EE 579: Wireless and Mobile Networks Design & Laboratory ...
Using Wireless Technology to Create Simple Laboratory Tools
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Transcript of Using Wireless Technology to Create Simple Laboratory Tools
Using Wireless Technology to Create
Simple Laboratory Tools: A Case-Study
of Honours Research
Dr. Shane CoxInstrument Works Pty Ltd
Lloyd Lian, Prof. Greg Leslie, Joel Tan UNESCO Centre for Membrane Science & TechnologyUNSW Australia
Introduction
• Mobile technology has progressively become more visible within higher education
• But seems to be lagging when it comes to research
• It presents as a cost-effective and portable option that can increase the efficiency of research
• Today are presenting a case study has investigated the use of a tablet-based process control software platform connected to wireless sensors
• Sydney based startup company
• Ex-researchers – building better tools for engineers and researcher
• Developing a range of wireless sensors for data collection and process control
Why is doing research slow?
• It can take up to 6 months to design and build experimental apparatus before they are ready to use
• Experiments are becoming more complex - meaning more sensors and more data
• Researchers aren’t able to manage all of these resources
• This substantially reduces the amount of research they generate and also affects its quality.
What do researchers say?
• Conducted a survey of 45 engineering researchers• Predominantly PhD and Honours Students
Build my own equipment
Adapt from existing equipment
Outsource building of my equipment< 1 month
< 3 months
< 6 months
> 6 months
How long to get data
HonoursPhD
What do researchers say?
PhD
MatlabLabviewProprietary for HardwareNone
Honours
MatlabLabviewProprietary for HardwareNone
What control system / DAQ system do you use?
PhD Vs Honours
PhD
• 3+ years to complete their research
• Have the time to invest in setting up their experiments
• Longer experiments makes manual collect infeasible
• More experienced researchers
Honours
• 10-14 weeks to complete their research
• Experiments are simpler, and have less sensors.
• Shorter experiments make manual collection possible
• Usually their first introduction to research
A Different Approach
• Common device most people already have.
• Familiar user interface that require little or no training.
• Ability to collect many types of data in one place.
• Wireless technology makes connection simple
Honours Case Study
• Project investigated the use of vacuum membrane distillation as an alternative method to recover solvents from shipping industry waste water which is currently treated through incineration.
• This projects was suited to a trial as it required• Experiments were only short term
• Required to be setup in a fume cupboard due to the volatile components making a traditional wired system problematic
• Needed to collect data from a number of sensors at once.
Honours Case Study
Honours Case Study
• Data acquisition up and running in less than an hour.
• Data recorded at regular intervals during experiment.
• Alarms were used to ensure setpointswere maintained.
• Exports as a CSV file, ready for data analysis
Outcomes
• Shorter learning curve than existing tool such as Labview
• Reduced chance of transcription errors introduced with manual data collection
• Reduced setup complexity through a lack of wiring and connection decreasing the opportunity for problems and errors
• Provided a unified collection tool for the current project.