Quick-charge Temporary Cell Phone Energy Source

Project Proposal Prepared by: Bernard Ko & Hyun Seok Shin TA: Grant Pitel Project #15 ECE 445 February 6, 2008

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Introduction
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Title: Quick-charge Temporary Cell Phone Energy Source With the ever increasing news of assaults around the campus, the importance of having a cell phone present is heavily felt. Nonetheless, it is like a habit for human beings to forget to charge their cell phones. Most of cell phone consumers have experienced having their cell phones run out of battery while in important conversations with others over the cell phone or have nightmares about being stranded in middle of nowhere with no cell phone battery. This is why we decided upon building a quick-charge temporary cell phone energy source for in case of emergency. With our interest in power, we are excited about applying our knowledge into building an everyday appliance, which could benefit both the consumer and the environment. Objectives: The goal of this project is to create a charger that uses hand-cranked generator to charge a cell phone in case of emergency. The voltage given out by the generator will be regulated to keep the voltage stable around 5 V. The energy will be also stored in an ultra-capacitor with an LED showing the ultra-capacitor's state of charge. Furthermore, the charger will have protection against overcharge and overdischarge. a. Benefits: Can talk on the phone while charging battery Can provide few minutes of call time in case of emergency Clean power Never run out of battery Virtually unlimited free energy that is reusable b. Features: Capable of bidirectional charging Compact and portable design Hand-cranked generator that is optimized for rated speed LED displays state of charge Protection against overcharging and overdischarging

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II. Design 1. Block Diagram

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Block Descriptions a. Hand-Cranked Generator: This unit will produce around 5-10 V of DC power. It changes mechanical energy from human kinetics to electrical energy. This module is the energy source for charging the cell phone battery. The energy generated from this block will be transferred to the Voltage Regulator.
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Voltage Regulator: The DC power is transferred to this unit from the handcranked generator. This unit ensures that the power supply is held roughly constant around 5 V without huge variation in the voltage level. It will protect the cell phone and other components in the device from damage that may result from voltage irregularities. Regulated voltage will then be transferred to the Microcontroller Unit. Microcontroller: Regulated voltage will power this unit. This unit monitors how much power is transferred as well as the energy stored in the battery or the capacitor, and it relays this information to the Display Unit. This unit determines when to store energy in the Energy Storage Unit or directly in the cell phone battery. Display: This unit is composed of LEDs that relays the received information from the Microcontroller Unit. This unit will display the charge status of the capacitor in the Energy Storage Unit and will indicate whether the Energy Storage Unit is fully charged or not. Energy Storage Unit/Battery: This unit is the final stage of our device. The transferred energy will be stored in either the capacitor or the cell phone battery.

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Performance Requirement a. Generated voltage in the range of 4.5V- 6.0V. b. Over 250mA of current. c. Small physical dimensions that easily fits in one hand. d. Entire assembly weight under 1 lb. e. Desired power output obtained while turning crank at around 1.5 rpm. The above requirements were determined by inspecting the practicality and the original purpose for our device. The first requirement dealing with the generated voltage is straight forward in that most cell phone chargers operate at this range. The current requirement that we set is somewhat lower than the commercial wall chargers that put out around 450-800mA because obtaining that much current is pretty difficult with a hand cranked generator. However, current around 250-300mA is sufficient enough for charging the phone for a quick emergency phone call. The next two requirements deal with the physical size and weight of our device. We generally want it as small and light as possible as we are designing a device that is intended to be compact and portable. Our last requirement is to ensure that the device is engineered well enough so that a reasonable amount of energy is expended by the user.

III. Verification 1. Testing Procedures

Voltage Regulator Test: Using an oscilloscope and a function generator, the Voltage Regulator Module will be tested for its proper functionality. The function generator will be used to supply the input voltage, and we will examine if the voltage regulator circuit does in fact keep the output voltage at the allowed voltage range. Extended Battery Life Test: A series of tests will be performed to determine quantitatively the amount of battery life that is extended from the use of our device. At the moment the cell phone first shuts down due to insufficient charge of the battery, our device will be cranked for a set interval of time. Then the maximum length of the phone conversation resulting from the charging will be recorded. This test will be performed multiple times for each crank interval to find the realistic return for the labor put into charging the batteries. This test, however, may produce misleading data because of the fact that there may be residual charge left over in the battery even after the cell phone powers off initially. Current Test: Achieving pretty high voltages from hand cranked generators are relatively easy, but we know that without sufficiently high current accompanying the voltage, nothing constructive could be accomplished. The oscilloscope will be used to measure the current when our device is charging a cell phone battery. We will also test our circuit to make sure that no current flows backwards from the battery to the ultra-capacitor in crank charger. Display Test: We will test the display module to verify that it lights up when the ultra-capacitor is charged. To test this situation, we will connect the ultra-capacitor to a power supply and a scope, and observe the LED. Through the scope, we will monitor the current through the ultra-capacitor and see if the LED lights up at zero current. 2. Tolerance Analysis The hand-cranked generator results in most variation for the device. The user can crank the shaft at various speeds ranging from very low rps to as fast as one can. Due to the crank speed, the generator will give irregular output power to the device. We want to verify the effects the hand-cranked generator have on the rate of charge and how much power it can produce at various crank speed. To test this, we will monitor the rate of charge at the battery/capacitor in different crank speed to observe the effects generator has. Furthermore, the resulting voltages and currents from the generator will be measured and graphed through a scope and data capture program to determine the optimal rate (voltage of around 5 V and current of around 300 mA). Through this analysis, we will determine the optimal rps at which the device works most efficiently and the lowest rps at which the device is still capable of working.

IV. Cost and Schedule 1. Cost Analysis a. Labor: Individual Labor Cost = ($50/hour)*2.5*(12 hours/week)*12 weeks = $18,000 Total Labor Cost = ($18,000)*2 = $36,000 b. Parts:

Part Hand-Cranked Generator Microcontroller (PIC16F877A) PCB LEDs Ultra-Capacitor Zener Diode Capacitor, Diode, Resistor, etc. Aluminum Casing Output Wire and Connector Total Part Cost c.

Quantity 1 1 1 4 1 1 20 1 1

Cost $20.00 $10.00 $20.00 $0.50 $10.00 $0.10 $0.10 $5.00 $7.00

Total Cost $20.00 $10.00 $20.00 $2.00 $10.00 $0.10 $2.00 $5.00 $7.00 $76.10

Grand Total: Grand Total = Total Labor Cost + Total Part Cost Grand Total = $36,000 + $76.10 = $36,076.10

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Schedule Week 02/04 02/11 Task for Bernard Task for HyunSeok Work on project proposal. Begin ordering parts -Research Ultra-Capacitor -Research PIC -Work on Design Review -Design Review -Design and assemble Energy Storage Unit & Display Unit -Order parts -Research Voltage Regulator -Work on Design Review -Design Review -Work with machine shop to build small custom gear box -Design and assemble voltage regulator -Test hand-crank generator's gear ratio and testing -Test voltage regulator -Design PCB layout -Test integrated system -Send out PCB

02/18

02/25

-Test Energy Storage Unit & Display Unit -Program PIC -Integrate protoytpe -Design PCB layout -Test integrated system -Send out PCB

03/04 03/11 03/18 03/25 04/01 04/08 04/15 04/22 04/29

Spring Break (Prepare for Mock-Up) Mock-up Demos Refine prototype Work on Presentation, Demo, and Final Paper. Testing and Troubleshooting Work on Presentation, Demo, and Final Paper. Testing and Troubleshooting Presentation and Demo. Work on Final Paper. Turn in Final Paper and Lab Notebook. Checkout.