TEAM: The ‘Wheel’ Deal


TEAM MEMBERS:                                       TEAM COACH:

  • Terry Boles                                                   Tim Wheeler
  • Dave Borowski
  • Eric Kunkel
  • Rich Marzzacco
  • Jeff Shue
PROBLEM STATEMENT:

Our group was given the opportunity to work with Lifelink to design a stove controller for disabled students. Lifelink works out of State College High School and deals with various disabilities such as, autism, blindness, and motor skill impairments. Traditionally controls for a stove are located behind the burners. Accessibility and safety are the most critical concerns when a handicapped individual wants to use the kitchen stove. Reaching over the burners to turn various knobs can cause severe injuries. Our solution will use a remote device to operate motors that will turn the stove’s existing controls.

DESIGN PRIORITIES:
  • Conserve space
  • Allow room for future considerations
  • Use existing components of the stove efficiently
  • Be cost effective
  • Allow for use of the stove by use of off-site construction
SAFETY CONCERNS:

Safety was our number one concern with this project. The safety of these children is the reason we were given this project in the first place. The following are our safety concerns:

  • Reaching over the burners
  • Finding the controls (for blind persons)
  • Being disabled and operating dangerous equipment
DESIGN STRATEGY:

Taking our design priorities and our safety concerns into consideration, we decided to utilize a remote control that operates motors that turn the current knobs on the stove. This keeps the students away from the burners but still allows them to operate the stove. We encased the motors in a housing that will keep the moisture from the stove away from the motors. This housing can be removed from the knobs by simply unlocking it and moving it to the top of the control panel. Therefore, the other children that do use this stove will not be hindered.

IMPLEMENTATION:

The remote control package will consist of a transmitter, encoder and a receiver. These devices can have data types of 4 and 8 bits, which transfer up to 16 and 256 unique commands, respectively. By using a larger data type, we leave room for additional commands. Our remote device might be enhanced to control other appliances in the future, such as a dishwasher, microwave, washer and dryer, etc. By connecting the motors to the existing knobs, we minimize modification of the stove. Placing the motors in the back panel will use the existing space. By doing this we eliminate the need to mount controls elsewhere in the kitchen. A third feature is the programmable device. Changing the overall control of the stove can be done with ease by simply changing the program. In addition to a remote control, the stove may later respond to voice recognition, or have add-ons such as a thermal touch pads