Well-Designed NozzleMon System

Overview

Monitoring the relative motion and pressure of the nozzle at the end of a water hose and relaying the information back to the pump operator are the main goals of building this NozzleMon system.

Details

In the pump panel unit, a 13192-EVB serves as the controller. This is comprised of a toggle switch for turning ON the power, a push button for indicating a set pressure, a bright red LED for indicating problems, and a 2x24 LCD to show pressure readings and messages. The nozzle’s processor is the MC13192 SARD board and a MPXH6400 sensor is responsible for sensing the pressure. The accelerometers on the SARD board senses the position by using MMA6261Q for the x- and y-axis and MMA1260D for the z-axis. The pressure is scaled down by a mechanical transducer MPXM201GS as the water is isolated from the transducer.

The latest instantaneous pressure reading is normally displayed by the LCD on the first line along with the average of the previous 16 readings on the second line. The current average pressure becomes the set pressure if the pump operator presses the red button. No audible output is available since the pump environment is noisy.