TrunkMonkey

How can we prevent children from hand injuries when closing car trunks? Our solution uses sensors to detect nearby objects and a PWM signal to stop the trunk immediately when someone is detected.

Comment

🌟 Inspiration Every day, we interact with motors — from robotic arms to vehicles and even devices like your computer or mouse. Motors are everywhere! This project was inspired by the need for a safety solution that could prevent injuries, especially for children or adults who might accidentally get their hands stuck while closing something like a car trunk. We set out to create a smart, motorized system that could detect such dangers. 🚗👶

💡 What it does We developed a model of a trunk operated by a DC motor. As the trunk closes, it can detect if a hand is nearby and automatically reverses the motor to reopen the trunk, preventing injury. 🛑👋 Additionally, we created a simulation in MATLAB to demonstrate how the PWM signal is converted into angular velocity using MATLAB's Simulink scope. ⚙️📊

🔧 How we built it We used an Arduino, a DC motor, and Grove sensors to build the physical model, along with MATLAB for the simulations. For live PWM signal demonstrations, we used an FRDM board.

🚧 Challenges we ran into We faced a steep learning curve with Simulink, and we even fried a motor shield along the way, which delayed us a bit. 😅 But hey, that’s all part of the journey, right?

🏆 Accomplishments that we're proud of We successfully simulated stepper motors and implemented a real-world safety mechanism that could be used in automobiles! Overall, it was an amazing experience — learning control systems and implementing PID controllers. We couldn’t be prouder of what we achieved. 🚀🤖

📚 What we learned We learned a lot about DC motors, Simulink, properly handling motor shields, and building outputs to enhance motor safety. It was a fantastic learning experience! 🎓⚡

Built With

Share this project:

Updates