Keys, Callum Kirby (2014) Mansell power lifter control circuitry redesign. [USQ Project]
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Abstract
The Mansell Power Lifter is an electrically powered emergency transport stretcher. This device facilitates lifting through use of a user control panel, and as such can be raised and lowered at the touch of a button. This system operates at two speeds, and alleviates the strain placed on emergency personnel when loading or unloading patients and equipment into an emergency vehicle. The purpose of this project was to present an alternative control system design for the Mansell Power Lifter. The focus of this redesign task was to simplify the existing circuitry to make the control system easier to fault find. It was also a desirable feature to provide the adjustability of system parameters such as timers and voltage thresholds that facilitate the required functions of the Mansell Power Lifter. It was concluded that the most suitable method to achieve these outcomes was to replace elements of the analogue circuity in the existing
system with a microcontroller.
In order to determine which features of the Mansell Power Lifter control system could be provided by the microcontroller, a review and analysis of the existing circuitry was conducted. Once a familiarity with the existing system was established it was necessary to consider other design alternatives that could be implemented into the new control system design. Research
was conducted into alternative methods to provide the bi-directional driving of motors. The viability of using of pulse width modulation to facilitate the speed changing of the Mansell Power Lifter was also considered. As the new control system is based around the use of a microcontroller,
it was necessary to research programming methodologies for real-time systems. This included a review of finite state machine theory and round-robin scheduling which were
implemented in the new control system design. This dissertation documents details of the new hardware and software design that was developed for the updated Mansell Power Lifter control system. A fully functioning physical prototype was constructed as part of this research project.
Using this prototype, a series of tests were conducted on the Mansell Power Lifter to verify and validate the functionality of the new control system design.
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