Research Assistance Project

Final Report

EML 4911 Undergraduate Research Experience

Joel Adams

Professor: Ibrahim Tansel

5/3/19
Introduction
Throughout the semester, there were multiple projects were assistance was provided including a
soft robotics project and a project for analyzing the structural integrity of a material through
resistance measurements. The primary area of focus was on the small-scale pump selection and
use, and the selection of a solenoid valve. In this report, I detail the research process for both
devices as well as the selection criteria and pros and cons.

Small-Scale Pump Application

The selection process for these pumps began with a survey of different pumps that exist and their
potential uses as well as their basic features. The pumps could be categorized based on the fluid
used such as air pumps or water/liquid pumps. Air pumps were mostly used on larger-scale
applications such as filling tire pressure for motorized vehicles; air compressor pumps are what
these devices are referred to. There are also pumps used for aquatic tanks, outdoor ponds or other
small sized bodies of water. These devices have a size and used a power level that was larger
scale as well and likely not necessary for our application needs. Other pumps that are much
smaller in their power consumption and flow rates included brushless DC motors but also dosing
pumps. Dosing pumps are designed to provide precise control over the flowrates of the fluid and
came in multiple sizes. The larger sized dosing pumps are used for indoor aquatic tanks and has a
higher cost and physical size as well as complex controls. Much smaller and simplistic dosing
pumps are easy to connect with a microcontroller.

Figure 1: Examples of air compressor pump

Above are two examples of air compressor pumps, the Mbrain Blue 12V Air Compressor Pump
on the left and the AstroAI 12V Air Compressor Pump on the right. These devices have the

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advantage of having good product build and accuracy but were more pricey than other pump
options and had too large of a flowrate and would cause too much pressure in the applications.

Figure 2: Examples of Water/Pond Pumps

Above are two examples of water pumps used for fish tanks or water ponds. On the left is the
EXTRAUP 115V Electric Garden Pond Pump and on the right the VicTsing 110-120 V Water
Pump. Instead of air their pump water and have the advantage of a built-in control knob to
change the flowrates. The prices for these devices varied greatly from expensive at around $60 to
cheap around $10. The flow rate can similarly be great or mild depending on which device
selected. The disadvantages include a medium-large physical size as well as a difficulty with
combining with a microcontroller.

Figure 3: 12V Brushless DC Water Pump

Above is an example of a brushless DC motor pump which is very small-scale and easy to
connect with a microcontroller. These devices are much cheaper than the already discussed
options and was going to be the ideal choice for the soft robotics project application but couldn’t
match the precision control of an equivalent size dosing pump.

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 Figure 4: Examples of Dosing Pumps

Finally, on the left is the INTLLAB 12V Peristaltic Dosing Pump and Gikfun 12V Peristaltic
Dosing Pump on the right. These devices were ideal due to being cheap, Arduino compatible,
small and had very precise flow control due to the nature and intent of dosing pumps.

Solenoid Valve Application

Solenoid valves are for controlling the flow rate of a fluid through a magnetic field generated by
a current. The main considerations for this selection included the price, physical size and
material the valve is made of.

Figure 5: U.S. Solid 1/4" Nylon Solenoid Valve

The device that was settled is listed above for its ideal combination of these factors that were
considered. Testing the device proved to be easy and effective for the application and required no
additional modification or additional devices to be tested. Potential concerns included
overheating which would occur if the device ran for more than 8 continuous hours but that was
not necessary for its purposes and its responsiveness which didn’t turn out to be an issue.
Overall, the selection process wasn’t extensive and the testing process for the valve was met with
little setback.