Problem Statement:
Throughout the world today, many people use paper currency. This money travels all around the world to many different people and often get immensely worn out while in circulation. People with jobs such as waiting or bussing tables, where the pay is predominately in paper currency, experience this problem on a daily basis. The pile of currency gets disorderly and in some situations, become inoperable in machines such as vending machines or ATMs.
Sources:
1. We found a post pertaining to the problem of worn out money. The author of the post talked about the problem others shared there solution techniques. These techniques included folding, heating, and wetting dollar bills.
"LPT Request: How to Make a Vending Machine Take a Dull Dollar Bill • /r/LifeProTips." Reddit. Amiaheroyet, 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
2.In this article talked about the various reasons Vending Machines wont accept your dollar sometimes. The main reason was due to the condition of the dollar being wrinkled and worn out.
"What Are Some of the Reasons a Vending Machine Will Reject a Dollar Bill? Frequently Asked in." What Are Some of the Reasons a Vending Machine Will Reject a Dollar Bill? Scott Parker, 28 Jan. 2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
3. This final source is a news article. This article writes about the problem of vending machines not accepting dollar bills.
"Why Won't That Vending Machine Take My Crumbled-but-genuine Dollar?" News.google.com. Skip Wollenberg, 30 May 1999. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
"LPT Request: How to Make a Vending Machine Take a Dull Dollar Bill • /r/LifeProTips." Reddit. Amiaheroyet, 2013. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
2.In this article talked about the various reasons Vending Machines wont accept your dollar sometimes. The main reason was due to the condition of the dollar being wrinkled and worn out.
"What Are Some of the Reasons a Vending Machine Will Reject a Dollar Bill? Frequently Asked in." What Are Some of the Reasons a Vending Machine Will Reject a Dollar Bill? Scott Parker, 28 Jan. 2011. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.
3. This final source is a news article. This article writes about the problem of vending machines not accepting dollar bills.
"Why Won't That Vending Machine Take My Crumbled-but-genuine Dollar?" News.google.com. Skip Wollenberg, 30 May 1999. Web. 14 Oct. 2015.
Public Survey:
Survey Results:
Summary of Part A:
Part A was focused on the justification and identification of a problem. We listed possible everyday problems that we could try to solve. Then we ultimately decided on a single problem to focus on. Then we researched the problem we selected to find out what other people's experiences were with the problem and if there were any other solutions to the problem.We successfully completed all these tasks at this point and are going to use the results from the survey to find a target consumer.
PART B: DOCUMENTATION AND ANALYSIS OF PRIOR SOLUTION ATTEMPTS
We researched patents which related to our problem and had been previously filed and then documented them in a template.
We researched products on the market that could solve the problem. Below are some produces that can solve our money crumpling problem.
This link provided is a solution using a hair straightener which can be found on the market. It can be used to manually straiten a dollar bill by constantly moving the bills through the heated irons. We are going to incorporate this solution with our product by using heat to "straighten" the money.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/14978527?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227000555761&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=40843019552&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=78656549552&veh=sem
This link provided is a solution using a hair straightener which can be found on the market. It can be used to manually straiten a dollar bill by constantly moving the bills through the heated irons. We are going to incorporate this solution with our product by using heat to "straighten" the money.
http://www.walmart.com/ip/14978527?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227000555761&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=40843019552&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=78656549552&veh=sem
Here is another product. An iron can be used for flattening dollar bills with heat also. The iron is rubbed on top of the dollar bill and heated. This flattens the dollar bill. Like the hair straightener the iron uses heat to flatten items. We are going to use heat in our product to flatten the money.
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/proctor-silex-nonstick-iron/1017004972?skuId=17004972&mcid=PS_googlepla_nonbrand_cleaning_&adpos=1o1&creative=43742655709&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=Cj0KEQiAsNyxBRDBuKrMhsbt3vwBEiQAdRgPsm2fmkeY-VzBdpW3GDvK1S_fxlP52Q4e1VE8ytOylMkaAres8P8HAQ
http://www.bedbathandbeyond.com/store/product/proctor-silex-nonstick-iron/1017004972?skuId=17004972&mcid=PS_googlepla_nonbrand_cleaning_&adpos=1o1&creative=43742655709&device=c&matchtype=&network=g&gclid=Cj0KEQiAsNyxBRDBuKrMhsbt3vwBEiQAdRgPsm2fmkeY-VzBdpW3GDvK1S_fxlP52Q4e1VE8ytOylMkaAres8P8HAQ
This roller pin can be used to forcefully straiten a dollar bill by Applying pressure and rolling the pin on top of the dollar. We are combining all three of these flattening techniques in our product. We are going to use the combined power of pressure from rollers and heat to crisp the money that goes through our product.
http://www.dickblick.com/products/rolling-pins/?clickTracking=true&wmcp=pla&wmcid=items&wmckw=30345-1006&gclid=Cj0KEQiAsNyxBRDBuKrMhsbt3vwBEiQAdRgPsuVE52Q3D973sp2pYVgGgScqxesPx0KTvvMz1_7B4BsaAvXY8P8HAQ
http://www.dickblick.com/products/rolling-pins/?clickTracking=true&wmcp=pla&wmcid=items&wmckw=30345-1006&gclid=Cj0KEQiAsNyxBRDBuKrMhsbt3vwBEiQAdRgPsuVE52Q3D973sp2pYVgGgScqxesPx0KTvvMz1_7B4BsaAvXY8P8HAQ
Our product is designed towards individuals and/or companies who are often in possession of paper currency and consider it a problem when said currency is wrinkled and tattered. According to a survey, released by our design team during the fall of 2015, of 200 individuals located within Worcester County, Maryland, 62.5% of those individuals surveyed were paid in paper currency, with 97.5% using it in some regard during their daily life. The survey also conveyed that 88% of the individuals found that wrinkled currency proved to be problematic at one point in time. Based on the results of the survey, our design idea seemed to be one that would receive a large amount of support, given an 84.5% approval rating of designing and constructing a product which would solve the problem we are researching.
PART C: PRESENTATION AND JUSTIFICATION OF SOLUTION DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
PART D: DESIGN CONCEPT GENERATION, ANALYSIS, AND SELECTION.
We each drew 3 designs for our invention. Many of the designs we very similar since we all came up with the idea.
Nik's designs: #1 -This concept is very similar to a curling iron used to straighten hair, though on a smaller scale. When the bill is inserted between the two irons and pulled in & out, the combination of applied pressure, pulling of the bill between the irons, and heat flatten the dollar bill. #2 - This concept is a heated conveyor belt which flattens the dollar bill when inserted with a combination of heat & the pressure applied between the two conveyor belts.. #3 This concept is a wallet which is engineered to decompress the dollar bill pneumatically when closed.
Jake's designs: #1 Uses two rollers placed on top of each other to compress the wrinkled bill. - #2 - A Flattening device made of two heated conveyor belts. #3 Wallet which contains 2 heated magnetic strips that come together to flatten the bill.
Luke's designs: #1 - Two heated rollers, heated by electricity, which turn in opposite directions move the dollar bill through the apparatus and flatten it in the process. #2 - his wallet consists of heat pads located within the walls of the wallet which, when closed, iron out the dollar bill, flattening it. #3 This wallet closes by means of pneumatic compression, sucking all of the air out of the wallet and flattening the bill in the process.
This decision matrix below was used to decide what idea we would use to solve our wrinkled money problem
PART E
A major concept in our product, we needed to know how to heat the belt. We researched around the web and fond electrical resistant heating. This was using resistance in an electrical circuit to produce heat through electrical resistance. The friction of electrons causes heat inside a component such as a resistor and produces heat.
http://electrical-engineering-portal.com/resistive-heating-explained-in-details
For our product we needed a heater, motor, conductive belt, and mechanical parts. We planned on acquiring a straightening iron and removing the heated iron to use as the heating mechanism. The motor would be a stepper motor controlled by an Arduino. This would allow us to control the speed of the belt, as well as the temperature of the iron, by programming the micro controller board. A roller from a printer and heat conductive linen would be used for the conductive belt. In final, we planned to either 3D print our parts(plastic) from a school-provided 3D printer or use a plasma cutter should we choose to use metal parts. All this would be incorporated into our design.
We originally bought a electrical heat pad from www.adafruit.com to use in the "CrispMoney" product. We then tested the pad by applying a 9V battery to the two terminals of the pad. After several minutes, the pad did not heat up. We then cut the pad in half and tried again. This was no more successful than the initial trial. We tested the pad with a multi meter to test the connection before both trials, showing us that circuit was closed and everything seemed properly connected. We also referred to the data sheet provided below from the website of the company who created the electric pad. Ultimately, we had no luck with the pad and as a result had to resort to finding a different method to create heat for our product.
http://electrical-engineering-portal.com/resistive-heating-explained-in-details
For our product we needed a heater, motor, conductive belt, and mechanical parts. We planned on acquiring a straightening iron and removing the heated iron to use as the heating mechanism. The motor would be a stepper motor controlled by an Arduino. This would allow us to control the speed of the belt, as well as the temperature of the iron, by programming the micro controller board. A roller from a printer and heat conductive linen would be used for the conductive belt. In final, we planned to either 3D print our parts(plastic) from a school-provided 3D printer or use a plasma cutter should we choose to use metal parts. All this would be incorporated into our design.
We originally bought a electrical heat pad from www.adafruit.com to use in the "CrispMoney" product. We then tested the pad by applying a 9V battery to the two terminals of the pad. After several minutes, the pad did not heat up. We then cut the pad in half and tried again. This was no more successful than the initial trial. We tested the pad with a multi meter to test the connection before both trials, showing us that circuit was closed and everything seemed properly connected. We also referred to the data sheet provided below from the website of the company who created the electric pad. Ultimately, we had no luck with the pad and as a result had to resort to finding a different method to create heat for our product.
For how we were going to control the motor, we decided to use a stepper motor controlled by Arduino (a programmable microcontroller). A stepper motor can be controlled turning it by a series of steps to rotate at a certain speed or position. The Arduino is programmed to change steps at specific speeds to control the speed of the motor. As for the arduino, It can be programed with buttons of sensors for even more control of the machine.
PART F
(Product viability-refer to activity F1.1)
Loads: Our product deals with a small amount of static load. The load that is handled by the motor consists of the roller's and dollar bill's friction. The load of the roller moves the same direction of the motor's rotation. The dollar bill's load moves lunar toward the direction of where the exit is for the bill.
Materials: The material used on our design involve plastic and metal. The plastic contains the electrical circuits. This protects from shorted circuits. The metal contains the heater and heated parts. This protects from melting the plastic and electrical components.
Mechanical Engineering: The design requires the heat from the heater and the mechanical rotation of the motor. The heat is required to heat the inputted paper money. As for the motor, it needs to rotate the load of the roller and the friction of the money.
Energy: The product requires an outlet of 120V to power the electronics. The voltage is converted into a desired and usable voltage and current through the circuit. The circuit delivers roughly 50V to the heater.
Chemical/Bio Engineering: Our products electrical energy into heat. A potentiometer is used to control the voltage delivered to the heater. for example 50V is converted into 450F. This is the max heat the circuit allows.
Electrical Engineering: The design contains various electronics and components. This includes, an electrical heater, voltage control circuit board, a 120V input plug, a SPDT switch(on/off switch), and a potentiometer to control the heat.
Product lifecycle flowchart and matrix - refer to activity a.2.2 - a2.5
Loads: Our product deals with a small amount of static load. The load that is handled by the motor consists of the roller's and dollar bill's friction. The load of the roller moves the same direction of the motor's rotation. The dollar bill's load moves lunar toward the direction of where the exit is for the bill.
Materials: The material used on our design involve plastic and metal. The plastic contains the electrical circuits. This protects from shorted circuits. The metal contains the heater and heated parts. This protects from melting the plastic and electrical components.
Mechanical Engineering: The design requires the heat from the heater and the mechanical rotation of the motor. The heat is required to heat the inputted paper money. As for the motor, it needs to rotate the load of the roller and the friction of the money.
Energy: The product requires an outlet of 120V to power the electronics. The voltage is converted into a desired and usable voltage and current through the circuit. The circuit delivers roughly 50V to the heater.
Chemical/Bio Engineering: Our products electrical energy into heat. A potentiometer is used to control the voltage delivered to the heater. for example 50V is converted into 450F. This is the max heat the circuit allows.
Electrical Engineering: The design contains various electronics and components. This includes, an electrical heater, voltage control circuit board, a 120V input plug, a SPDT switch(on/off switch), and a potentiometer to control the heat.
Product lifecycle flowchart and matrix - refer to activity a.2.2 - a2.5
The purpose of this part of the project was to determine whether or not we had done enough research to be able to produce this product. It was also used to decide whether or not it is ethical for us to continue to work on producing this product from an environmental prospective. Luckily for our design group, we had the knowledge that we needed to continue and also found that our product did not produce any hazardous materials.
PART G
Materials List:
Heated iron
Heated iron
circuit board
Stepper motor
Arduino Uno Board
Outlet to power jack plug
Roller 3D printed case
Wooden outer casing
Documentation of Building Process-
PART H
The link below claims to have tested different plate materials to discovered which produced the straightest hair. This gave me some ideas to test our prototype. The plastic melting on the prototype has been a big concern. I plan to test the relation ship between distance and temp at which the plastic melts. This would give us an idea of how far the plastic should be from the heater if possible. I also plan to test at which set temp. is the most effective.
http://hair-straighteners-review.toptenreviews.com/#results
We fond that the heater warped the plastic and melted the glue holding it in place. We decided to use wood to encase the heater and plastic to encase the electronics. We also used "Ultra Black" to glue the heater to a holder.
unfortunately we had some technical difficulty with the roller getting stuck against the heater, which jammed and broke the motor. We had to order another motor and had no time for any real market testing.
http://hair-straighteners-review.toptenreviews.com/#results
We fond that the heater warped the plastic and melted the glue holding it in place. We decided to use wood to encase the heater and plastic to encase the electronics. We also used "Ultra Black" to glue the heater to a holder.
unfortunately we had some technical difficulty with the roller getting stuck against the heater, which jammed and broke the motor. We had to order another motor and had no time for any real market testing.
PART I
Our product's roller was the most crucial part of our design. We had to carry out a couple of tests to get it to work properly. The first test below was based on the length of the bristles of the roller. We had to power the motor and see if the roller's bristles were too long. This caused the roller to get stuck against the heater bed and break the motor if running for too long. So we kept powering the motor and cutting the bristles down to even lengths until the roller rolled smoothly against the heater.
The second test was based on the speed of the roller toward the effectiveness of the newly crisp money. If the roller was too fast it would of taken multiple trials to crisp the money effectively. If it was too slow then it would start to smell and the concern toward a fire hazard would become an issue. So to test this we fed a crinkled dollar of equal crinkles through the machine at varying speeds and recorded the time it took the money to feed through and rating of crispness. At the end we compiled our data and choice the best setting as followed below.
After completing our tests we decided to change the bristles's length to 1.5 cm. We also changed the Motor's speed to 0.2 rpm.
These tests were an essential part of our engineering processes toward our product. They gave us the data we need to make necessary changes to the product. After these changes were made, our product was functional at max proficiency (more or less).
The second test was based on the speed of the roller toward the effectiveness of the newly crisp money. If the roller was too fast it would of taken multiple trials to crisp the money effectively. If it was too slow then it would start to smell and the concern toward a fire hazard would become an issue. So to test this we fed a crinkled dollar of equal crinkles through the machine at varying speeds and recorded the time it took the money to feed through and rating of crispness. At the end we compiled our data and choice the best setting as followed below.
After completing our tests we decided to change the bristles's length to 1.5 cm. We also changed the Motor's speed to 0.2 rpm.
These tests were an essential part of our engineering processes toward our product. They gave us the data we need to make necessary changes to the product. After these changes were made, our product was functional at max proficiency (more or less).
PART J
CUSTOMER SATISFACTORY SURVAY
(1 = below satisfactory, 5 = above satisfactory)
How would you rate your experience with our product?
How many times did you have to insert a single bill until it was crisp?
How would you rate ease of use with our product?
How would you rate the mobility size of our product?
How would you rate the quality of our product?
Additional Comments below
Dear Teachers, Parents, and Supporters,
Our design team would like to personally thank all of the individuals who assisted us during our design and production of the “Crisp Money” machine. We would like to give special recognition to Mr. Stevens, Mr. Stough, Mr. Asbell, Mr. Timmons and, of course, Mrs. Harlan and Mrs. Zienty. We appreciate all that you have done for us throughout this entire journey and without your presence, we would not have gotten this far with both this product and in life.
With immense gratitude,
Nik Johnson
Luke Schofield
Jake Blosveren
(1 = below satisfactory, 5 = above satisfactory)
How would you rate your experience with our product?
How many times did you have to insert a single bill until it was crisp?
How would you rate ease of use with our product?
How would you rate the mobility size of our product?
How would you rate the quality of our product?
Additional Comments below
Dear Teachers, Parents, and Supporters,
Our design team would like to personally thank all of the individuals who assisted us during our design and production of the “Crisp Money” machine. We would like to give special recognition to Mr. Stevens, Mr. Stough, Mr. Asbell, Mr. Timmons and, of course, Mrs. Harlan and Mrs. Zienty. We appreciate all that you have done for us throughout this entire journey and without your presence, we would not have gotten this far with both this product and in life.
With immense gratitude,
Nik Johnson
Luke Schofield
Jake Blosveren
PART K
Jake Reflection- This was one of the best years I have had in engineering class. We got to apply what we had learned the last 3 years and create an invention of our own. The process was really cool to slowly watch my teams invention come together and successfully work. If I had more time to work on the project I would have put more work into making the invention better quality. This was a good life experience and really taught me some things about team work and time management.
Reflection- The overall process of designing and building our product was an incredibly exciting and a real hands-on experience with the design process we'd been learning about the previous 3 years enrolled in Pre-Engineering. While we encountered a numerous amount of trials and tribulations during the process, we were able to fight our way through; often learning a thing or two. Working on this project with Luke and Jake really brought me closer to them and improved my team-working skills dramatically. If I could have a second shot at this opportunity, I would probably have omitted the massive amounts of procrastination we employed during the process.
Luke's Reflection- I had a great time going through the design process and building our money crisper. This project gave me insight on how a real product is designed. This project has also helped me work with teams and presentation skills. If I experience another design process again, I will have a much better idea of how to come about it. As recommendations go, I would organize the Weebly differently so if the product is changed it would not effect the sections written before.
Reflection- The overall process of designing and building our product was an incredibly exciting and a real hands-on experience with the design process we'd been learning about the previous 3 years enrolled in Pre-Engineering. While we encountered a numerous amount of trials and tribulations during the process, we were able to fight our way through; often learning a thing or two. Working on this project with Luke and Jake really brought me closer to them and improved my team-working skills dramatically. If I could have a second shot at this opportunity, I would probably have omitted the massive amounts of procrastination we employed during the process.
Luke's Reflection- I had a great time going through the design process and building our money crisper. This project gave me insight on how a real product is designed. This project has also helped me work with teams and presentation skills. If I experience another design process again, I will have a much better idea of how to come about it. As recommendations go, I would organize the Weebly differently so if the product is changed it would not effect the sections written before.