comparators which feed a digital signal to the micro-controllers.

Advantages of Wireless Battery Charger:

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IPT has a number of advantages over other power transfer methods – it is unaffected by dirt, dust, water, or chemicals. In situations such as coal mining IPT prevents sparks and other hazards. As the coupling is magnetic, there is no risk of electrocution even when used in high power systems. This makes IPT very suitable for transport systems where vehicles follow a fixed track, such as in factory materials handling.

Graphene | Graphene Technology | Graphene The Material Of The Future | Graphene Review | Graphene Properties | Graphene Production

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The graphene is a substance which has a single-layer crystal lattice of carbon atoms, which is unusual since it is different from all of the materials of its kind. Several researchers have identified a way of making this substance, which allows them to use it in various fields and especially for the high-speed electronic devices.

Graphene Definition:

Graphene is defined as a one atom thin sheet of carbon atoms arranged in a Hexagonal format or a flat monolayer of carbon atoms that are tightly packed into a 2D honeycomb lattice.

History:

In October 2010, two University of Manchester (U.K.) scientists, Andre Geim and Konstantin Novolselov, were awarded the 2010 Nobel Prize in physics for their research on graphene. Graphene is a one-atom-thick sheet of carbon whose strength, flexibility, and electrical conductivity have opened up new horizons for high-energy particle physics research and electronic, optical, and energy applications.

Graphene properties:

Graphene oxide, a single-atomic-layered material made by reacting graphite powders with strong oxidizing agents, has the ability to easily convert into graphene a low-cost carbon-based transparent and flexible electronics.

Graphene Oxide:

Graphene oxide has been known in the scientific world for more than a century and was largely described as hydrophilic, or attracted to water. These graphene oxide sheets behave like surfactants, the chemicals in soap and shampoo that make stains disperse in water.

Mechanical Properties:

Young’s Modulus:

1. Graphene sheets stack to form graphite with an interplanar spacing of 0.335 nm, which means that a stack of 3 million sheets would be only one millimeter thick.

2. Graphene is a Zero Gap Semiconductor. So it has a high electron mobility at room temperature. It’s a Superconductor. Electron transfer is 100 times faster then Silicon.

3. Graphene has a record breaking strength of 200 times greater than steel, with a tensile strength of 130GPa.

4. Graphene can be used to create circuits that are almost superconducting, potentially speeding electronic components by as much as 1000 times.

5. Graphene electrodes used in lithium-ion batteries could reduce recharge times from two hours to about 10 minutes.

Graphene Production:

Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) and Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) are two other potential routes to Graphene growth.

Applications:

New devices like Touch screens, Micro Displays and Monitors
Chip Making, Circuit Designs
Solar cells
Micro Fuel Cells
Air Bag Deployment Systems and Gyroscopes in Car Electronic Stability Control
Pressure Sensors, Micro Tips & probes

Pen Ink Refill | Spiral Tube Ink Refilling | Double Ink Capacity Ball Point Pens

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A ballpoint pen is a writing instrument with an internal ink reservoir and a sphere for a point. The internal chamber is filled with a viscous ink that is dispensed at its tip during use by the rolling action of a small sphere.

There are two basic types of ball point pens:

Disposable
Refillable.

Disposable pens are chiefly made of plastic throughout and discarded when the ink is consumed; Refillable pens are metal and some plastic and tend to be much higher in price. The refill replaces the entire internal ink reservoir and ball point unit rather than actually refilling it with ink, as it takes special high-speed centrifugation to properly fill a ball point reservoir with the viscous ink. The simplest types of ball point pens have a cap to cover the tip when the pen is not in use, while others have a mechanism for retracting the tip. This mechanism is usually controlled by a button at the top and powered by a spring within the pen body, but other possibilities include a pair of buttons, a screw, or a slide.

Think about it, instead of having a straight tube ink refill, how about fashioning it as a spiral? Agreed it occupies a bit more space so the pen can’t be sleek and slim, but it holds double the amount of ink! There’s a reason why our DNA is structured in a double helix. I guess it will work like a charm for those disposable types, making them last longer.

Solar Thermal Power | Solar Energy | Solar Power | Produce Electricity From Solar Heat

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The principles of solar thermal power conversion have been known for more than a century; its commercial scale-up and exploitation, however, has only taken place since the mid 1980s. With these first large-scale 30-80 MW parabolic trough power stations, built in the California Mojave desert, the technology has impressively demonstrated its technological and economic promise. With few adverse environmental impacts and a massive resource, the sun, it offers an opportunity to the countries in the sun belt of the world comparable to that currently being offered by offshore wind farms to European and other nations with the windiest shorelines.

Solar thermal power can only use direct sunlight, called ‘beam radiation’ or Direct Normal Irradiation (DNI), i.e. that fraction of sunlight which is not deviated by clouds, fumes or dust in the atmosphere and that reaches the earth’s surface in parallel beams for concentration. Hence, it must be sited in regions with high direct solar radiation. Suitable sites should receive at least 2,000 kilowatt hours (kWh) of sunlight radiation per m²annually, whilst best site locations receive more than 2,800 kWh/m²/year.

In many regions of the world, one square kilometer of land is enough to generate as much as 100-130 Giga watt hours (GWh) of solar electricity per year using solar thermal technology. This is equivalent to the annual production of a 50 MW conventional coal- or gas-fired mid-load power plants. Over the total life cycle of a solar thermal power system, its output would be equivalent to the energy contained in more than 5 million barrels of oil²).

TURNING SOLAR HEAT INTO ELECTRICITY

Producing electricity from the energy in the sun’s rays is a straightforward process: direct solar radiation can be concentrated and collected by a range of Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) technologies to provide medium- to high temperature heat.

This heat is then used to operate a conventional power cycle, for example through a steam turbine or a Stirling engine. Solar heat collected during the day can also be stored in liquid or solid media such as molten salts, ceramics, concrete or, in the future, phase-changing salt mixtures. At night, it can be extracted from the storage medium thereby continuing turbine operation.

Compressed Air Cars | Air Motion Racing Car | Car Powered By Compressed Air | Air Motion Racing Car Powered By Air Turbines | CAT – Compressed Air Car Technology

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“Compressed air cars” are cars with engines that use compressed air, instead of regular gas used in conventional fuel cars. The idea of such cars is greatly welcomed by people of the 21st century, when pollution caused by petrol and diesel is an extremely worrying factor.

Engine and Technology

The engine that is installed in a “compressed air car” uses compressed air which is stored in the car’s tank at a pressure as high as 4500 psi. The technology used by air car engines is totally different from the technology that is used in conventional fuel cars. They use the pressure generated by the expansion of compressed air to run their pistons. This results in ‘no pollution’, as air is the only product that is used by the engine to produce power, and the waste material is the air itself.

Air Storage Tank/Fueling

As thought by engineers and designers, the storage tank would be made up of carbon fiber to reduce the car’s weight and prevent an explosion, in case of a direct collision. Carbon-fiber tanks are capable of containing air pressure up to 4500 psi, something the steel tanks are not capable of. For fueling the car tank with air, the compressor needs to be plugged into the car, which would use the air that is around to fill the compressed air tank.

This could be a slow process of fueling; at least until air cars are commonly used by people, after which high-end compressors would be available at gas stations that would fuel the car in no time at all.

Emission

The air-powered car would normally emit air, as it’s what it would solely use. But it would totally depend on the purity of air that is put into the air tank. If impure air is filled in the tank, same would be the level of impurity of the emission. The emission level would highly depend on the location and time of filling air in the tank.

MARS Floating Wind Turbines | Horizontal Axis Wind Turbine | Lowest Cost Wind Energy Solution | How Floating Wind Turbine Works

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The Magenn Power Air Rotor System (MARS) is a patented high altitude lighter-than-air tethered device that rotates about a horizontal axis in response to wind, efficiently generating clean renewable electrical energy at a lower cost than all competing systems. This electrical energy is transferred down the tether to a transformer at a ground station and then transferred to the electricity power grid. Helium (an inert non-reactive lighter than air gas) sustains the Air Rotor which ascends to an altitude for best winds and its rotation also causes the Magnus effect. This provides additional lift, keeps the device stabilized, keeps it positioned within a very controlled and restricted location, and causes it to pull up overhead rather than drift downwind on its tether.

All competing conventional wind generators use bladed two-dimensional disk-like structures and rigid towers. The Magenn Power Air Rotor system is a closed three-dimensional structure (cylinder). It offers high torque, low starting speeds, and superior overall efficiency thanks to its ability to deploy higher.

The closed structure allows Magenn Power to produce wind rotors from very small to very large sizes at a fraction of the cost of current wind generators.

The distinct advantages of the Magenn Air Rotor System design are as follows:

Magenn Air Rotor System is less expensive per unit of actual electrical energy output than competing wind power systems.
Magenn Power Air Rotor System will deliver time-averaged output much closer to its rated capacity than the capacity factor typical with conventional designs. Magenn efficiency will be 25 to 60 percent. This is hugely important, since doubling capacity factor cuts the cost of each delivered watt by half.
Wind farms can be placed closer to demand centers, reducing transmission line costs and transmission line loses.
Magenn Air Rotors are operable between 2 meter/sec and in excess of 28 meters/sec.
Magenn Air Rotors can be raised to higher altitudes, thus capitalizing on higher winds aloft. Altitudes from 400-ft to 1,000-ft above ground level are possible, without having to build an expensive tower, or use a crane to perform maintenance.
Magenn Air Rotors are mobile and can be easily moved to different locations to correspond to changing wind patterns. Mobility is also useful in emergency deployment and disaster relief situations.

Modern Wind Turbine | Common AC Generator Types | Squirrel Cage Rotor Induction Generator

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Invented by Nikola Tesla and Mikhail Dolivo-Dobrovolsky in the late 19th century, the Squirrel Cage Induction Machine can be successfully used as generator in small scale hydro applications. Simple, robust and compact, it is ranked as the most reliable type of electric generator, mainly due to the small number of components. The power and speed range are standardized, making the induction generator available as on-the-shelf component in the power range of up to several hundred kW.

Small scale Wind stations uses several induction generator types:

SQIN – squirrel cage;
WRIN – wounded rotor, with brushes and slip-rings;
CEIN – capacitor excited.

If connected to the national grid (DOL, Y/D or with soft starter) it imposes a cvasi-constant speed operated turbine, proper for constant head and flow sites. If driven by reaction type turbines, as for efficiency reasons, variable head and flow conditions can be dealt by constant speed induction generators combined with adjustable stator guide vanes and rotor blades, or by variable speed induction generators combined with fixed stator guide and rotor blades. The second solution simplifies the mechanical equipment, but requires regenerative 4Q frequency converters, offering excellent results.

In island operated applications, the squirrel cage induction generator has to be excited through external capacitors. This configuration works up to 15 kW, at constant speed, thus external hydraulic or ballast load controllers have to be deployed.

Several constructive variants (1/3-phase, low or medium voltage, horizontal or vertical, open-drip proof, etc.) of induction generators are available.

Fused Deposition Modeling | An Introduction | A Rapid Prototyping Process | Rapid Prototyping Methodology Types

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Rapid Prototyping process starts with the uploading of your STL file for a rapid quote. This Product Realization will transform your CAD drawings into plastic parts. Parts are built layer by layer in an additive process. Extrusion heads lay down thermoplastics to create each layer.

Watch This Video:

Stratasys FDM-Fused Deposition Modeling-How It Works

Build Envelope (XYZ): 16 x 14 x 16 inches
Material Options: ABS, PC-ABS, PC, ULTEM
Layer Thickness Options: .005, .007, or .010 inches
Color Options: Ivory, Black, White, Tan
Accuracy: ±.005 inch or ±.0015 inch/inch
Process: Fused Deposition Modeling

Advantages:

Short Run Production

Need multiples? FDM can build as many parts as you require, in the time that you need them. Cheaper than using injection molding!

Assemblies

Does your design contain moving parts and subassemblies? A Rapid Prototype of your assembly will mechanically operate just like the real thing.

Military-Grade Prototyping

With a max tensile strength of 10,390 psi and a max flexural strength of 16,700 psi, materials are ready for your military and high strength designs and concepts.

Precision

Small parts with complex geometry are no problem for FDM. With a max resolution of .005”, your parts will look as good as your CAD models.

Sir Richard Branson’s Flying Submarine To Explore Oceans’ Depths

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Virgin Group chairman, adventurer and billionaire Sir Richard Branson, after having set his sights on commercial space travel through his Virgin Galactic, is now targeting the oceans’ depths.

Branson on April 5 showcased the ‘Necker Nymph’, a solo-piloted ‘flying’ mini-submarine in which he plans to explore depths to which no man has ever been before in all the five oceans on earth.

The submarine’s first dive is likely to take place later this year.

Pioneered by Virgin Oceanic, Branson’s new initiative, the submarine ‘represents a transformational technological advance in submarine economics and performance.’

The vehicle itself is a unique design made from 8,000 pounds of carbon fibre and titanium. The pressure at the bottom of the deepest trench is over 1,000 atmospheres — the quartz dome alone is under 13 million pounds of pressure, the weight of three space shuttles.

The submarine is designed by Branson’s partner Graham Hawkes and is the only piloted craft in existence that has ‘full ocean depth’ capability.

The one person sub has an operating depth of 37,000ft (7 miles) and is capable of operating for 24 hours unaided.

Once fully descended, the submarine’s hydroplanes (the equivalent of wings for submarines) and thrusters will allow it to ‘fly’ up to 10 km over the ocean floor whilst collecting video and data, something submersibles could only dream of.

At these depths, each individual part of the sub must be able to withstand enormous pressures, 1,500 times that of an aero plane, and protect its pilot from the extreme conditions just inches away.

As Branson and Welch each pilot the sub to the bottom of the planet, they will be aware that should anything go wrong, there is no rescue team that can reach them; whilst backed up by a mission crew, once at depth, the pilot and craft are alone. Full pressure testing will be conducted over the next three months, the web site said.

The craft will cruise at a max of 3 knots and can dive 350ft per minute. At that speed, a dive to the bottom of the Marianna trench and back is estimated to take about five hours.

The Virgin Oceanic web site says that the submarine provides the currently unequalled capability to take humans to any depth in the oceans and to truly explore. ‘It utilises the latest in composite technology and a completely unique flying wing to literally fly within the ocean environment; creatures living here such as dolphins, whales and rays have shown us this winged approach is the best and most elegant way to range the seas,’ the web site says.

The submarine is many times less expensive to manufacture and operate than any of its less capable counterparts and is in harmony with its environment,’ the web site adds.

The submarine was originally commissioned by Branson’s friend and fellow adventurer Steve Fossett who had intended to complete the first solo dive to the depths of the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench, which has a depth of 36,201 feet (or around 11 km).

Watch This Video:

Flying Sub Marine

Fuel Cell-Powered Electric Vehicles | Mercedes Benz F-CELL World Drive

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Mercedes-Benz F-CELL World Drive – 125 days, four continents and 14 countries: Starting on January 30, 2011 in Stuttgart (Germany), three Mercedes-Benz B-Class F-CELL with fuel cell drive will be driving around the globe with zero emissions. The objective is to demonstrate that electric vehicles equipped with fuel cell are technically mature and suitable for everyday use.

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Category Archives: Mechanical Seminar Topics

Wireless Battery Charger | Inductively Coupled Universal Battery Charger | Charging Batteries Without Wires | Inductive Power Transfer | Inductive Charging

Inductively Coupled Universal Wireless Battery Charger based on Inductive Power Transfer

Inductive Power Systems based Wireless Battery Charger:

Essentially, an IPT system can be divided into two parts;

Working of Inductive Power Transfer based Wireless Battery Charger:

Advantages of Wireless Battery Charger:

Graphene | Graphene Technology | Graphene The Material Of The Future | Graphene Review | Graphene Properties | Graphene Production

Pen Ink Refill | Spiral Tube Ink Refilling | Double Ink Capacity Ball Point Pens