Experimental Stand Design for an Automatic Wiping Board Concept

Abstract

The current research aims to develop an experimental stand for functionality testing of an automatic wiping board, to establish its optimal working parameters and select the appropriate materials for functional parts based on Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and experiment results. The conducted research started with the conceptual design of the experimental stand and main component identification. Within this stage, a comprehensive bill of materials is done, ensuring that the specifications of each component are in accordance with its' function within the main assembly. Next, the load cell is fitted with the Arduino board and with a designated computer. The Arduino board is initiated with a programming sequence recommended by the manufacturer and the data acquisition software is programmed using LabView. An initial test of the load cell is undertaken to determine the reading directions and the final experimental stand is assembled. Four tests, each with two travels, are used to analyze the working hypothesis of the wiping board. Results interpretation led to selecting the optimum working parameters of the proposed wiping board concept. The optimum force is used to conduct fatigue FEA on functional parts manufactured from ABS by additive manufacturing and injection molding technologies. Future research includes the integration of a Wi-Fi and an infrared sensor, to enable remote operation of the system. Also, the functional parts will be 3D printed, fitted onto the experimental stand of the automatic wiping board and tested for fatigue using the parameters set in the FEA simulation.