HIGHER COLLEGES OF TECHNOLOGY

FACULTY OF ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGY & SCIENCE

FUJAIRAH WOMEN COLLEGE
Electronic Engineering BAS

Capstone Design Project I:

2D Dish Antenna Positioning

System

Student Name ID
Aziza Abdalla Alameeri H00330828
Afnan Mohamed Al Ali H00295923
Aisha Mosa Ahmed H00300109
Eiman Khameis Alansaari H00277919

Project mentor: Dr. Mohammed Shah.

Team leadership: Afnan Mohamed Al Ali.
Date : 9/10/2019

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 Abstract

(An antenna is the interface between radio waves propagating through space
and electric currents moving in metal conductors, used with a transmitter or
receiver.[1] In transmission, a radio transmitter supplies an electric current to
the antenna's terminals, and the antenna radiates the energy from the current as
electromagnetic waves (radio waves). In reception, an antenna intercepts some
of the power of a radio wave in order to produce an electric current at its
terminals, that is applied to a receiver to be amplified. Antennas are essential
components of all radio equipment) (Antenna (radio), 2019)

The focus of the project is to move the antenna in 360 degree it is important for
people to go up to move it they well move using the software .so our idea is that
we have the main motor and he is the one who moves the 2 Gear and the big
Gear we will fix two columns that hold the Dish antenna and the end of the
column we will put 2 shaft bearing and they will be occupied by motors. And for
gig Gear he will move the antenna by 360 degrees and the Shaft bearing will
move it 180 degrees to the right and left.

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 Table of contact

Title Page
Cover page 1
Abstract 2
Table of contact 3
Problem definition 4-5-6
Need identification 7-8
Deliverables 9
Project management 9-10-11
Budget 12
Reference 13

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 Problem Definition

People often complain about the need to constantly update the

positioning of their antenna to have access to satellite broadcasted channels.

Changes in the antenna bearing to capture channels is largely done in a manual

manner, and if there is the slightest change in the degree of the dish’s angle, it

interrupts the access to the signal, requiring manual efforts to adjust the dish

and antenna accordingly. Another limitation in the current practice is the

difficult accessibility people may have to reach their antenna in order to

reposition and catch the signal needed. Whether it is on the roof of buildings, or

placed on top of houses, the process is inefficient, time consuming and labor

intensive. An automated motor that can independently move the dish antenna

until it catches signal will reduce cost, time and inconveniences in the long run,

making the experience of satellite access channels more positive and convenient

for the end-user.

The problem is the lack of an innovative solution to automatically adjust

the dish bearing so it is positioned to capture any changes in the satellite

frequencies. In the case of a signal getting disconnected, or the frequency

changing, which leads to static disturbances in the channel, it is necessary for the

person to readjust the direction of the antenna to catch the right, or updated,

signal from the satellite.

This gap means the dependency on manual trial and error with the use of a

receiver or to physically have to access the dish for it to regain clear access of the

channel.

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 This problem is faced by nearly every household with a television set, and

both families with their own dish and building owners will benefit from an

automated solution that will make sure they have consistent access to clear

signal. The design of the motor should be done in a way that will allow it to serve

the functional purpose of the solution in the most convenient way possible. The

functionality of the design will determine whether it can serve the purpose of

achieving the benefits or not.

A main motor will be installed and responsible for the overall functionality of the

device, which will be tasked to move the two gears that will be placed (gear 1

and gear 2). The gears will be fixed with two columns that get supported to the

dish antenna. At the end of the column will be the shaft bearing 2 that is powered

by the motor. The gig gear is connected to the antenna and will be situated in a

way that effectively moves the antenna in a 360-degree motion. The shaft

bearing, on the other hand, will only have the flexibility of horizontally moving

the antenna 180 degrees.

The customer will be able to remotely change the dish positioning,

making use of the sensor on the dish. Moreover, the convenient solution allows

the wide range of mobility in shifting the antenna positioning, identifying the

exact coordinates and position needed. This solution will save a lot of time and

effort by television owners from having to physically move the dish and reduces

the need for getting an external service provider to update the coordinates of the

dish to capture the channels in a clear way.

There are many factors that would impact the position of the dish; natural

phenomena are the most common factors. That includes strong winds that might

change the location of the dish, and even the slightest shift could impact the

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clarity of the signal. Other causes include dirt, dust and pollutants that smear the

sensor and reduce the strength of the signal received from the satellite, which

lessens the quality of the channel.

More functional issues that could impact the dish’s positioning is normal wear

and tear of the antenna or the dish that would cause it to move. For example, if

the stand the dish is on corrodes or rusts, leading it to eventually crack, the tilt of

the dish will change as a result and affect the signal it catches.

Customers would benefit from being able to remotely change the position

of the dish and be able to conveniently catch the needed signal from the comfort

of their home without having to access the dish that might be difficult to access.

Another need for the customer to benefit from the solution is the amount of time

and money, if using external help that will be saved to quickly update the

position.

There is no fully automated solution to move the positioning of a dish antenna;

the manual option requires to be updated for more hands-off and automatic

methods such as using the remote. From an efficiency and safety point of view,

the motor solution is more effective than existing methods of performing a

similar function.

Several components of the application will be using parts that have been

developed for other purposes but could also be helpful in performing a similar

function. For example, the 3-stepper motor would be the chosen motor for

moving the gear responsible for changing the position of the antenna. Even the

shaft bearing and the iron columns that will be used for the installation are all

existing components that are useful to meet the functional purpose of the

application.

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 Need identification :
First, the objectives of the project were determined with the team and then the team
made a trip to some TV shops and inquire about the previous types of dish antenna
and through the information presented to us was determined the objectives of the
project and what the buyer needs. In the first room, it was determined what the
customer required :
1- Pick up the transmitter : It the most important think for a 2D dish
antenna to find a transmitter some of costumer they don’t need to loss
time that mean if a 2D antenna find a transmitter by using sensor its
better for us .
2- Determine the transmitter angle : By selecting the transmitter the
angle will be determined using the remote.
3- Move 2D dish antenna : they don’t need to go up where we put and
move it by hand, So it need something creativity to move it directly from a
dish antenna .

4- Installation 2D dish antenna : Not affected by climatic conditions such

as rain and air .

Form customer requiremnet it has been determined what will be developed in

this project which will make it easier to a customer:

First : If 2D dish antenna not find a transmitter we will used a sensor to find it .

Second : If 2D dish antenna find a little transmitter and it is an unknown angle

so the sensor it will move it to which angle should be . ( by using a remote
control) .

Third :-

We list our product from the more important to less important and the size of
each we until now we search about good product so we will not put now we
wheel but when we know the good product .

Material used Size actual value

Stepper Motor under processing under processing

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Spur Gear under processing under processing

under processing
under processing
shaft bearing

under processing under processing

2D Dish antenna

Sensor under processing under processing

Goal : -

We have a lot of goal we have a main goal which is to make the signal very good
and We have another three goal in our mind we want to achieve
The goal is
1- To make the dish move 360 degree
2- To make the dish move up and down and left and right
3- Control the dish from the remote

Deliverables

Once completed, the product will offer customers the whole system with

installation as a one-time solution to conveniently be able to shift the position of

the dish as needed through a remote.

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 Project Management
Having a clear breakdown of the project’s different phases and planning for the

resources needed, risks that could be faced and how to interact with the

stakeholders increase the chances of a successful outcome. The below timeline

illustrates the main project milestones:

Action Completion Date

Gather necessary tools and resources 28/9/2019
Finalize the design of the overall application 1/10/2019
Assemble the pieces 2/10/2019
Finalize the system to be compatible with receivers 4/10/2019
Test the application 5/10/2019

The work will be divided across the team members to finalize more

responsibilities in parallel.

[aziza] will be responsible for searching for the pieces and doing a price

[aisha] comparison to determine the final list and procuring them.

[afnan] will be working on the design and do the research of the most efficient

methods of assembling all the pieces together that would be cost-effective and

take little space.

[Eiman] will be focused on the programming of the system and making sure that

it is universally compatible with all of the major types of receivers so the solution

is usable by most people who own television sets.

- Team mentor :-

Name: mohammed shah

Contact number : 022069460

Email :mshah@hct.ac.ae

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Weekly meeting : we are meeting with mentor every Thursday from 1pm to 2

pm .

Communication Plan
As long as we are moving step-by-step, until now we didn’t define all the needed

components for the project. Since we are in the third week now from when we

started working on the project, we have an image about the helicopter, how it

works, what type of sensors we need, how to be used & what it will be used for.

We as a group decided to go to the market after few weeks from now because the

sensors need deep understanding, search, and knowledge of how it works, in

order to get the results we need. Our goal is to find the needed equipment that

has a limited price within our budget. The budget is limited by HCT and it has not

been defined until now, as they give us the money in order to support our project

and complete it successfully. We hope to achieve our goal in order to create

something that helps our community and country. Once we have that sorted out,

we will start searching for companies that have high quality components and

equipment within our needs and help us achieve our goal. After having all the

needed equipment, we will start building a prototype of the project, and then

programming and testing it, while making corrections if needed.

Resource Planning

For our project, we decided that in order to accomplish the desired result we

would need to use a closed loop control system and PLC programming skills will

be used too. The flying vehicle needs to be controlled by a software program that

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will be created by us as a group to reach the correct height and distance away

from the building on fire using the panel. Using a closed loop means that there is

a feedback system and this is what we aim to form using this method. In order to

achieve this, we must have a clear background about closed loop systems,

programming skills and how to deal with the problems patiently. Since our

project is about rescuing people in

cases of emergencies, we must be careful to avoid any mistakes or problems that

could make things worse. So this needs to be completed in a successful manner.

Project Risk Management

At the beginning of the week each, roles are divided between group members so

that the work can be done equally. At the end of each week, we collect the

summaries about what each student did and redistribute the roles. As we

mentioned before we are still in the first weeks so we are still collecting

information and it needs detailed research. Further, we are planning to do more

after covering all the needed information. The following is a table containing our

responsibilities and what we need to do in the coming days

Budget
In the first we but a 2000 dhs to buy our product than we check each how much

so we start like a group to see the product in the market like the dish and the

sensor we use to make the antenna move and her some of the things we search

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 about it to buy it for our project .but there is some product we still search about

it so the price will be change.

Name of product Picture of The price of product and the Number of products we
place we by the product
product need

Stepper motor 52.19 1

Amazon

Shaft bearing 107.97 3

Amazon

Gear 50 2

Ubuy

Motor gear 48.58 1

Amazon

Dish 463 1

Senstic

Reference

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References
Antenna (radio). (2019, October 1). Retrieved from Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antenna_(radio)

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