Jades Brief

Foundry Control System is an Arduino driven PID control system for backyard foundries. There is a high rate of injury in the backyard foundry community due a lack of safety systems. According to Galfand Berger the incidence rate in steel foundries was 9.7 percent. They also claim that “Workers are often blamed for metal casting accidents. However, research has shown that accidents are often the result of the safety of the work environment as well as defective tools or equipment.” The Foundry Control System will improve work environments by regulating propane flow as well as airflow to automatically detect foundry flameouts and regulate heat. 

The Foundry Control System consists of 4 main parts, a thermocouple, the Arduino microcontroller, a stepper to regulate propane flow, and an intake fan. The Arduino keeps track of propane flow and fan speed as well as the foundry heat with the thermocouple and uses this information to regulate heat using a PID program. You can define a specific heat for the foundry to stabilize at and the Foundry Control System will automatically hold the foundry at the determined heat. The Foundry Control System could also automatically shut off propane when the foundry drops below a certain heat to prevent propane buildup after a flame out protecting workers.