Hands-free suitcase

Hands-free
suitcase
Group Members:- Adithyan jP [3]
Akash Nair [6]
Akhil Boby [7]
Alan Mathew [10]
introduction

It is tiring to carry heavy luggage around the airport and

railway stations. The normal suitcase we carry around is bulky
and very hard to manage. Dragging the normal suitcase slows
you down. 

Let’s suppose you are late for your plane and you are rushing
towards the terminal, the normal suitcase would definitely slow
you down and you’ll miss the plane which you could have
caught if you were early by even a few minutes, only if the
suitcase too could have run alongside you.
introduction

Another such situation , suppose you are travelling in a train ,

with some costly accessories and your suitcase gets stolen while
you were asleep. There is no way you can possibly retrieve it. 
Suppose you are carrying very delicate antiques but you were
careless in positioning your suitcase right. You end up damaging
your valuables.
introduction

As a solution to all these problems, we introduce the hands-free

suitcase. There are a lot many features and abilities that are
available in the automated suitcase. We'll be discussing it in the
following slides.
Abstract

The product that we chose to design

was a Hands-free suitcase integrated
with a theft sensing mechanism. A
suitcase that would follow its owner
wherever it goes intelligently avoiding
any obstacles in its path with an added
feature of theft sensing to protect the
suitcase from getting stolen and lost
forever with all its contents inside.
Existing Technology
On researching more about our design project, Hands-free
suitcase, it was found that fully functional hands free suitcases
have already been designed, implemented and some even
available on the market.

Some of the most prominent Hands-free suitcases available are

specified as follows:

i) Ovis
ii) Cowarobot R1
iii) NUA Robotics Suitcase
Existing Technology
All these suitcases seem to have been packed with a lot of
features. Some of the features that were common across all
these suitcases are given below:

• Obstacle Avoidance
• A worldwide GPS tracker 
• Bluetooth connectivity 
• Rechargeable and removable battery cum power bank for
smartphones and other electronic devices 
• Added facility for independent usage of the high resolution
cameras integrated into the suitcase 
• Omni-directional wheels for a seamless travel experiences
Proposed modifications

At first we wanted to design a Hands-free suitcase with an anti-

theft mechanism but on researching the existing situation of
the Hands-free suitcases it was found that it had already been
implemented.

The suitcases were packed with features but they still had room
for improvement. The new feature that we came up with will be
briefly explained in the upcoming slides one by one.
Proposed modifications

1. Self-Recharge using motion of the wheels

The suitcase has a rechargeable battery that usually takes up to

4 hours to fully recharge. In order to increase the battery time
and decrease the need for a constant recharge, the suitcase
could be made to self-recharge by using the mechanical
energy produced by the wheels and converting it into electricity
by hooking up each of the wheels to a generator. 
Proposed modifications
 
2. Gyro-sensors to detect unusual positioning:

   These sensors can sense the position in which the suitcase is

being kept. In case the suitcase is kept in an unusual position
which could harm the contents inside the suitcase, the owner will
be able to know it through the companion app provided along
with the suitcase. 
Proposed modifications

3. Potential Damage Detection: 

The suitcase will be equipped with pressure sensors all over its
body which will be used to detect and notify the owner if the
suitcase seems to be taking damaging levels of pressure
wherever it is being still kept. 
Design
The design will be same as the hands free suitcases that are now
available in the market but with three new features implemented in
addition.

1) Orientation Detection
2) Damage Detection
3) Self-recharging using wheels
Orientation Detection

A suitcase must be placed properly so that the contents inside will

always be intact. This doesn’t always have to be the case since a suitcase
will be placed in a lot of different places at different times.

So, in case the suitcase will be placed in an unusual position that’s

either not horizontal or vertical, the owner will be notified of it’s
condition and also the companion app will feature a real-time 3D
projection of the placement of the suit case.
Implementation
This feature will be implemented with the help of gyro-sensor that will
be integrated into the motherboard of the suitcase.

We will be using an affordable and powerful

accelerometer with a gyroscope like the
MPU-9250 chip from InvenSense.
Implementation
The companion app will feature a
real-time wireframe model of the
suitcase wherever it is in whichever way
it is placed.

The user will be notified if in case the

suitcase is placed in a less than ideal
position.
Damage Detection
A suitcase doesn’t have to be handled with care as it is meant to
be while being loaded and unloaded as one travels from place to
place with different means of transport.

Brash and irresponsible handling of suitcases would lead to the

damaging of fragile contents inside. The suitcase will be designed
to alert the owner if in case such an event is detected thereby
allowing the owner to plan ahead and realize the damage before
it’s too late.
implementation
Damage detection will be implemented by the use of impact sensors
that will be attached around the body of the suitcase.

Force Sensitive Resistors (FSRs) will be used

to detect the impact and the owner will be
notified through the companion app when
the impact exceeds a certain threshold level
which would cause damage to the suitcase
and also to the contents inside.
Self-recharge
A lot of energy goes unused in a suitcase, the one that is created
constantly by the rotation of the wheels, which is the kinetic
energy.

This kinetic energy produced by the wheels can harnessed into

extra electricity to recharge the main battery of the suitcase.

Almost all hands-free suitcases seemed to lack this feature which

could increase the overall efficiency of the suitcase itself since
the battery is one of the most important part of the suitcase.
implementation

A dynamo or a generator will be the main component that will be

used here for the purpose of self recharging.

The generator will be of a sleek and small form factor placed at the
base of the suitcase close to the wheels and attached to each of the
four wheels to produce maximum output.
implementation

The four wheels of the suitcase will be

attached to the dynamo. As the
suitcase moves, the wheels will start
rotating, the wheels will lead to the
rotation of the coil in the dynamo
which generates the electricity
(through electromagnetic induction)
that will be transferred through the
commutator into the main battery of
the suitcase.
Thank you!