FloDar Updates
I think I have finally finished a completely integrated board for the FloDar project. It is currently being critiqued by the Chet and Cara, but it was a quite fulfilling project so far. We hope to know soon if it is good enough to get printed, populated, and implemented in the testing phase. Another large step toward finishing the first prototype of the project, but still many finishing touches to go!
Andrew
Hadi and Bradley worked in the OPEnS Machine Shop to created a new pipe with the turbidity and thermocouple sensors inserted and in contact with the water. Though it took two tries - the first pipe breaking due to the stress of the leveling process - the product turned out great and is ready to start testing! It has shown to be be water proof, now for accurate sensor measurements.
Andrew
We have been working to make a protoboard of the circuit we will be using. The breadboard was a bit difficult to handle! Hopefully we will be able to convert this board to a proper PCB soon so that we can begin working towards a final prototype.
Andrew
Hadi has created a great print to hold our flowmeter transducers. Installing the transducers has been a pain due to the awkward curve of the pipe and easy slippage. With the new compartments the transducers will be held in place while they are strapped down and set the exact distance apart thanks to the plastic spacing between them.
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Andrew`
We are working on completing the necessary circuitry for the FloDar computing. So far we have implemented a 150 Ohm resistor to convert the current analog from the flowmeter to voltage, implemented a voltage divider to step down the 5V from the turbidity sensor to 3V, and sending both signals to a 16 bit ADC for more accurate measurements.
Andrew`