On the RS Components stand at Electra Mining this year, a student engineer from UCT, Kai Goodall, showcased a series of innovative, socially responsible and award-winning RS-Sponsored student projects. MechChem Africa takes a look.
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“I went to high school in Cape Town before going to UCT to complete a BSc in Mechatronics, which is a combination of electrical engineering and robotics. What you see here today is my final year honours project,” says student engineer, Kai Goodall, pointing to a self-driving solar car. “This vehicle has solar PV panels that automatically align to the sun using simple light sensors (LDRs). The voltage either side of a divider is compared, and the panel moves to minimise the difference,” he explains.
Two servo motors are used to align the PV panels, with a microprocessor-based feedback loop continuously repositioning the panels to best track the sun. “It works pretty well,” he adds.
“The core purpose of this project is educational, the idea being to take the model to different high schools in the Cape Flats of Cape Town to encourage high school learners to do engineering,” he tells MechChem Africa. “The project highlights my love of social innovation, sustainability and renewable energy. I want to demonstrate the use of renewable energy technologies to young learners to steer them towards a cleaner energy future,” says Goodall.
For this project, Kai Goodall was nominated by UCT to enter the South African Institute of Electrical Engineers’ (SAIEE) national student project competition in 2019: and he won the award for the best honours project in South Africa, both for the technology involved and for the educational impact it could have in Africa.
The project that really kick-started Goodall on his RS Components-sponsored development path was The Washing Machine Project, a global initiative with the vision of bringing together innovation, research and development to solve some of the world’s most pressing humanitarian and development challenges. “This is my Pedal ‘n Spin foot-cranked washing machine innovation,” says Goodall, pointing to a photo of a woman sitting at a pedal-driven washing drum. “The project was entered into the RS Components People.Planet.Product student design challenge in partnership with The Washing Machine Project and won an international award for social impact.”
“The Washing Machine Project’s Divya washing machine had already been developed to help low income and displaced communities around the world who were burdened with the gruelling task of hand washing their clothing. But the Divya machine has to be hand-cranked and the women have to be standing up to use it,” Goodall says.
“So the competition invited student innovations from universities around the world to improve the design, to make it more sustainable and user friendly. What I did was to convert the drive system from a hand-crank system to a foot-pedal driven system, which can be operated while seated,” he explains adding that the mechanical design of the Pedal ‘n Spin was modelled in 3D using RS DesignSpark Mechanical software.
In addition, Kai Goodall contacted a sustainable woodworking company with a core sustainability ethos, Forest Creations in Cape Town, who believe in upcycling existing wood instead of cutting down more trees, along with using recycled metal and other materials wherever possible. “Using Forest Creations enables this new washing machine to have a sustainable lifecycle. It is also very reliable and easy to repair, since only simple crank and push rods have been used,” Goodall points out.
During the product testing phase, Kai Goodall observed a mother nursing her new-born child while doing her washing. “Using foot pedals frees up the user's hands to do other tasks, all while seated comfortably. At the moment I am using the prize money I received from the competition to develop and donate new, improved versions to townships for field testing. I am also doing scientific cleaning tests to compare the machine to hand washing and using electric washing machines, from a cleaning and sustainability perspective,” he adds.
He says his new washing machine can be used by anyone who wants an off grid washing solution: for sustainability, for use during load shedding, or for those without electricity or wanting to get completely off the grid whilst increasing their fitness levels. “It avoids the high costs associated with buying and running electric washing machines, he adds.
Another Kai Goodall innovation highlighted on the RS Stand of Electra Mining was a multi-tool to help people open taps or doors. “My grandmother, for example, has arthritis and she finds it difficult to open taps and doors, so she always has to wait for someone to help her. I designed a multi-tool and manufactured it from PLA, a biodegradable plant-based plastic, using 3D printing technology. The tool can latch onto 10 different types of tap and door handles, giving people the leverage they need to open them easily,” he explains.
“It was really neat project because of its social impact. We have donated 2 000 to families living in Khayelitsha and surrounding townships on the Cape Flats. Because many families there share taps, the multi-tool can also help stop the spread of Covid-19 via shared surfaces. As well as the social and hygiene benefits, the product is sustainable through the choice of the PLA material,” he says.
Goodall goes on to present his currently ongoing UCT Master's project. “I am in the final year of a two-year Masters. The project is a new and improved version of my solar car, which incorporates autonomous self-driving capabilities,” he reveals.
As well as better solar tracking abilities, the vehicle has a sophisticated battery management system (BMS) to get the best out the 15 V, 30 Ah battery. It has controllers for the two brushless DC motors and 3D printed gears and bolts that can accommodate very high torque. The system was designed using 3D software.
To achieve autonomous self-driving capabilities, artificial intelligence and a computer vision system with cameras are being used: “An AI enabled processor communicates with all the peripherals using the cameras as inputs. Intelligent systems need to, sense, think and act. The sensing comes from the sensors, such as cameras; the thinking is done by the microcontroller and its software algorithms, which generate the instructions for the actuators: the wheel or steering motors, for example, to act.”
“I am also incorporating machine learning for lane detection, for example. Once typical speed and steering angle data has been collected from driving the vehicle under remote control through different lane configurations, this data will be fed back into a convolutional neural network (CNN) for behavioural cloning. With time, this enables the car to ‘train itself’ to be able to drive around different tracks autonomously,” Goodall explains.
He shows evidence of the outreach aspect of his MSc project, via photos of high school learners from Mitchells Plain on a visit to UCT with Kai Goodall presenting the different design aspects of his new car: the advanced solar PV and microprocessor control technologies and the state-of-the art self-driving capabilities.
Brian Andrew, managing director for RS in South Africa says the company is passionate about young engineers and inspiring them to find practical solutions to solve the many challenges communities in South Africa face. Through our education initiatives we’ve been able to be a sponsor and supporter of Kai Goodall’s projects.
“Our global partnership with The Washing Machine Project is a key focus when it comes to our commitment to providing sustainable solutions for a better world. Globally, RS has achieved a lot in the first year with regards to the project.
“From an RS South Africa perspective, Kai Goodall from UCT has flown the flag high. We want to thank everyone who has so willingly supported this initiative, and we are continuing to work together to improve the lives of many more people around the world,” Andrew concludes.
