Sorting of Titanium Fittings

Automation of simple jobs is becoming more common among companies, large and small. Our team was tasked with creating a automated reorienting system that could take titanium fittings of a range of sizes and orient them to pass them through an acid bath with little to no human involvement.

Background
Boeing's aeronautics requires a large amount of fittings per aircraft for the different types of electrical and liquid systems that keep them flying in all weather conditions. To do this, Boeing has fittings machined from titanium in differing sizes. Before the fittings can be welded into place, they must be passed through a chemical bath to cleanse the parts of any contaminants. With their current setup however, the process of getting the fittings on rails for the chemical bath is extremely time-consuming, taking up to 8 hours of work by hand.

Deliverables
The final deliverable for this project will be a working prototype that can orient all the fittings despite the differences in size, center of mass, and weight.

Specifications
The specifications for the final prototype are:
 * 6 feet by 6 feet maximum footprint
 * Human involvement in setup only
 * Uses 110 Volts
 * No visible blemishes/markings on the fittings after sorting
 * A maximum of 80 psi air if necessary

These specifications are the maximum that can be used. This list is also incomplete; more information will be added in as the project progresses.

Client Interview
Every few weeks, the team contacts the liaison for Boeing to describe what we have worked on in that time. This time is also used to get new information, ask specification questions, and make major decisions on the prototype.

Lead Instructor and Technical Advisor Meetings
Once per week, the team will meet with either Dr. Steven Beyerlein or with Alex Olson to make more minor decisions on the planning or the prototype. Other meetings can be made for brainstorming sessions, but meeting with the instructor is only mandatory once per week.

Capacitive Deionization
An electric potential is applied to carbon electrodes across a brine filled channel.

There are currently 4 different process types that use forms of Capacitive deionization. These are:
 * Flow-by mode in which brine water flows through a channel or channels that have charged electrodes as walls. This mode is simple to construct and model but has an inefficient discharge method.
 * Flow-through mode in which brine can flow directly through porous electrodes. A more complex method that requires porous electrodes.
 * Flow-electrode CDI is a type of continuous CDI in which a membrane separates the brine from a charged, moving mixture. This method is complex.
 * CDI with wires is a type of continuous CDI in which wires are placed in a brine solution, charged, and then discharged in a different solution. This method is also complex and involves moving parts.

The most simple method (flow-by) is the one used for this project

Mathematical Model
This shows the equations used in our model to calculate the expected reduction of salinity. These equations used the geometry of the channel and electrodes along with the applied voltage to calculate how much charge (Qelectrode) could be collected on each electrode. This picture links to an article about water properties that was used.