Electrical Conductivity Test Device for Railroad Crossties

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ECE 480 Senior Design Project Team 9
Electrical Conductivity Test Device for Railroad
Crossties
Fathi Salem Facilitator Julian Quick
Management Paul Anselmi Lab Coordinator Ahmad
Nashriq Abdul Mutalib Webmaster Bradley Graca
Document Prep. Vikram Singh Presentation
Prep.
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Sponsor

• Jack Hughes
• Senior Research Engineer
• Chemistry Degree
• Headquarters in Roanoke, VA
• 27 Thousand Miles of Track
• Replace over 1 Million Ties Each Year

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Project Description

• Design A Conductance Measuring Instrument
• Must Be Portable, Accurate, Reliable
• Functional in Various Environments
• Store Data For Further Analysis
• Determine Affect of Conductivity of
• Ties on Track Sensors

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Design Components

• Conductance Measurement
• Temperature Sensor
• Humidity Sensor
• Moisture Content Calculation
• Compatible with
• Real-Time Clock
• Self Powered
• Data Storage and Computer Transfer
• Portable Device

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Humidity and Temperature Sensor

• Accurately Measures Ambient Air Temp
• Temperature Range From -40 to 85C
• Humidity Range From 0 to100
• Interface to Microcontroller Using
• Frequency Output

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Microcontroller

• PIC18F4520 Microcontroller
• A/D Conversion
• On-Board Clock
• 16x2 Character LCD Module

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Project Flow Chart
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Power Supply

• Uses 9V Battery
• Simple Audio
• Amplifier Circuit
• Multiple Selectable
• Voltage Outputs
• Low Current on
• Probe Side

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Memory

• Program Memory
• Data RAM
• Data EEPROM
• USB Adapter (Peripheral)

• 2MB program Memory Space
• 32KB Flash Memory
• We will be transferring data collected each day
  to a USB flash drive

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Real Time Clock

• RTC Chip Provides Date and Time
• Powered Using Auxiliary Power Source Like
  Lithium Ion Cell
• Time To Be Used As A Stamp Next To The Sensor Data

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Display

• 16x2 Character LCD Module

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Design Constraints

• Usability
• Used During Track Maintenance
• Used At Tie Manufacture

• Portability
• Portable Power
• Must Last Through A Days Use

• Durability
• Rugged, Long Lasting

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Budget