AISE’21 Virtual Exhibition
Solar Integrated Vehicle-to-Home inverter
As the world embraces renewable energy resources, E-mobility has become one of the major trends in society. An increase in the commercialization of electric vehicles will enable the implementation of Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) and Vehicle-to-Home (V2H) systems for micro-grids and as emergency power backup which in turn will economize the power sector more.
A system we have developed is a bridgeless bidirectional flyback converter module that enables the battery of an electric vehicle to be used as an emergency power backup device for powering critical residential loads is proposed in this project. Incorporating solar panels with this system will help in the prolonged use of the Electric Vehicle (EV) battery as an inverter module as well as will avoid the possibility of total depletion of the battery module. The different modes of operations include Plug-in Charging, Solar Photo-Voltaic (PV) Charging, and an Emergency power backup. The main circuit developed for this project includes a 48V 20Ah Li-ion battery module, a 250Wp Solar panel module, a Bi-directional flyback converter, a Constant Current Constant Voltage (CCCV) charge controller. Simulation results are achieved through MATLAB 2020b Simulink software.
PV System with Gravity Energy Storage
There are several remote communities in this day and age that have no access to a reliable power system. Many remote areas generate electricity by mini hydro power plants, but this does not provide uninterrupted power supply for a whole year as it is dependent on water. Also, drawing power lines to such locations can be difficult and expensive. In these cases, an off-grid system is recommended. However, remote locations where development has yet to make its mark are often in environmentally sensitive areas. Thus, the method of energy generation and storage used must be one with minimal environmental impact. There is a need to foster energy options, especially decentralized and renewable ones, to enable their socio-economic development. Therefore, an efficient energy storage method has to be introduced that offers minimal environmental impact in remote areas.
The aim of our project is to create a gravity-based energy storage system to store the energy produced by solar panels. During day time, PV plants produce a large amount of energy which is utilized to power houses. However, the excess energy produced by the solar plant will be wasted in this configuration. Solar panels cannot produce energy at night, so the excess energy produced in day time must be stored. Our project intends to save the energy from the high supply period of solar panels to utilize it effectively in the night period. It does so by raising a heavy weight using a motor and a pulley mechanism when the supply is in excess. This stores the solar plant’s excess energy as potential energy of the raised weight. At night when there is no production of energy in the array, this stored energy is used to meet the load demand. The raised weight is dropped, making the motors that raised it run as generators. In this way, the mechanism can be used to deliver power to the houses quickly as the potential energy can be converted back very fast. The advantage of this system over the traditional battery-based PV plant is the fact that the energy storage system by itself will be a low cost one and it tackles the problem of replacement of lead acid batteries every 3-5 years as this system has an expected life of 50 years or more due to its simplicity.
RF card based solar electric vehicle charging dock
The carbon emissions from traditional IC engine-powered vehicles are a significant source of air pollution. These IC engine driven vehicles are now being replaced by intelligent electric vehicles as a result of emerging technologies to produce electric vehicles. However, the built charging dock is not cost-effective since large amperes are driven to electric vehicles during charging, and the power to these charging docks comes from city power outlets where they are positioned Our project’s aim is to build a low-cost solar and RF card-based charging dock as a result. Solar cells are used as a power source for the charger dock. MPPT (Maximum Power Point Tracking) is provided to step up and down the voltage from the solar cell. As the solar cell charges the battery via the MPPT, a large battery pack with 12v is provided. An inverter converts the 12v dc to 220v ac supply from the battery, and a 48v DC charger is connected to the inverter’s 220v ac output. This charging doc’s RF card is programmed as a key. This system will not use a 220v city outlet, instead relying solely on solar energy.
A 4 passenger electric traction vehicle
We know that the main 2 problems that we are facing today are the fuel cost and the pollution. By replacing the usage of IC engine vehicles by an electric vehicle, we can avoid 80 percent of these problems. Because of its high price, It is difficult to own an electric vehicle with a normal family member or a farmer. If they are using IC engine vehicle it makes them in lose, and pollution to our environment. In this project old scrap material and a BLDC Drive system is used to construct a new vehicle which reduce its cost. A 48V 50Ah battery pack is used in the system as the power source and a 48V 1000W 3000RPM BLDC motor drive system is used to get better traction output. A 1:6 gear system is used to increase its torque and reduce its speed. An RF ID system is used as security system (optional) and also having key system to start the vehicle. This vehicle having a maximum speed of 30 Km/pH and carrying capacity of 400Kg. According to our need it can be built as transportation vehicle or a goods carrier .By integrating solar panels and MPPT with the vehicle drive system we can simply expand it as solar powered traction vehicle.
Smart Distribution Board
“Smart Distribution Board” is a major modification of conventional distribution board by adding another layer of security and safety. The user will be alerted real time using the app if there are any faults like short circuit, voltage fluctuations, overload, etc so the user can act accordingly and prevent heavy losses to life and properties. The app alerts users in the event of harsh weather conditions like lighting, thunderstorm, etc which is one of the major causes in damaging electrical appliances. Smart distribution board also introduces automatic power factor corrections to prevent huge fines from electricity board and to increase efficiency. It makes the user to use energy judiciously by providing real time consumption data to user and increases the quality of life.
Nutmeg decortication and grading seed quality using AI/ML
Nutmeg is a prominent spice crop grown extensively in Kerala. The fruit of nutmeg consists of different layers with the innermost part being the most useful and commercial component. The process of decortication of this kernel is intended to improve the value and utility of agricultural products produced from nutmeg. Before the advent of machines, conditions prevalent at this level of operation were generally time consuming and laborious. Whole attention was being paid only on the quantity of output disregarding the quality of the seed, thus bringing the market of nutmeg below standard. Scope for widening the possibilities of improving the processing procedures lead us to dive deep into the modern aspect of viewing agricultural prospects. During recent years, humans have witnessed revolutionary ideas being brought up in existing machineries making them more user friendly and intelligent. Our goals were focused on overriding human intervention making the machine autonomous. The basic structure of the machine includes a cylindrical tank with a horizontal shaft which has several radial rods for the purpose of agitation. This whole structure was combined with a motor setup which on its run would do the basic decortication process. Futuristic technological insights covering Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning were implemented for visualising our project progress to a deeper definition. Novel ideas to curb the existing inefficacy of cross examination by naked eyes brought us to the disruptive technology of image processing. A custom ML model developed, trained and tested using various python libraries like TensorFlow, Keras and OpenCV could detect the quality of nutmeg seeds based on the images captured by the camera module. Simultaneously the output obtained from the weight measuring unit is processed together with the output from the ML model to finalise the predicted quality. A Raspberry pi microcontroller is used to implement the output analysed by the ML model, thus segregating the seeds successfully. This project is a humble effort to serve the social cause of decortication of nutmeg and grading the seed quality thereby helping nutmeg planters.
