NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF SINGAPORE

AY 2014/2015 (SEMESTER 1)

LOG BOOK
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ME3101: MECHANICAL SYSTEM DESIGN










NAMES: LIU XIN CHENG (A0094751Y)


GROUP Group 1
SUBMITTED TO MR. SERGEI MANZHOS
SUBMISSION DATE 28 AUGUST 2014
Idea generation:
In the first meet up, our team has focused on the theme of
recycling material. One of the idea come up is some third
world countries use aluminum cans to exchange for bus
ticket. We feel that it is a great idea to implement this
system in Singapore. The idea is very relevant to the topic
of sustainable product design. It not only ease the burden
of increasing travel cost, it also gives incentives for people
to do recycling.
Another idea that we have discussed is a machine that turn
plastic bottle into strings, this is another idea that help to turn
recycling material into useful product.
Another idea is a food container that can fold into a handle, this
eliminate the need for a plastic bag.

Idea analysis:
Our discussion focus on the idea of recycling
machine and plastic string machine.
For the recycling machine, we want to store a large
amount of recycling material in the machine. Hence,
we discussed the way to compress the bottles and
cans. Aluminum cans can be easily compressed by
pressing vertically. However, compress a plastic
bottle is more difficult. We discussed about cutting the top and bottom of the bottle and
compress the centre part horizontally. The limitation can be more mechanical parts required
due to the cutting.
In comparison, the recycling machine can be catered to wider audience as
any people using plastic bottle will be willing to convert the bottle to
money. For plastic string machine, not many people uses string in their
daily lives. Some of use of the strings can be tying luggage at airport or
weave in to bag (e.g. shopping bags in IKEA). However, the usage is
relatively limited. The limited usage make idea 1 a better choice.
However, the recycling machine can be more costly as it contain different components, such as
component to crush bottle crusher, a bottle detector and machine to give credit. Hence, we
need to carefully plan the budget. Whereas for plastic string machine, it is a much simpler
machine and can cost less money. Furthermore, we also need to consider the cost of electricity
and whether company will get profit by providing these machines.
For plastic strings, it is hard to know whether other people will use them as all the strings come
from different plastic bottles. They may have different dimension (thickness) and strength.
Hence, we feel that recycling machine is a better idea as it gives incentives for people to do
recycling and help to ease the increase in transport fare.
However, further research need to be done to check feasibility of the idea. Firstly, we need to
check the price of each recycling bottle and can. This help us to estimate how much credit can
be given to the commuter. Secondly, how will the credit be given to the commuter? Does the
machine need to link to the bank account of the recycling company? How recycling company
process the recycled bottles and cans.

Recycling situation in Singapore:

In Singapore, 803,400 tons of plastic waste was generated in 2012 and the recycling rate is only
10%.

Type of plastic


1. PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) Used for water bottles, soft drink and cooking oil bottles,
and meal trays.
2. HDPE (High density polyethylene) Used for milk and detergent bottles.

3. PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) Used for plastic pipes, food trays, shrink wrap, and bottles.

4. LDPE (Low density polyethylene) Used for plastic bags and bin liners.

5. PP (Polypropylene) Used for bottle caps, margarine tubs, and meal trays.

6. PS (Polystyrene) Used for food containers, egg cartons, vending cups, plastic cutlery, and
protective packaging for electronic goods.

7. OTHER Includes any other plastic that does not fall into the above categories.

For our project, we will be focusing on water bottles which is made of PET (Polyethylene
terephthalate)







Recycling process

1. Sorting of different plastic: sorting is mainly done automatically with a manual sort to ensure
all contaminates have been removed












2. Washing of waste plastic

3. Shredding plastics to small pieces













4. Melting and extrude into pellet










As we can see from the picture, recycling plastic is not really a difficult process. As long as
people are willing to do recycling, more plastic can recycled by the company.
Research on bottle crushing method:



















There are different method of crushing a water bottles. A bottle crusher can be simple to make.
However, the size of the crushed bottle remain relatively large. The bottle grinder can grind
bottles into small plastic pieces. However, the machine is extremely expensive.

Similar machine
Through research on the internet, some country already have similar machines that can recycle
bottles and cans. Hence, our group discussed various ways that we can improve on the existing
machine.
Some of the problem with the existing machine can be long waiting time for credit to be
awarded, difficult for machine to read bar code on the bottle and require 3G signal to give credit.














Identification of plastic bottles

According to articles on the internet, existing bottle recycling machine uses bar code to identify
bottles. This is troublesome as some bottle may not have the label attached. Therefore, a better
way can be implemented to identify the plastic bottles. One of the idea our group think of is a
weight checking device. This device will have a small range of weight limit. Anything that is
outside the range will be rejected by the machine. 2 types of weighing machine will be
researched: spring weighing machine and electronic weighing machine.
Research on electronic weighing machine
An electronic weighing machine can have a similar
concept as a checkweigher, which is used in checking
the weight of packaged commodities. It is normally
found at the offgoing end of a production process and
is used to ensure that the weight of a pack of the
commodity is within specified limits. Any packs that are
outside the tolerance are taken out of line
automatically.

Component of an electronic weighing machine
The main component of the
electronic weighing machine is a
strain gauge load cell. It measures
the change in strain of material
due to deformation. An electric
signal will be given as output.
However, the output signals are usually very small and require an amplifier.

As our recycling machine only accept object within certain weight, the outputs from the
amplifier need to be programmed to control switches if they fall between certain ranges. One
device that can be used is called Arduino which is a microcontroller board. It can sense the
environment by receiving inputs from many sensors, and affects its surroundings by controlling
lights, motors, and other actuators.
It can be programmed using different code. For example, Calibration can be used to define a
maximum and minimum for expected analog sensor values. The output can be connected to a
gate which drops the bottle into a collection can.

An example of the actual setup

Strain gauge
load cell
Operational
amplifier
Logic relay
Alternatives
There are other options to measure weight, such as a spring scale. The advantage of using a
spring scale is that it is relatively cheaper than the strain gauge. However, strain gauge is able to
give a more accurate reading. Since water bottles are relatively light, a more accurate reading is
required. Hence, the strain gauge is preferred.
Potential problems
Both the strain gauge and the microcontroller board are relatively expensive, careful budget
planning is needed to keep the project below the given budget. Moreover, we have limited
knowledge in programming. Hence we may need some help in operating the microcontroller
board.
Initial idea on coin dispenser
A similar concept can be used where coins fall into a
hole and been pulled out one by one. A motor need to
be attached to the side to make it automatic.






Initial idea on weighing device

Front view




Side view


A drawer that can
slide both ways to
either guide the bottle
into collection bin or
reject the bottle
Strain gauge
load cell
Opening for
inserting bottle
To collection
bin
To rejection
chute
A motor will be
connected to the
drawer to control
the direction of
the drawer
Weight of a PET plastic bottle
As from the picture, there is a slight variation in weight between sparkling drink bottle and still
water bottle. The range is from 18g to 20.7g. Moreover, the average weight of bottle has been
constantly decreasing over the year, most likely due to improvement in the material used.
In order to accommodate the decrease in the plastic bottle weight, the strain gauge need to be
constantly adjusted so that all the bottle fall within the allowable weight range.