Boeing NFC Part and Process Tracking System Team

Boeing NFC Part and Process Tracking System Team 41 Alper Olcay – Vigneshwar Karthikeyan – Jinjoo Nam

Overview • • Objectives & Goals Information about NFC Features Revisions Results & Challenges Future considerations Acknowledgements

Objectives & Goals • Our main objective was to demonstrate the effectiveness of NFC (Near Field Communication) technologies within Boeing’s manufacturing processes through two vignettes. – Case Study 1 simulates a heat treatment facility within a manufacturing plant in order to show NFC’s applicability to creating a smarter furnace. – Case Study 2 demonstrates the usefulness of NFC in logistics operations and part verification after transportation of supplies and parts.

What is NFC? • NFC is a short range wireless technology that is comparable to Bluetooth, but with very short range (typically around 4 cm’s) • Operates at 13. 56 MHz. • Works with inductive coupling between a reader and a tag, with the reader initiating the magnetic field.

Features • 13. 56 MHz is the operating frequency of the system • Expected operating range to be between 2 cm ~ 6 cm. • Able to detect temperature range between 40 to 120 °C for both case studies • 2 -axis Accelerometer measures ± 3 G • SD Card provides storage capabilities for Case Study 2.

Flow Chart of All Case Studies • Temperature sensor and accelerometer ensure part is not tampered with during transportation • Jig aids an employee in manual drilling; automated QA process data is sent to server Part Tracking (1) Heat Treatment (2) Smart. Jig (4) Smart. Bench (3) Backend Server (Cosm) -Resembles actual server that Boeing would use -Uses http put/pull requests -Sends notifications via Twitter • Part undergoes process, data stored to NFC tag on part and transferred to server • Part is “checkedin/out” at a given work location by a specific employee; data is sent to server

Overall Block Diagram

Block Diagram: Part Tracking and Verification

Schematic: Part Tracking and Verification

PCB Design: Part Tracking

Requirements: Part Tracking • Arduino runs on 9 V battery • Able to measure temperatures in the range of -40 to 120 degrees Celcius • Able to measure accelerations in the range of ± 3 G • Badges and tags should be accessible in the range of 2 to 6 cm’s. • SD card should store 2 GB’s of data.

Testing: Part Tracking • Tested the temperature sensor and the accelerometer on a breadboard. • Ran Arduino on battery for multiple hours. • Stored placeholder data on a SD card to make sure that it actually has the required storage capabilities.

Revisions: Part Tracking • Due to PCB being damaged, switched to a breadboard sensor bundle using a digital temperature sensor and a 2 axis accelerometer. • As Arduino memory was not large enough to possibly store data during a week long transportation case, switched to an Arduino SD shield and a SD card for storage.

Part Tracking: Sensor Logging • Acquires data from the both sensors with sensor. Logging method. • Filters out the data that is in the desired range for storage considerations. • Stores information on SD card by adding the logged values to a string.

Part Tracking: NFC Read &Write • read. Badge() function confirms that a badge is scanned and that employee has access to the facility. • read. Part. Tag() function confirms that a part tag is scanned and writes a QA check mark on the tag.

Results

Results

Results Summary: Part Tracking • Accelerometer successfully logs data in m. G’s to SD Card when greater than ±. 5 G for Case Study 2. • Temperature Sensor successfully logs data to SD Card when greater than 25°C or less than 20°C. • A QA check mark is successfully placed on the part at the end of the process.

Challenges: Part Tracking • Were not able to get the SD card slot on the Arduino WIFI shield working which led to not being able to send data to server. • Had to use a 9 V battery to power up Arduino (size considerations) • SD card shield and NFC shield were not compatible.

Future Considerations: Part Tracking • Use a dedicated memory chip in the place of the SD card. • Streamline the process of getting the data out of the SD card, or any other means of storage. • Implement means to prevent employees from taking the SD card or the memory out without scanning their badge.

Next step in the part’s lifetime: The Heat Treatment Facility.

Block Diagram: Heat Treatment

Schematic: Heat Treatment

PCB Design: Heat Treatment

Requirements: Heat Treatment • Able to measure temperatures in the range of -40 to 120 degrees Celcius with an accuracy of ± 1 degree Celcius. • Able to access tags in the range of 2 -6 cm’s. • Able to connect to a WIFI hotspot. • Able to display states of process on LCD.

Testing: Heat Treatment • Tested thermistors on breadboard. • Tested LCD using Arduino. • Used Arduino to read and write tags, as well as initializing employee badges and tags. • Connected to the WIFI hotspot of a Samsung Galaxy SIII with password.

Revisions: Heat Treatment • Visual aid with LCD screen rather than a control circuit. • Streaming data onto Cosm rather than using a Google spreadsheet to store the data.

Heat Treatment: Server Connection and Data Transmit • Connects to WIFI hotspot on a smartphone • Sends a PUT request to the server with the information provided by Cosm.

Heat Treatment: NFC Read & Write Capabilities • 3 NFC Related functions – Read_NFC_Badge() confirms access to the facility – Read_Part. Tag() gets the serial number of part – Write_To_Part. Tag() places a QA check mark on the part.

Heat Treatment: Overall Control Method • Displays visual aid to show either success or failure of process. • Interacts with NFC functions to go on with the process.

Results

Results

Results Summary: Heat Treatment • Arduino successfully aids the employee visually with the help of LCD. • Arduino can successfully determine if a particular employee has access to the facility. • A QA check mark is put on the heat treated part at the end of the process.

Challenges: Heat Treatment • Accuracy of temperature sensing. • Arduino SRAM not large enough to handle all the code that was written, so had to dismiss some possible features in order to get the code running. • Implementing a time out for the case of temperature never reaching 50 degrees Celcius

Future Considerations: Heat Treatment • Use an actual backend server instead of a cloud storage system like Cosm • Increase the overall accuracy of measurements. • Fix the latency issue and frequent dropping of connection between Arduino and the WIFI hotspot.

Acknowlegements • Special thanks to: – Bryan Wilcox – Prof. Carney – Kevin Bassett – Eric Nicks – Dallas Scholes – Mark Smart

Questions?