Intelligent Overhead Water Tank Cleaner
Abstract
This project deals with design, development and implementation of an automated system for cleaning domestic cylindrical water tank. In an era marked by growing concerns over resource depletion, the pursuit of conservation of natural resources has become paramount. Water is one of them, vital for human survival, especially for drinking. While Earth is composed of about 75% water, only a small fraction is fresh and suitable for consumption. Therefore, it is our duty to save water, to keep it pollution free and as fresh as possible. Though the water pumped to homes is clean, storage conditions in overhead tanks can affect its quality. Hence, cleaning overhead water tank is very necessary. Manual tank cleaning poses health risks and the repeated procedure makes it boring & labour- intensive. An automated robotic system reduces human exposure to hazardous conditions, enhances efficiency, and minimizes labour costs. With proper integration, the whole cleaning process can be better managed saving in labour and time.
These factors motivate the development of an automated robotic cleaning system. As the system is automated, it includes an arduino controller, DC motor, Controlling circuit, hardware mechanism with brushes. The gas sensor continuously monitors the stink/stench of the internal tank or water and automatically activates the cleaning mechanism i.e., the DC motor will be activated by the the control unit designed using arduino controller which is used to drive the DC motor through the H – Bridge chip in the external electronic circuit. The H – Bridge IC is used as a driver circuit to operate the DC motor in
both the directions inside the tank. Once the motor is switched ON, it draws power from the electric supply and rotates the shaft with low RPM and high torque, the brushes mounted on the mechanism starts scrubbing the water tank. The same operation can also be implemented in industries also with required modifications for cleaning boilers, chemical tanks, etc.
In this project only circular tanks are only cleaned, but further this can be enhanced to move the cleaning brush in horizontal direction by which any type of tanks can be cleaned. In future it is implemented by artificial intelligence which can clean any type of tank.
