Wireless Instrumented Curling Broom Phase III: Final Design Report
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Date
2020-12-09
Authors
Pigeau, Sean
Piper, Reid
Popple, Jackson
Whyte, Brittany
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Abstract
Curling Canada has requested the design of a wireless instrumented curling broom to help coaches better understand the effectiveness of a curler when sweeping. The team of engineering students is tasked with designing a curling broom to record and transmit useful performance data wirelessly to a mobile device or computer. The goal of this project is to design a device that accurately measures the desired performance data which will eventually help coaches and curlers perform at a higher level while curling. This Final Design Report (FDR) contains a summary of the project background, objectives, customer needs, project constraints, and metrics. The main client needs include accurate measurement of both the force applied on the ice and the sweeping frequency, ability to differentiate between the push and the pull stroke, and ability to output the collected data wirelessly to a device to be viewed. Next, an overview is provided of the functional decomposition and synthesis approach taken during the concept generation and selection phase of the project. The final design is comprised of an Arduino Nano 33 BLE microcontroller with a built-in inertial measurement unit and Bluetooth capabilities alongside a Michigan Scientific Model TR3D-B-1K 3-axis load cell to meet required client needs. The final device may be broken down into two groups: the electronics package and the load cell package. The electronics package is secured to the broom handle by a clamp and is self contained in a plastic shell that contains the microcontroller, three HX711 load cell amplifiers, a LARGE low temperature 18650 battery and battery shield. The load cell package is made up of an upper and lower adaptor, allowing the load cell to be mounted inline between the broom head and the broom handle. The load cell is secured between the adaptors and plugged into the electronics package by a 12 pin connector. The final design meets or exceeds all metrics required by Curling Canada, with a total cost and weight of $2,866.64 and 247 grams, respectively. Further recommendations are provided to aid in the continuation of the project. These include recommendations for the manufacturing of the design, app development, device testing and device feedback.
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Mechanical Engineering