Robofish Charging Station (RCS) Test Plan

Team P17250 10/26/2016 Rev A Robofish Charging Station (RCS) Test Plan 1

Table of Contents 1. Objectives 2. Test Criteria 3. Test Resources 4. Test Procedures 5. Results 6. Conclusions 1. Objectives 1.1. Definitions Robofish : An autonomous underwater robot that utilizes McKibben style muscles to translocate. The project is outlined by the customer requirements of P14029, P15029, P16029, and P16229. Robofish Charging Station (RCS) : A station that harvests and stores solar energy that is capable of automatically docking the Robofish, charging the Robofish, and releasing the Robofish. The project is outlined by the customer requirements of P17250. Docking Sequence : A sequence that begins with the Robofish physically and electrically disconnected from the RCS and ends with the Robofish physically and electrically connected to the RCS. Assuming the Robofish is in position and capable of controlling its buoyancy. Charging Sequence : A sequence during which electrical energy is supplied to and managed to charge the Robofish battery. Full Charge (of Robofish): A full charge is defined as charging the Robofish from 10% capacity to 100% capacity in 90% of the required time (12 hrs). Undocking Sequence : A sequence that begins with the Robofish physically and electrically connected to the RCS and ends with the Robofish physically and electrically disconnected from the RCS. Assuming the Robofish is capable of controlling its buoyancy. 1.2. Purpose This document details the test plan for the Robofish Charging Station. The purpose of this document is threefold. First, necessary test criteria are identified that demonstrate the final design meets the engineering requirements and ultimately the customer 2

requirements. Second, test resources and procedures are specified that provide a means of proving the criteria. Third, test results are recorded based on the execution of those procedures and adherence to the requirements is examined. 1.3. Scope This test plan applies to the finalized design for the Robofish Charging Station and any affixed hardware necessary for it to perform the functions outlined in the customer requirements (see 2.1). The Robofish is not encompassed, with the exception of the battery and the battery management system. The battery and battery management system includes all electronics necessary to provide power to the Robofish up to but not including the 24V Buck converter implemented by team P16229. 2. Test Criteria 2.1. Customer Requirements Table 1: Customer Requirements 2.2. Customer Requirement Completion Criteria CR1: Will be satisfied if ER6 is satisfied and if fish remains attached to the RCS during the Automated Process Test. CR2: Will be satisfied if ER4 is satisfied. 3

CR3: Will be satisfied if ER2 and ER3 and ER4 are satisfied. CR4: Will be satisfied if ER1 is satisfied. CR5: Will be satisfied if ER5 is satisfied. CR6: Will be satisfied if ER9 is satisfied. CR7: Will be satisfied if ER7 and ER8 are satisfied. 2.3. Engineering Requirements Table 2: Engineering Requirements 2.4. Engineering Requirement Completion Criteria ER1: Shall be satisfied through a Depth Test that demonstrates the RCS lies less than 1m below the water s surface and is fully capable of docking the Robofish, charging the Robofish, and releasing the Robofish while at that depth. ER2: Shall be satisfied through a Battery Capacity Test that demonstrates the RCS can store enough energy to charge the Robofish for 3 full charge cycles (see 1.1) in the event that insufficient solar energy is harvested on a given day. 4

ER3: Shall be satisfied through an Energy Delivery Test that demonstrates the charging station provides enough power to fully charge (see 1.1) the Robofish battery in the required time. ER4: Shall be satisfied through an Energy Harvesting Test that demonstrates the RCS is capable of harvesting the required energy by testing the power that is harvested on three different test dates, twice each day. ER5: Shall be satisfied through a Budget Review that demonstrates the cost of the project remained under the funds allotted. The Budget Review will occur outside of this document as it is not a technical requirement. ER6: Shall be satisfied through a Robofish Attachment Strength Test that demonstrates the Robofish remains attached to the RCS when a force is applied to it in the plus and minus directions of three coordinate axes. ER7: Shall be satisfied through a Buoyancy and Stability Test that demonstrates the lower frame of the RCS remains fully above the surface of the water when a load is applied at five selected locations. ER8: Shall be satisfied through a Waterproof Test that demonstrates the RCS electronics enclosure withstands splashes of water, following the waterproof ipx3 standard, and ideally sprays of water, following the waterproof ipx4 standard. ER9: Shall be satisfied through an Automated Process Test that demonstrates the RCS can dock the Robofish, charge the Robofish, and release the Robofish without human interaction. 3. Test Equipment 3.1. Depth Test Table 3: Depth Test Resources Equipment Description Measuring Tape Must have cm markings and be accurate to ±1 cm Body of water Non-salt, less than 1m deep 5

Tape Or another means of marking the bottom of the body of water 3.2. Battery Capacity Test Table 4: Battery Capacity Test Resources Equipment RCS Lead Acid Batteries (4) Flood Lamp Multimeter Description To be tested Used as a cheap high power resistor Include voltmeter and ammeter 3.3. Energy Delivery Test Table 5: Energy Delivery Test Resources Equipment Multimeter Timer/Stopwatch Computer (Excel Document) Robofish (LiPo Battery, LiPo Controller, Connector, Arduino) and RCS (Connector and Lead Acid Battery) Description Include voltmeter and ammeter. Must measure minutes and hours. Record measurements and calculate predicted delivery time. LiPo Battery, LiPo Controller, Connectors, and Lead Acid Battery 3.4. Energy Harvesting Test Table 6: Energy Harvesting Test Resources Equipment Multimeter An outdoor area Description Must read current to 10A and DC voltage to 30V Should have an area the size of the solar panel that has a direct line of sight to the sun (when there are no clouds) 3.5. Robofish Attachment Strength Test Table 7: Robofish Attachment Strength Test Resources 6

Equipment Description Force Gauge/Weights Force Gauge/Weights (5 N, 10 N, 15 N) Robofish Connector RCS Connector Clamp Connector, 3-Pin, Male Connector, 3-Pin, Female Clamp to fix RCS Connector in place 3.6. Buoyancy Test Table 8: Buoyancy Test Resources Equipment Weights Floatation_ASSY Body of Water Description 50 lbs, bar bells recommended Floatation assembly that includes shipping pails and 8020 framework. Non-salt water, pool recommended 3.7. Waterproof Test Table 9: Waterproof Test Resources Equipment Description See IP4 Waterproof Standard - 3.8. Automated Process Test Table 10: Automated Process Test Resources Equipment Waterproof Camera Description Must record video Robofish - 4. Test Procedures 4.1. Depth Test Depth Test Preparation 7

1. Using the measuring tape, measure and record the depth of the body of water from the surface to the bottom in 5 places (see figure 4.1.1). Mark each location on the bottom of the body of the water using tape. If the depth at every point is 1 meter, or less, the test may be performed in this body of water 2. Ensure that the station is fully assembled as it would be for operation. If components are missing, dummy weights may be used at the missing components location that matches the weight of the missing component. Figure 4.1.1: Water depth measurement sites Depth Test Procedure 1. Position the station so that the lowest point of the station is centered over depth measurement point 5 2. Position the fish in docking position and perform one docking sequence, one charging sequence, and one undocking sequence. 3. If the station is capable of performing these sequences the test is passed. *See section 1.1 for sequence descriptions 8

4.2. Battery Capacity Test Figure 4.1.2: RCS test position Battery Capacity Test Preparation 1. Charge batteries using solar panels on RCS Battery Capacity Test Procedure 1. Measure Open Circuit Voltage of battery at full charge 2. Attach 12v 40w flood lamp and let battery discharge through it for 5 hours 3. Every hour, disconnect lamp, measure open circuit voltage, and reconnect lamp 4. After 5 hours or battery voltage reaches 11v, mark down time spent discharging. The battery capacity is 3.33*hours discharging in Amp hours Figure 4.2: Schematic of Battery Capacity Test Setup 4.3. Energy Delivery Test Energy Delivery Test Preparation 1. Measure and record the initial values of the batteries (see 4.2 Battery Capacity Test). 2. Make sure the lead acid batteries have sufficient charge to supply to the LiPo battery and it s load. 3. Record the values expected of the 90% charged LiPo battery. 9

4. Set up a table for measuring the charging progression for use in a graph. 5. Make sure the lead acid batteries are in parallel. 6. Make sure the lead acid batteries are connected to the female connector port (there are 4 sets, however the connectors can be tested separately, so only one is needed). 7. Choose a location for testing. Ideally, this should be tested in the environment of its final use (aka a calm body of fresh water), but for our purposes, a lab will suffice since the test is limited to the lead acid batteries through to the robofish. Solar panels are tested under section 4.4 Energy Harvesting Test. 8. Set up the robofish for testing: a. NOTE: The robofish should charge with most of the load disconnected, but this is done through internal configurations. Therefore, the robofish must be on. If the robofish attempts to swim while connected to the lead acid batteries, there is an error. b. One option is to hook up the robofish s McKibben style muscles to the gas lines, then turn on. c. Another option is to submerge the robofish and connect the connectors out of the water. i. CAUTION: Do NOT allow the robofish battery or the RCS batteries to get wet! The connectors may get wet, but should not be submerged while connected. Energy Delivery Test Procedure 1. Once the preparations above (4.3.1-4) are complete, attach the connectors. 2. Measure and record the current flow and voltages. 3. Set a timer for one hour. 4. Calculate and record power transfer (Watts per hour) and current wattages. 5. Use this data to predict the time to charge. 6. Wait. Once the timer goes off, repeat steps 2 through 5 until the predicted time to charge is less than the timer time. a. If the results are as predicted, the timer time may be increased. Otherwise, a decrease in timer time may be in order for more accurate results. b. Once the predicted time to charge is less than the timer time, set the timer to allow a 30 minute range of accuracy (+/- 15 minutes). 7. Disconnect the connectors. Graph the data. a. It is good practice to dissipate the charge to 50% for storage, so it is best to not leave any batteries with a full charge, although lead acid batteries will hold a high charge for a long period of time better than a LiPo battery. 10

Figure 4.3: Schematic of Energy Delivery Test Setup 4.4. Energy Harvesting Test Energy Harvesting Test Preparation 1. Set RCS, or solar panel from RCS, flat on the ground so that no portion of it is shaded by buildings, trees, or other objects/structures. Shade from clouds is acceptable. 2. Ensure the positive and negative lead wires on the panel are disconnected from any other wires or batteries. Energy Harvesting Test Procedure 1. Connect the multimeter between the positive and negative lead wires coming off the solar panel. 2. With the multimeter in a DC voltage measurement mode, measure and record the voltage across the leads. 3. With the multimeter in a current measurement mode, measure and record the current across the leads. This step must be completed within 1 minute of completing step 2. 4. Repeat steps 1-3 on five different days, twice each day, for a total of ten data sets. One of the five days must have no visible cloud cover and one of the five days must have visible cloud cover. The two measurements in an individual day must be taken at least 2 hours apart. 11

Figure 4.4.1: Data collection set-up Energy Harvesting Data Analysis Procedure 1. Multiply the measured voltage by the measured current to get the measured power output of the panel at the time those measurements were taken. 2. Multiply the power by an average 11 hours of daylight in a day to determine the amount of power generated each day by each solar panel. 3. Multiply the power harvested each day by the number of solar panels to find the total power harvested each day. 4. On average 148 Wh must be harvested each day based on the battery capacity of the Robofish. The final measurements must all lie within 2 standard deviations of this requirement*. *The station has enough battery capacity to charge the Robofish from zero to full at least 3 times. 4.5. Robofish Attachment Strength Test 1. Fix RCS Connector utilizing clamps 2. Push the Robofish connector into the RCS Connector until the microswitch (in the RCS Connector) is tripped, and the motor actuates 12

3. Robofish and RCS Connectors will undergo normal connection operation, using a motor to turn a screw, that will lock the connectors together. 4. Apply 5 N force utilizing force gauge/weights to the Robofish Connector in the ±X, Y, and Z directions. 5. Record whether or not connection is still maintained after the force is applied. 6. Repeat Steps 4 & 5 using a 10 N force. 7. Repeat Steps 4 & 5 using a 15 N force. 4.6. Buoyancy and Stability Test 1. Place the fully assembled RCS into a body of water 2. Apply 50 lbs of force to the center of the RCS 3. Record whether or not the station can support the applied force without the station platform falling below the water's surface. 4. Repeat steps 2 and 3, except applying the force to all 4 corners of the RCS as shown in fig 4.6.1. The center of mass of the weights must be within a 10 cm radius of each corner. 4.7. Waterproof Test Figure 4.6.1: Buoyancy and Stability test load points 1. Perform test to IP4 waterproof standard 4.8. Automated Process Test Automated Test Procedure* 1. Record steps 2-4 on video to provide evidence of completed test. 2. Position the Robofish so that its front grasper is around the docking pole on the RCS. 13

3. Ensure the Robofish is buoyant and release its grasp on the pole a. Test condition 1 - The Robofish must float up into a docking port without any human intervention and its connector must enter its counterpart on the station for attachment. b. Test condition 2 - The attachment system must automatically make the electrical connection between the Robofish and the RCS. This connection must be confirmed through the monitoring of the 12v loopback pin on the RCS side connector. 4. Press the abort charge button to abort the charging process and release the Robofish. a. Test condition 3 - The attachment mechanism must automatically detach the Robofish (physically and electrically) from the station. After changing the buoyancy, the Robofish must fall down out of its docking port. 5. Repeat steps 2-4 for all 8 positions shown in fig 4.8.1. 6. All three test conditions must be satisfied at every tested position for the test to be passed. *If the Robofish cannot perform its functions automatically, move it through the required positions by hand Figure 4.8.1: Test positions of Robofish for automated process test 14

5. Results 5.1. Depth Test 5.2. Battery Capacity Test 5.3. Energy Delivery Test 5.4. Energy Harvesting Test 5.5. Robofish Attachment Strength Test 5.6. Buoyancy Test 5.7. Waterproof Test 5.8. Automated Process Test 5.9. Budget Review 15

6. Conclusions 16