An Automated Design Tool for Sensor and Actuator Integration in Mechatronic Systems

Le, Cam Tu

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An Automated Design Tool for Sensor and Actuator Integration in Mechatronic Systems

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Experimentation using microcontrollers such as Arduino is becoming common in several university courses and capstone projects. The low cost of these microcontrollers lowers the entry barrier to experimentation and sensor and actuator integration into mechatronic systems. There are several sources of information on the internet to help with any associated task involving the Arduino microcontroller. But this setup has specific challenges. The user must type in all the required logic through a programming language since there are no graphical user interfaces (GUI). There are no means to simulate the setup before conducting the actual experiment. Users must also research appropriate sensors and actuators and the necessary circuitry and code logic. Those with little expertise in these areas can feel intimidated, which could slow the progress in projects requiring the integration of multiple sensors and actuators. Hence, the availability of a tool that can automate these activities will significantly benefit a wide variety of users and improve the outcomes in experimentation-based courses and capstone projects. The thesis began by thoroughly investigating existing methods for Arduino circuit generation. A web- based tool called CircuitO allows users to select sensors, actuators and automatically generate the circuit and code. CircuitO also includes step-by-step connection instructions to help users connect their sensors and actuators to the microcontroller. While CircuitO has these valuable features, it expects users to know the type of sensors and actuators required for their application. It also does not contain any simulation capabilities, and the generated code only includes stock samples and is not modified based on the user’s logic. CircuitO is also not open-source, and this prevents adding these additional features. Hence, a new framework is being proposed that could be used to automatically identify the sensors and actuators required based on the user’s need, generate the circuit, populate the code based on the user’s logic, simulate the circuit and reasoning, and allow the users to conduct live experimentation, all within a unified application. The new framework, referred to as ADArC (Automated Design Tool for Arduino Circuits), consists of four major elements. The first is the set of rules that can be used to connect various sensors and actuators to Arduino. These Graph Grammar rules were established based on several example circuits consisting of different sensors and actuators. A graph representation for all the components was also developed in the process. In conjunction with the rules, a detailed help document was developed that can be used to guide students as well as provide the rationale for the circuits being generated by ADArC. The help document is the second major element. The third element is the simulation of circuits. Three open-source systems (SimulIDE, PicSimLab, and WokWi) were investigated for integration into the framework. The final element is the user interface and the backend algorithm for circuit and code generation. Preliminary ideas for the user interface and backend algorithm have been proposed, which can be developed into a full- fledged application in the future. Details of various framework elements will be discussed as part of this thesis.

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