ECE 477 Digital Systems Senior Design Project Rev 9/10

ECE 477 Digital Systems Senior Design Project Rev 8/09

Homework 4: Packaging Specifications and Design

Team Code Name: P-REV Group No. 5 Team Member Completing This Homework: Ram Hudiara E-mail Address of Team Member: rhudiara @ purdue.edu

NOTE: This is the first in a series of four “design component” homework assignments, each of which is to be completed by one team member. The body of the report should be 3-5 pages, not including this cover page, references, attachments or appendices.

Evaluation:

SCORE DESCRIPTION Excellent – among the best papers submitted for this assignment. Very few 10 corrections needed for version submitted in Final Report. Very good – all requirements aptly met. Minor additions/corrections needed for 9 version submitted in Final Report. Good – all requirements considered and addressed. Several noteworthy 8 additions/corrections needed for version submitted in Final Report. Average – all requirements basically met, but some revisions in content should 7 be made for the version submitted in the Final Report. Marginal – all requirements met at a nominal level. Significant revisions in 6 content should be made for the version submitted in the Final Report. Below the passing threshold – major revisions required to meet report * requirements at a nominal level. Revise and resubmit. * Resubmissions are due within one week of the date of return, and will be awarded a score of “6” provided all report requirements have been met at a nominal level.

Comments:  Content wise the report is exhaustive however some modifications in terms of defining things prior to use is required to ensure a better reading  Clear Diagrams (CAD) have been provided but labeling needs to be done for the enclosure box  Section 2 can be somewhat improved by a more in-depth comparison in terms of number of different sensors used, types of sensors, etc  Summary section need to focus more on Packaging specification and design ECE 477 Digital Systems Senior Design Project Rev 9/10

1.0 Introduction The P-REV data logger and display unit enable the race driver in a Go Kart to view information from various sensors in the kart during a race. This enables him to keep a track of critical conditions such as remaining battery life. Based on the information available to the racer, he can then make a decision that if he needs to pull into the pit station. The display unit will provide the information to the driver and hence it would be mounted in the steering wheel to make it easily viewable. The display unit should be small enough so that it doesn’t impede the driver’s actions when he is trying to make a turn. The display unit should be able to receive data from the atom board using a USB cable. The atom board and the PCB containing the Microcontroller would be placed in a plastic enclosure. This plastic enclosure would have the same base and width dimensions as the Atom board and it would be mounted behind the driver’s seat under a metal board.

2.0 Commercial Product Packaging Compared to the P-REV’s product, there are a couple of devices which are similar. But, almost all of the devices available in the market are made for gas powered go karts and hence do not have any features to monitor the battery status. As all of these products are just data acquisition units, they are small, usually mounted on the steering wheel and do not implement traction control.

2.1 Product #1 – MYCHRON 4 One of the products which is quite similar to ours is the MYCHRON 4 by AIM [3]. MYCHRON 4 is basically a data logging product for Go Karts. Without any extension box, the MYCHRON 4 is able to gather data from three input sensors. Namely, the temperature sensor, tachometer and lap counter. We think this is too few sensors to report much useful data and thus we plan on having 10 different sensors. The display of the MYCHRON 4 is small and cluttered with tiny keys to navigate. For our product we plan to have a 7 inch customizable touch screen display.

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An expansion box is available for the MYCHRON 4 at an additional cost to increase the number of sensor inputs. Data can be downloaded from the E-box using a special connector called the data key. The data can be downloaded from the MYCHRON 4 by connecting it to a computer using a cable. Hence, the kart needs to be stationary before performing such action. Our product would use wireless transmission to transmit data from the kart while the kart is racing on the track.

One thing which is unique to MYCHRON 4 is that, its manufacturer also produces a steering wheel which has a special grove for mounting the MYCHRON 4. We would really like to mount our display in a similar manner so that it does not interfere with the driver.

2.2 Product #2 – LAPCOM VX2000 lite 100 Another product which is quite similar to ours is the LAPCOM VX2000 lite100 [4]. It is also a data logger like the MYCHRON 4 but it comes with a large number of sensor inputs included in the standard package. One feature we really like about the VX200, and plan to implement on our product, is the customizable display based on the numbers of sensor inputs begin used. However, we plan on using a full color touch screen display instead of a simple alphanumeric, one color display. One of the cons of the VX2000 is that it is able to log data for only 90 minutes. Since we are be relaying all the data from the kart to

-3- ECE 477 Digital Systems Senior Design Project Rev 9/10 the pit station, there is no need to store the data on the kart and hence there is no restriction on the amount of data being logged.

3.0 Project Packaging Specifications The design for P-REV project includes a display unit and an enclosure housing the Atom board and the PCB. The display unit consists of a color touch screen display, which is powered by USB cable running from the Atom board. As we do not need to have a battery in the display unit, the thickness of our display unit is reduced to half the thickness of our competitor MYCHRON 4. As our display unit would be mounted in the steering wheel, we wanted it to be compact so that it doesn’t hinder the driver’s performance. The dimensions of the display are 7 in X 5 in X 1 in [2]. Our main enclosure box which houses the Atom Board, PCB and the battery pack would be made of plastic and will sit underneath a metal board behind the driver’s seat. We chose this spot for the main enclosure as it is secluded from rest of components of the kart. Any change to the mechanical components of the kart can be done easily without even having to touch the enclosure. As the enclosure is placed under a metal board holding the motor controllers on the other side, one of our concerns is about the interference with the GPS and Wireless modules. To resolve this we are planning on mounting separate antennas on the kart for the GPS and wireless communication modules. The dimensions of the box are 7.1 in X 7.1 in X 3 in. The dimensions of the PCB are 6.69 in X 3.14 in. There would also be a compartment in the main enclosure for the battery pack. The batteries we are using measure 0.75 in X 2.1 in X 2.1 in each [1]. The battery compartment that we have designed to hold the batteries measures 2.1 in X 7.1 in X 1.5 in. The battery compartment can hold up to 6 batteries.

4.0 PCB Footprint Layout As we would be placing the PCB in the same box as the Atom board, our size limitation for the PCB are 170 cm X 170 cm. But as our product is targeted for go kart racing market, we intend to keep the PCB as small as possible. A large portion of the PCB area would be used up by the inputs from the 10 sensors. The GPS module, the wireless module, power supply rails and the serial ports are the other components taking up a large amount of PCB area. The area taken up

-4- ECE 477 Digital Systems Senior Design Project Rev 9/10 by the Microcontroller is relatively small compared to these products. Our current estimate for the PCB size is 170 cm X 80 cm.

5.0 Summary Unlike the products compared in section 2, our product is not just a data logging unit. It does a lot more. Especially in real time, like traction control. Our device surpasses the performance and functions performed by the MYCHRON 4 or the VX2000. As we are not fitting the entire device in one case mounted on the steering wheel, minimizing the size of the enclosure is not our main concern. However, as the equipment would be placed on a racing go Kart, we are very specific about the weight of the product and our goal is to keep the weight below 2 lbs.

List of References

[1] Sparkfun Electronics, “Sparkfun Electronics, Polymer Lithium Ion Battery – 6Ah.” [Online]. Available: http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php? products_id=8484. [Accessed: Sep 23,2010].

[2] Mimo Monitor, “Mimo Monitors - Mimo 720-F Flex-Screen Mountable Touchscreen USB Monitor.” [Online]. Available: http://www.mimomonitors.com/products/mimo-720-f- flex-screen-mountable-touchscreen-usb-monitor. [Accessed: Sep 23,2010].

[3] AIM Sports, “AiM Sports -MyChron4 Digital Gauge and Data Logger for Kart Racing.” [Online]. Available: http://www.aimsports.com/products/mychron4/index.html. [Accessed: Sep 23, 2010].

[4] PERCUL, “LapcomVX-2000 All-in-one Series.” [Online]. Available: http://www.percul.co.jp/english/lapvx_en/index_vx_all_en.htm. [Accessed: Sep 23,2010].

IMPORTANT: Use standard IEEE format for references, and CITE ALL REFERENCES listed in the body of your report.

Appendix A: Project Packaging Illustrations

DISPLY UNIT

MAIN ENCLOSURE 3D VIEW

Dimensions 6.69 in X 6.69 in X 2.75 in (170 cm X 170 cm X 70c m)

FRONT VIEW

Appendix B: Project Packaging Specifications

Material Tooling Estimated weight Estimated Unit cost Requirement Touch Screen Screws, screw driver 1 lb $200 Microcontroller Soldering tools 0.01 lb $8 GPS Module Soldering tools 0.1 lb $60 Atom Board Screws, Screw driver 1 lb $1000 Xbee wireless module Soldering tools 0.1 lb $20 Lithium ion battery Soldering tools 0.2 lb $40 Voltage regulator Soldering tools 0.1 lb $5 Serial Port Soldering tools 0.1 lb $4

Appendix C: PCB Footprint Layout

PCB 3D View

PCB TOP VIEW

Accelerometer 10 cm X 13 cm GPS 24 cm X 33 cm Wireless module 30 cm X 30 cm

Power Supply 30 cm X 30 cm

Serial Port Serial Port 30 cm X 18 cm 30 cm X 18 cm

Sensor Inputs Microcontroller 10 cm X 10 cm -10-