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Team Status Report for February 18

This week, we modified the block diagram slightly, since we identified that both experiments will be gathering voltmeter data that will be sent to our hardware bridge, which will then be accessed by the web app via a MySQL server. Furthermore, we developed schematics of the Faraday’s Experiment and the Ampere-Maxwell Experiment. The wireframe for the web application was also developed, along with some pages of the web application itself, and a 3D model of the booth was made. Our schedules remain unchanged but the Gantt chart was updated to reflect the assignment of each task to a certain individual for more clarity.

Risks and Risk Management

We are still working on confirming the hardware bridge. We have ordered a Wifi-enabled Arduino and plan to use that to take in voltmeter readings and direct that to the MySQL server. We intend to test this once the Arduino is delivered. If the Arduino is unable to send the voltage data to a MySQL server, we will consider alternatives such as using a TCP/IP Voltmeter device which is slightly more costly ($60) but guarantees voltmeter readings being fed into a MySQL database.

Changes to the Existing Design

After discussing with Professor Sullivan about transmitting data read by sensors (e.g. voltmeters) to the database for the web app, we decided for now we can just send the data to a local machine through wired connection, instead of sending the data to the cloud, such as AWS, to simplify the design and focus more on the core of the project. The schedule, however, wouldn’t actually change because we will spent the time allocated for implementing the wireless connection on developing wired connection.

Principles of Engineering, Science, and Math

Idea generation and selection: We came up with a few viable experiments to demonstrate Faraday’s and Ampere’s laws, and we decided on the ones that most align with our goal of making the system instructive yet simplistic, after considering the pros and cons of each option.

 

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Shizhen’s Status Report for February 18

This week I mainly worked on designing the Faraday’s law experiment, and making the design review presentation.

Faraday’s Law Experiment

I decided that a simpler, more straightforward experiment would be more instructive for students than a complex demonstration. Therefore, instead of proceeding with the design of a Faraday disk generator, I opted to design an experiment involving changing the magnetic flux through an induction coil by moving a bar magnet through it (shown below).  I believe the linear motion of the magnet can be more easily understood than the circular motion of a Faraday disk, but nonetheless captures the essence of Faraday’s law. Moreover, by showcasing two induction coils with different number of turns, we can also demonstrate the key concept that the induced electromotive force is directly proportional to the total number of turns. Furthermore, the induced voltage likely can turn on an LED, which can make the experiment more engaging, whereas the voltage generated by a Faraday disk is probably too small to do so.

I then made a block diagram for the design, shown below.

ECE Courses

To develop this design, I relied on my knowledge about analog circuits (18-220) and electromagnetism, especially Faraday’s law (18-300).

3D Model of the Booth

After discussing with Mudit and Aaron about the design of the booth, I used TinkerCAD to create a 3D illustrative model to be used in the design review presentation, shown below. Essentially, there are two transparent cases housing the experiments and circuitry on a table, and there is a touch-screen display in the middle that would show the web app. The user would be able to see how the experiments are constructed, and interact with the experiment by sliding a magnet or flipping a switch, etc.

Overall, I believe I am on schedule. Next week I plan to order the parts needed for the Faraday’s law experiment (induction coil, magnet, etc), and build a demo circuit on a breadboard to determine its viability. I will also discuss with Mudit and Aaron about transmitting measured voltages locally from the sensors to the web app.

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Team Status Report for February 11

Beyond engineering: The broader considerations of The Well of Maxwell

Our project includes considerations for education, safety, and socioeconomic inequalities. Since our goal is to teach students electromagnetism and inspire them to explore the field further, we want the educational modules to be accurate, authoritative, and effective. Moreover, we want learning to occur in a safe environment, so our system must be robust and not harm the user. Lastly, we want to provide a way for students who don’t have the resources to experiment with E&M to learn by doing.

Risks and Risk Management

One of the most significant risks would be our ability to convert the hardware stimuli (voltage source polarity, direction of induced current and magnitude of induced voltage) to digital data that will be taken in by our Web Application. This is the major connection between the hardware and software aspects of our project. This is the main blocker for our project progress, since the components we use to build the experiments will change depending on how we digitize the hardware data. As a contingency, we could use a digital multimeter with a built-in Web Interface or we could attempt using ADALM and Scopy, though these methods would be more ‘clunky’.

Changes

The design of the system has not been changed since last week.

Progress

We made a rough block diagram with regards to the design of our system and we intend to use it to guide us throughout our project.

We also made a wireframe specifically for the web application and built the skeleton for the web application, and partially implemented OAuth admin logins, welcome page, and basic home page. 

According to our current schedule, we should be finalizing the hardware to digital data conversion mechanism within the next two weeks, while starting on a rough design of our two experiments such that we can finalize the values of the circuit components we need. Additionally, the rough build for the web app without any integrated components should be finished within the next two to three weeks. That will allow us to purchase components within 2-3 weeks for the experiment setup.

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Shizhen’s Status Report for February 11

At the beginning of the week, I mainly worked on finalizing the project proposal slides, and practicing the presentation. Overall, I was satisfied with my presentation, as it was interactive, logical and cohesive. However, to improve my presentation skills in the future, I should be calmer and speak more slowly to be more clear and articulate.

After giving the presentation, I reviewed the relevant electromagnetism concepts, such as Faraday’s law and the Lorentz force law, and started thinking about what specific experiment we can implement to demonstrate Faraday’s law clearly. I came to the conclusion that creating a homopolar generator (or Faraday’s disc)  may be a feasible option because:

1. the device should not be too complicated to build, but shows the principles of Faraday’s law well;
2. it is the the first electromagnetic generator, and including a section about its history may draw the attention of students who are more humanities-inclined.

However, it may be a little difficult to explain to students how the magnetic field varies and induces an electromotive force since the motion is circular, not linear.

A Faraday disk generator
Source: Émile Alglave, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Lastly, I tinkered with the WordPress website, and customized it such that it meets all the requirements and everyone is pleased with the design. My progress appears to be on schedule.

Next week, I hope to develop the hardware design for the Faraday’s disc and create a bill of materials, in preparation for the Design Review in two weeks’ time.