26TH HALTON SKILLS COMPETITION Robotics and Control Systems (Team of 2)

Held At: Craig Kielburger Secondary School on April 9th, 2014

ROBOTICS AND CONTROL SYSTEMS DESIGN CHALLENGES PURPOSE OF COMPETITION The purpose of this competition is to provide competitors with the opportunity to demonstrate skills in engineering, science, and technology through a series of challenges involving Mechanical Systems, Electronics, Controls and Sensor, Automation, Mobile Robotics and Programming. These skills will be judged on a practical demonstration of abilities to complete a series of five that will draw from fundamentals of Robotics, Automation and Control.

DESIGN CHALLENGE OVERVIEW Competitors will be given the design challenges one at a time. Each group must model a device using the myStem Robotics kit, NI myDAQ controller and LabVIEW Software. Once the group is finished they will present their results to the judge(s) for a MAXIMUM of 10 minutes.

DESIGN CHALLENGE WEIGHTINGS Judging criteria are will be as outlined in the contest scope. Note that the value of the Assembling; Programming; System Functionality; Modifications, extra features & troubleshooting; and Presentation and Design Notebook judging criteria will be weighted as follows across the three contest tasks

Challenge Challenge #1 – Air Conditioning System Challenge #2 – Parking Gate

Weight 50% 50%

2014 Halton Skills Competition – Robotics and Control Systems

DESIGN CHALLENGE #1 – HVAC SYSTEM OVERVIEW “HVAC (heating, ventilating, and air conditioning; also heating, ventilation, and air conditioning)[1] is the technology of indoor and vehicular environmental comfort. Its goal is to provide thermal comfort and acceptable indoor air quality. HVAC system design is a subdiscipline of mechanical engineering, based on the principles of thermodynamics, fluid mechanics, and heat transfer. Refrigeration is sometimes added to the field's abbreviation as HVAC&R or HVACR, or ventilating is dropped as in HACR (such as the designation of HACR-rated circuit breakers). HVAC is important in the design of medium to large industrial and office buildings such as skyscrapers and in marine environments such as aquariums, where safe and healthy building conditions are regulated with respect to temperature and humidity, using fresh air from outdoors. Ventilating or Ventilation (the V in HVAC) is the process of "changing" or replacing air in any space to provide high indoor air quality which involves temperature control, oxygen replenishment, and removal of moisture, odors, smoke, heat, dust, airborne bacteria, and carbon dioxide. Ventilation removes unpleasant smells and excessive moisture, introduces outside air, keeps interior building air circulating, and prevents stagnation of the interior air. Ventilation includes both the exchange of air to the outside as well as circulation of air within the building. It is one of the most important factors for maintaining acceptable indoor air quality in buildings. Methods for ventilating a building may be divided into mechanical/forced and natural types.” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HVAC)

CHALLENGE Industry often requires large areas to be temperature controlled. For this challenge you must design, build and program a model HVAC system for a room that requires refrigeration.

REQUIREMENTS • •

A circulation fan should run while the room is sealed and shut off when a door is opened. Cooling elements should turn on at appropriate times.

2014 Halton Skills Competition – Robotics and Control Systems

DESIGN CHALLENGE #2 – PARKING GATE OVERVIEW Gates and barriers are often required to limit access of certain areas to specific individuals. Having a human operated gate system is cost ineffective.

CHALLENGE Design, build and program a model automated parking gate system that will securely control access to an area.

REQUIREMENTS • • •

The parking gate should open to let a car pass through it when appropriate. The parking gate should close automatically after a single car has passed through it. The parking gate should have a method of user authentication so only the correct drivers may enter the garage.