GKN Aerospace’s C.W.A.B prototype update
Recap
GKN Aerospace have turned Year 5 Pupil Ben’s Clean Water Access Bot into a reality with their prototype as part of a continued partnership between GKN Aerospace and Primary Engineer. They chose this design because it addresses an important problem – accessibility of water in remote locations.
What has happened since the last update?
Since their initial update, the team worked hard to get the C.W.A.B prototype designed and functional. To begin with, the key features of Ben’s design (along with some of their own ideas) were grouped into ‘must-have’, ‘should-have’ and ‘could-have’. The result was:
Must-have:
- Water pump system (tank, piping, pump)
- Vehicle (body, chassis, motors etc.)
- Electronics (power source, remote control, control circuitry)
Should-have:
- Retractable arm for hose deployment
- Sustainable/renewable power
- Water filter
- Automated driving
Could-have:
- Off-road wheels
- Decals on bodywork
- Sliding doors/windows
- Camera
This gave clear requirements and targets for the prototype in order of priority. They grouped the different features above into ‘sub-systems’ that each member of the team would be responsible for:
- Vehicle – everyone
- Water pump system – Tom
- Circuitry and programming – Remo
- Hose deployment arm – Sam
- Power supply – Matt
Vehicle:
To be able to design all of the sub-systems, the team needed to know what vehicle they would be using to create the C.W.A.B, as it would determine the size of the components, how much they can weigh (which turned out to be a challenge!), and how they will drive/control everything. After quite a bit of research, the team landed on a 6-wheel toy truck with a raising rear bed:
This had several features they liked: 6 wheels for better off-road capability and supporting additional weight, the raising rear bed could be used for the hose deployment, and it came with a remote control that they could modify to control the vehicle as well as the additional systems they wanted to add.
Water Pump System:
The most important function of the C.W.A.B is that it can pump water from a source outside the vehicle into a tank stored on the vehicle. The key components required to do this were some piping for the water to travel through, a pump to pull the water through the pipes, and a tank to hold the water in the vehicle. They started by choosing the tank, which ended up fitting perfectly in the footwell in front of the seats:
Next, they needed a pump that was fast enough to fill the tank in a reasonable time, didn’t weigh too much, didn’t use lots of power and wasn’t too expensive. The pumps they chose were typically used in gardens, or on boats! Once that was sorted, they decided to buy a special hose pipe designed for sucking water up (pulling the water instead of pushing it), and attached it to the pump.
Finally, they thought it was very important that the water being pumped into the tank was cleaned so that it could be used by those who need it. The hose pipe and water pump both have built-in debris filters, so to remove bacteria and viruses they integrated an ‘ultrafilter’ that contained a very fine mesh (netting) to catch the harmful things in the water and stops them flowing into the tank. This was the cheapest and lightest weight option they could find! Here’s one of the initial tests of the system:
Circuitry & Programming:
There are a few things that need to be controlled on the C.W.A.B: the driving of the vehicle, the raising of the rear bed, and the water pump system. By using an Arduino circuit board, they were able to use the vehicle’s remote control to run an automated driving routine (that we can write in advance) by pressing a single button. Once the vehicle reaches its destination, the circuit board tells the rear bed arm to raise which lowers the hose pipe at the back of the vehicle. Finally, it tells the pump to turn on and collect water.
To stop the tank from overfilling, there is a sensor inside it which tells the pump to turn off if the tank is full.
Hose Deployment Arm:
Another challenge that the team had identified was how the C.W.A.B would access the water depending on the source (such as a lake or a well). To tackle this, they used an arm that lowers the hose pipe off the back of the vehicle to ground level when the rear bed is raised. After taking measurements, the arm was designed and 3D printed for testing:
Power Supply:
In order to power all of the electronics on the C.W.A.B. they have two separate batteries on board, one for the vehicle and one for the pump. To supply a sustainable source of power in remote locations, they decided to use a solar panel that could be secured on the top of the vehicle, allowing the pump to be run from a battery charged using the sun!
Once these systems were finished, they assembled all of the individual components onto the vehicle and started testing that they worked together. This is when they invited Ben and his family to visit GKN Aerospace Global Technology Centre and have a tour of our workshop to see where the team make some of our aircraft parts, followed by a demonstration of the C.W.A.B. in action and an explanation of the engineering process so far. They also wanted some feedback from him for improvements and next steps for the project!
Thankfully, Ben was very pleased with the prototype!
The GKN Aerospace prototeam commented to say that “working on Ben’s invention through the Primary Engineer collaboration has been a lot of fun, providing the team with fresh perspectives as well as the opportunity to apply our expertise in a novel and impactful way. Most importantly, it has allowed us to continue to inspire and engage with the next generation of engineers, nurturing young talent and fostering innovation from an early age, something we are committed to at GKN Aerospace.”
The prototype will be officially unveiled on 5th July at University of West England Awards Ceremony & Exhibition for our South West.