TEAM 8 - Autonomous Tissue Paper Slitter
About Our Project
About Our Project
Welcome to our website.
We are team 8 and our project is the automated tissue paper slitter. The premise of our project is to create a paper slitter to remove unusable paper off of a cardboard core without damaging it, the paper is then recycled to be created into new tissue paper and the core is to be reused in the future.
Current Designs
Water Jet Cutter**
Butt Roll Stripper
Paper Slabber*
Conveyer Stripper
Air Jet
*denotes possible designs
**denotes final design
Updates
4/28/19
The team has finally finished the coding for the limit switches, motor drive, and the motor. The team also has also connected the din rails, terminal blocks and power supplies, the on/off switches, e-stop, and the wires are also soldered to the solderable breadboard. The team found a solution to the chatter, it disappeared after the team greased the lead screw and guide rods.
4/21/19
The team has programmed the motor and motor drive to move the carriage. The motor was attached to the lead screw and spun, the motor was able to the carriage down and back but the limit switched was not activated to return the carriage autonomously. Before attaching the motor the team attempted to test the lead screw and carriage with a corded drill which was successful, but there was a chatter in the lead screw.
4/14/19
The team sought out help from various EET professors and grad students. Pascal an EET grad student was able to help the team with the Arduino code. The team also created an electrical parts list and purchased everything that was needed, from terminal blocks to power supplies and wires.
4/7/19
The team sent a updated lead screw drawing to the client for machining, and picked up pipe plates and clamps from the client.
3/31/19
The carriage has been completed, and the jet nozzle was purchased and the piping leading up the nozzle has been laid out, purchased, and constructed. The team is working on was to mount the pipe. A 1/4″ hydrualic valve was found to be use for the high pressure water. The team bought a variable speed controller for the pressure washer, which controls the speed nicely. The variable speed controller is able to turn down the washer but only to a certain extent, the washer does not like to be turned down to a low level. The limit switches has been picked up by the team.
3/24/19
The team was on spring break and took the week off from the capstone project to come back with a fresh brain and set of eyes.
3/17/19
The team updated the carriage drawing for the client to machine. A speed controller was also bought for the pressure washer to control the speed and pressure of the water.
3/10/19
The team tested the pressure washer by cutting toilet paper, it cut through the toilet paper but also the thin core. The team started the programming process with the micro-controller.
3/3/19
The team had the first in person look at the mounting blocks and guide rods. Team 8 assembled it and presented it to the class during a demo. The team also started to receive the electrical components and water pump. The linear bearing and the bushing for the lead screw were also identified.
2/24/19
The team has identified the lead screw nut that will be attached to the carriage. The mounting blocks have been completed and the guide rods are still being machined.
2/17/19
The team had an amazing meeting with the client, it was very successful and very productive. The client likes the teams final design and has been approved for the next phase. The order has been submitted, the team is now waiting for the parts to arrive and assembly will begin.
2/10/19
The team has now started to source the parts, they have found parts that will work. Parts has been decided, but the specific parts are still being searched for.
1/3/19
With the new year comes new updates, the team has done a test with a water pick to see if it will cut tissue paper. The results are that it will cut, the tester set the water pick to the highest setting(10) and cut through 20 sheets of tissue paper in one pass while cutting through 30 in 2 passes. There is very little excess water that the paper did not soak up.
The team is now finalizing the design for the concept and is hoping to order parts so that it will arrive on campus by the time that Winter Break is over.
12/16/18
The team and the client has finally came to an agreement on he final concept, and it will be the water jet cutter. The next step for the team is to finalize the designs, CAD package, start putting a bill of materials together, and start ordering parts. This coming week will be finals week for the team with Christmas break to follow. Though it will be break the team will not stop striving to design and making the best product.
12/8/18
image of paper slabber/water jet, same frame different cutter
The current assignments that team 8 are facing are creating 3D models of the concepts and Interim report 2. The team is still waiting to hear back from the client’s client on the specifics that they would like. The team also had the first cross advisor meeting with Professor Brett Ellis, that meeting was very productive. It was very helpful to get advice from a different professors point of view.
12/1/18
Team 8 had an official meeting on November 29, 2018 with the client, Alexanders Mechanical Solutions (Jimmy Alexander and Ryan Beaumont) to discuss the official criteria list. Some of the major criteria that the team must keep in mind when creating the paper slitter are cutting dangers, heavy lifting dangers, and traffic within the shop floor. After the discussion 2 different concepts were chosen; the water jet and the paper slabber.
11/13/18
Met with the client, and narrowed down the designs to 3 possible designs.
10/31/18
Interim Report 1 has been completed and turned in.
Media
Bio
Tanner White
Tanner is a senior MET student at UMO from Brookton, Maine. Tanner enjoys many outdoor activities such as hunting, fishing, canoeing, skiing, and snowmobiling. Tanner has always been interested in the pulp and paper industry as much of his family works in it. Tanner himself has worked at different paper mills in Maine during college and have accepted a full time engineering position at Woodland Pulp for after graduation. Tanner was extremely interested in this capstone project because he felt that it would be similar to the work he would do after graduation.
Patrick Campbell
Patrick is a Maine-native MET student with a background in bamboo woodworking, and automotive repair before attending the University of Maine. Patrick began pursuing a career in engineering to discover sustainable solutions to global issues, such as energy production, and to be on the forefront of exciting new innovations. While at school Patrick acquired an ACMA composites technician certification to further my education of material properties in the energy sector and aeronautics industry. Patrick is also an avid hockey fan and enjoy experiencing the great Maine outdoors.
Joseph Smith
Joe is a fifth year Mechanical Engineering Technologies student at the University of Maine. He grew up on Cape Cod, Massachusetts with his mother and two brothers where he went to a technical high school where he studied Marine Services and Mechanics. Joe worked in the Marine Industry for several years before deciding to go to the University of Maine for Mechanical Engineering Technologies. During his free time he enjoys boating with his family, playing disc golf with his friends or tearing up the tails on his snowmobile. In the summer of 2018, Joe did an internship for an Integrated Handling Systems Company called Han-Tek in Upstate New York where he worked with the engineering department and in the shop and learned about integration and automation systems.
Raymond Ngo
Raymond is a fifth year Mechanical Engineering Technology student. Originally Raymond was a Mechanical Engineering student but through the first two years of college he discovered that engineering was a thing he wanted to pursue, but wanted to be more hands on and work in the field. Raymond is a former Division 1 track athlete at Maine, but now is still involved with the track team as a team manager. Raymond’s work experience includes interning at CCB in Westbrook Maine as a project management/field engineer intern, and an engineering assistant at Saunders electronics in South Portland Maine.
Project Sponsors
Acknowledgments
Alexander’s Mechanical Solutions
Special Thank You To:
Professor Keith Berube – Capstone Advisor
Professor Brett Ellis – Capstone Advisor
Jimmy Alexander – Client
Ryan Beaumont – Client
Joel Anderson – Materials Consultant
Karen Horton – Design Consultant
Pascal Francis-Mezger – Code Consultant
EET Department – Electrical Consultant
Contact Us
Raymond Ngo: raymond.ngo@maine.edu