Tuesday, 25 October 2022

SDrone INTRODUCTION/LIT REVIEW + PROBLEM STATEMENT + PURPOSE STATEMENT

 

1. Introduction 

This proposal is written in response to a request for recommended solutions to engineering problems. It addresses the issues related to the quality of air in the surrounding area. The proposed solution aims to enhance the design technology of SaniDrone, by Texas Medical Technology, to provide a higher level of sanitization and ease the workload for users such as cleaners. With the rise of COVID-19 virus transmissions, the proposed sanitation drone will be essential in getting rid of bacteria, viruses, and germs. We will also focus on how the virus is passed from one person to another in an enclosed area. The enhancement will boost the branding of Texas Medical Technology with the implementation of the technology introduced to improve air quality for people around the world.

1.1 Background

1.1.1 Overview of Air Quality

Air Quality is usually measured in reference to air pollutants, emissions of harmful gasses and chemicals. In this section, we will be addressing the quality of air and how it may affect respiratory viruses. With the emergence of COVID-19 pandemic, air quality in urban areas has dropped drastically. Although air quality has improved slightly because of lockdown, air pollutants’ concentration rose back to pre-lockdown levels immediately after lockdown ended (Silva et al., 2022). Air quality in our surroundings is poor and this adversely affects our respiratory system, especially with the pandemic still ongoing. According to Bourdrel et al (2022), “Experimental studies conducted for other respiratory viruses support the hypothesis that air pollution exposure may facilitate the occurrence of COVID-19 infection through a decrease in immune response”. With the rise in air pollution, viruses are spreading rapidly in common areas such as shopping malls and public transport.

1.1.2 Importance of Clean Air

Air, water and food are basic survival needs of a human being. In fact, without food, we can stay alive for days. Without water, we can arguably stay alive for a few days. But, without air, we will be dead in several minutes. Hence, air is essentially the most important need of mankind. 




1.1.3 Infectious Illness and Diseases due to lack of Clean Air

According to the article “Impact of air pollution in health and socio-economic aspects: Review on future approach” (2020), the lack of clean air leads to a profound range of diseases that bring harmful consequences to public safety. In the current earth’s atmosphere, the major contaminants consist of particulate matter which are caused by  human’s activities such as the burning of fossil fuels and the use of vehicles that produce sulfur oxides and carbon monoxides. Those contaminants can lead to harmful emissions and it was reported by WHO that roughly 43% deaths are caused by the lack of clean air which obstruct the human’s main organ such as the lungs. Amidst that, the lack of clean air in the environment has also caused an increased risk of Covid-19 throughout the occurrence of the pandemic (Jevtic et al., 2021). Due to that, many have raised concerns in the need to monitor and improve air quality in the atmosphere so as to bring the level of pollution down to the recommended values by WHO.

1.1.4 Overview of Existing Drone Technology

A drone is a portable unmanned aircraft that can be used in many applications. Drones can be used for aerial photography, traffic surveillance, firefighting and in our case, sanitizing. Some basic drone technologies include the Global Positioning System (GPS), collision avoidance and stabilization sensors. The navigation system of a drone is typically placed in the front of the nose. The GPS on the drone tells the controller its specific location. The GPS also detects the altitude level of a drone and reports it back to the controller. Drones are also fitted with a collision avoidance system to prevent the drone from colliding with any obstacles in its way. Drones now provide obstacle detection in 5 directions: front, back, below, above and side to side (Lutkevich, 2021). A steady flying drone also incorporates stabilization sensors. The stabilization sensor uses a gyroscope which sends its data remotely to a computer. It then uses codes and programs to alter the state of the drone which in turn, keeps it level. 

Drones are refined daily to be more efficient in solving problems to ease human jobs.







1.1.5 Working Principle of an Air Particle Sensor

The concern on the impact from air pollution entering the human system is raising. “Human exposure to air pollution has been linked to increased rates of COVID-19 mortality. A link between COVID-19 cases and concentration of airborne particulate matter (PM) at regional level was reported ”(Specht et al., 2022). With these concerns, it is essential that we take precaution measures such as ensuring safe air quality in the identified areas.

Air particle sensors make use of the “light scattering” method to measure the concentration of particles in the surrounding air. While they ensure the air quality is of peak condition, they can also detect anomalies and feedback to the user so that necessary actions can be taken. 

1.1.6 Customisable Flight Path in Drone Technology

The automation feature is becoming more common in drones today. DJI, a chinese technology company which specialises in drones, has implemented a smart flying known as the “way point” feature. Using the app, the user is able to set a custom flight path on a map with way points. The user is also able to set the intended altitude and speed. However, the user must first fly the drone through the flight path to register the way points. After recording the ideal way points once, the drone will be able to carry out the flight path on its own. 

1.2 Problem Statement 

The ideal sanitisation drone should be able to operate autonomously with custom flight features and ensure the highest level of sanitation with proposed air particle sensors. The existing sanitisation drone has to be flown manually and lacks the technology to detect air quality in the atmosphere. An area which is unclean might be neglected and left unclean. With the implementation of an automation feature together with air quality sensors around the drone, the sanitisation drone will provide a more efficient and effective sanitisation process by examining the cleanliness of an area and provide further sanitisation if necessary.

1.3 Purpose Statement 

This report proposes an innovative design to Lucid Drones to introduce our idea of a sanitisation drone (SDrone). This innovation will contain air particle sensors that will detect the cleanliness of the atmosphere within an enclosed facility and continue to sanitise when necessary. These implementations would help ease the cleaners day to day task and at the same time provide the facility users peace of mind on the cleanliness quality. 


Saturday, 8 October 2022

Summary Reader Response Draft 3

Griggs, in “Why stars look spiky in images from the James Webb Space Telescope” (Griggs,2022) explains the technology behind the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) and how it compares to its predecessor, the Hubble Space Telescope with regards to the number of diffraction spikes. Personally, it has always been an interest learning about outer space. After reading the above-mentioned article, I was astonished at the advancement of the technology used to study the galaxy. From multiple camera instruments to highly engineered mirrors, I feel that the JWST will be a game changing telescope in the air and space industry. The JWST is the latest, most powerful telescope, cruising millions of miles away from earth, developed by NASA. It observes our galaxy by using infrared light and hopes to see the past and give information about how the galaxy has changed from billions of years ago until today. It was launched on the 25th of December 2021 in Guiana Space Center, Europe.

The article begins by giving a very brief explanation on the working principal of a telescope. It then discusses the differences between the Hubble Telescope and the JWST. The reason why the JWST is becoming popular is because of its improved design and technology. The JWST is a revolutionary telescope because it utilizes hexagonal mirrors and multiple camera instruments which are able to gather and study new information about our solar system that other telescopes are not capable of doing so due to their lack of technology.

The JWST uses hexagonal mirrors primarily instead of a single round mirror used in the Hubble Telescope. Because JWST’s main aim is to see far into the galaxy, approximately 13 billion light years away (Kluger, 2022), a bigger mirror setup is used for the mission. The purpose of primary mirrors in a reflective telescope is to guide the light into the secondary mirror. “The shape of the primary mirror, in particular the number of edges it has, determines the mirror’s diffraction pattern” (Griggs, 2022). This results in an image with six diffractions. The use of a hexagonal shape mirror eliminates gaps between each mirror, obtaining a high filing factor, indicating minimal gaps between mirrors. (NASA, 2021) A hexagonal outline also makes the design additionally symmetrical, making it easier to launch into outer space as the whole telescope would need to be compact during takeoff. (NASA, 2021)

The JWST utilizes multiple camera instruments to view the solar system. The NIRCam (near-infrared light) is the telescope’s main imager. It shows more prominent diffraction spikes because stars are very bright at those wavelengths (0.6 to 5 microns). “NIRCam will detect light from: the earliest stars and galaxies, in the process of formation, the population of stars in nearby galaxies, as well as young stars in the Milky Way and Kuiper Belt objects” (NASA, 2021). The NIRSpec (Near InfraRed Spectograph) is used to distribute the amount light from a certain target into a spectrum. “Analyzing the spectrum of an object can tell us about its physical properties, including temperature, mass and chemical composition” (NASA, 2021). There is also a Mid-Infrared Instrument (MIRI) that consists a camera and a spectrograph. Its main role is to view the light in the mid-infrared area of the electromagnetic spectrum. The wavelength of the MIRI has a range of 5 to 28 microns. In this range, it gives us a visual of the solar system longer than our eyes can ever see (NASA, 2021).

However, the JWST does pose an obvious weakness. Being millions of miles away from earth, it would be nearly impossible to carry out repairs if something were to go wrong. Unfortunately, the JWST was hit by a meteoroid sometime in May of 2022. The meteor strike damaged one of the mirrors and has caused an uncorrectable damage to the telescope. Thankfully, the effect of the damage is insignificant and the telescope is still functioning above expectations (Howell, 2022). Even so, the idea of the telescope running into complications and not being able to correct it directly is concerning. 

From where I stand, I did not think it was possible to view what the galaxy looks like about 13 billion years ago. Nonetheless, the articles explaining the technology behind the JWST refutes my opinion.

The reason behind the making of the JWST is for astronomers to discover further into the galaxies than ever before. The aim is to discover what lies after the Big Bang. Scientist have spent over 30 years developing the JWST, costing approximately $10 billion USD. Compared to Hubble, the JWST is bigger and better and can see much further into the universe, making it a revolutionary telescope with its improved mirror and camera technology. For example, the JWST can look further because the mirrors collect much more light energy due to its 6.5-meter diameter mirror while the Hubble’s primary mirror is only 2.5 meters in diameter (CNET, 2022). Therefore, with JWST’s breakthrough, it allows scientists and astronomers to discover new galaxies and learn about the beginnings of time.

 

References:

Griggs, M.B. (2022, July 16). Why stars look spiky in images from the James Webb Space Telescope. The Verge. https://www.theverge.com/23220109/james-webb-space-telescope-stars-diffraction-spike

Howell, E. (2022, July 18). James Webb Space Telescope picture shows noticeable damage from micrometeoroid strike. Space.com. https://www.space.com/james-webb-space-telescope-micrometeoroid-damage

Kluger, J. (2022, July 13). What the 5 Mind-Blowing Webb Telescope Pictures Tell Us. Time.com. https://time.com/6196675/five-james-webb-telescope-images-explained/

Reilly, C. (2022, July 13). James Webb Space Telescope: NASA's First Images Explained. Youtube: CNET. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvfuxtVr7JY&t=1s

Webb Key Facts - Webb/NASA. (n.d). jwst.nasa.gov. https://jwst.nasa.gov/content/about/faqs/facts.html

Webb’s Mirrors. (n.d). webb.nasa.gov. https://webb.nasa.gov/content/observatory/ote/mirrors/index.html#:~:text=The%20Webb%20Telescope%20team%20also,in%20diameter%2C%20flat%20to%20flat

 

 

 

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