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Sensors and Materials, Vol. 33, No. 11 (2021) 4069–4075
MYU Tokyo
S & M 2746

Designing, Manufacturing, and Testinga Voice-controlled Intelligent Drawer
Yao-Tsung Yang,1 Tan-Chih Chang,2 and Feng-Min Lai1*
1Bachelor Program for Design and Materials for Medical Equipment and Devices, Da-Yeh University

No. 168, University Rd., Dacun, Changhua 515006, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

2Department of Mechanical and Automation Engineering, Da-Yeh University

No. 168, University Rd., Dacun, Changhua 515006, Taiwan (R.O.C.)(Received July 6, 2021; accepted November 16, 2021)Keywords: smart, carbon fiber, light-weight, voice control, sensor, Arduino

In this study, a voice control model was assembled using Arduino UNO and LD3320 sensor
modules, and this model was then used to create the voice control system for use in a smart
drawer that could improve the convenience of daily life. We enhanced the receiving function of
the voice control system to check the safety of the smart drawer, to reduce the error rate ofspeech recognition, and to raise the precision of supportive action. We developed carbon/carbon
nanotubes (CNTs)/epoxy parts and one smart drawer with carbon fibers woven into cloth withlight weight, high strength, and high tenacity. The carbon-fiber-woven cloth combined withCNTs/epoxy was stronger than those previously used in auxiliary appliances and achieved
greater lightness and strength. We combined the carbon-fiber-woven cloth and CNTs/epoxy withdifferent weight percentages of CNTs (0.5, 1, and 2 wt%) in epoxy, and manufactured test piecesof carbon/CNTs/epoxy samples with different amounts of CNTs and performed tensile, threepoint bending, and impulse tests. Finally, to reduce the weight of the drawer, we used carbon/
CNTs/epoxy components comprising the carbon-fiber-woven cloth and 1 wt% CNTs/epoxy. We
created a smart drawer with voice control in this study; the drawer’s switch can be controlledusing voice recognition and remote control. The smart drawer is composed of a light-weight,
high-strength, and high-tenacity carbon fiber/epoxy composite material with 1 wt% CNTs. The
carbon/CNTs/epoxy smart drawer has the advantages of light weight, durability, controllability,
and signal stability, making it ideal for use in care devices. The LD3320 sensor board combinedwith Arduino UNO successfully used the sound to drive the motor of the smart drawer, and theswitch action can be performed.

1.

Introduction

When a voice control model is combined with an auxiliary medical appliance, theconvenience of the appliance may be increased. The growth of the global aged population is thekey impetus behind the growth of the medical mobility auxiliary appliance market. Carbon fiber
composite material has many advantages such as light weight, high rigidity, high strength,
superior design freedom, and corrosion resistance.(1) However, the demand for carbon fibers is*Corresponding author: e-mail: fengmin@mail.dyu.edu.twhttps://doi.org/10.18494/SAM.2021.3534

ISSN 0914-4935 © MYU K.K.
https://myukk.org/

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Sensors and Materials, Vol. 33, No. 11 (2021)

stepping toward a positive and stable high growth trend, and the supply side will also move
forward hand in hand.(2) Arduino UNO, which can be used to develop interactive objects, handle
a large amount of switch or sensor inputs, and control other physical outputs,(3) was adopted tocontrol the switch of a smart drawer. The LD3320 sensor received the voice to drive the motor of
the smart drawer, and the switch action can be performed.

2.

Materials and Methods

In this study, we used a carbon fiber plank and bent steel to create the product design of thesmart drawer and used Arduino UNO and LD3320 modules to assemble the voice control systemwith the program written in the Romanization system (as shown in Fig. 1). To fabricate thedrawer, we adopted the hand layup method (4) to prepare the carbon fiber plank and performed
tensile, three-point bending, and shock tests.(5,6)
2.1

Preparation of materials

The materials were prepared by a hand layup approach using carbon-fiber-woven cloth andcarbon nanotubes (CNTs)/epoxy. We first mixed 1 wt% CNTs (CF182C, Advanced Nanopower
Inc.) and epoxy (P859-1, Hong Guan R&D Co.) into a CNTs/epoxy paste. Then, the front surfaceof the carbon-fiber-woven cloth (CFK680) was coated with the CNTs/epoxy paste and dried in anoven at 130 °C for 120 min. The main body of the smart drawer comprises carbon fiber parts
bent to form a right angle and a carbon fiber plank(7) (Fig. 2). First, we cut the carbon-fiberwoven cloth and release the cloth into appropriate sizes.(8) Second, two bent sheets of steel areclad with the released paper and the carbon-fiber-woven cloth coated with the 1 wt% CNTs/
epoxy paste is fixed between the two bent sheets of steel. This ensemble is placed in an oven fordrying at 130 °C for 90 min (Fig. 3).
2.2

Carbon/CNTs/epoxy samples and mechanical property testing

Samples of carbon/CNTs/epoxy were prepared by coating the front surface of the carbonfiber-woven cloth with CNTs/epoxy pastes containing 0.5, 1, and 1.5 wt% CNTs for use invarious tests of the mechanical properties.

Fig. 1.

Fabrication processes of intelligent drawer.

Sensors and Materials, Vol. 33, No. 11 (2021)

Fig. 2.

Fig. 4.

(Color online) Parts of the intelligent drawer.

(Color online) Samples for tensile testing.

(a)Fig. 6.

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Fig. 3. (Color online) Drying the parts of theintelligent drawer in an oven.

Fig. 5.
test.

(Color online) Setup of three-point bending(b)(Color online) (a) Impulse test sample with notch and (b) impulse test machine.

The tensile test sample size was 140 × 10 × 5 mm3 (Fig. 4), the tensile gage length was
40 mm, and the stretching rate was 1 mm/min. The three-point bending test (Fig. 5) wasperformed in accordance with the ASTM D790-10 test standard; the bending test rate was 1 mm/min and the bending test sample size was 80 × 12.85 × 3.2 mm3. The impulse test sample for theimpact test had a V-shaped notch with a depth of 0.25 R ± 0.5 mm (Fig. 6), and the sample size
was 63.5 × 12.85 × 3.2 mm3. Each test was conducted five times.

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2.3Sensors and Materials, Vol. 33, No. 11 (2021)

Voice control program coding and controller assembly

We used Arduino UNO and LD3320 voice recognition modules to build a voice controlsystem (Fig. 7). Arduino IDE prescribed the program in a laptop computer and combined theArduino panel and LD3320 module.

3.

Results and Discussion

3.1

Results of smart drawer mechanical property testing

To ensure sufficient strength for the smart drawer, we performed tensile, three-point bending,and impact tests. The test samples prepared using the carbon-fiber-woven cloth and CNTs/epoxy
pastes with 0, 0.5, 1, and 1.5 wt% CNTs. The results of the tensile, three-point bending, andimpact tests are shown in Tables 1, 2, and 3, respectively. All test results indicated thecombination of 1 wt% CNTs/epoxy paste and carbon-fiber-woven cloth to be the best for thesmart drawer.

Fig. 7.

(Color online) Voice control system.

Table 1
Tensile test results.
Amount of CNTs Young’s coefficient
(wt%)
(GPa)
0
7.106
0.5
8.055
1
9.586
1.5
8.951

Breaking stress(MPa)
356.98381.66426.19372.33

Density(kg/m3)
1602
1721
1921
1845

Table 2Three-point bending test results.
Amount of CNTs Young’s coefficient
(wt%)
(GPa)
0
3.645
0.5
4.015
1
4.460
1.5
3.957

Density(kg/m3)1432
1359
14721399

Specific rigidity(kN·m/kg)
2.545
2.954
3.029
2.828

Specific rigidity(kN·m/kg)
4.435
4.680
4.990
4.851

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Table 3
Impact test results.
Amount of CNTs
(wt%)
0
0.5
1
1.5

3.2

Impact strength(J/m)
188.75198.22221.86210.544073

Density(kg/m3)
1280
1326
1446
1419

Specific strength(10 −3 J·m 2/kg)
147.460
149.487
153.43148.37

Voice control test for the smart drawer

The voice control module was used to control the driving motor to move the drawer, which
could make it easier for the elderly to manipulate the drawer (Fig. 8). Arduino UNO and LD3320
sensor modules were used to build a voice control model. The smart drawer was tested by anumber of people and found to respond appropriately in all cases (Fig. 9). The first set of voicecommands had four words, and the following instructions cannot be operated without the first
set of commands. In the second command, the spoken word “high” was the switch to open thecircuit.

Fig. 8.

(Color online) Construction of the smart drawer and the finished product.

Fig. 9.

(Color online) Different people test the switch model.

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Sensors and Materials, Vol. 33, No. 11 (2021)

Conclusions

1. The voice control model in this study comprised Arduino UNO and LD3320 sensor modules,
and the program was written in the Romanization system.
2. The LD3320 sensor board combined with Arduino UNO successfully used the sound to drive
the motor of the smart drawer, and the switch action can be performed.
3. In the tensile test, the maximum fracture stress was 367.58 MPa and the specific rigidity was
4.435 kN·m/kg.
4. The bending performance of the carbon fiber sample was indicated by the results of the threepoint bending test; Young’s coefficient was 4.46 GPa for the carbon/1 wt% CNTs/epoxy paste
sample.
5. In the impact test result, the impact strength reached 221.86 J/m. Overall, the combinations ofcarbon fiber and CNTs/epoxy pastes that we used had high strength and high impact strengthfeatures.
6. The smart drawer made of carbon/CNTs/epoxy had light weight, good strength, good
controllability, and signal stability, making it promising as a care aid.

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About the Authors		

Yao-Tsung Yang received his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Da-Yeh University,Taiwan, in 1993 and 1997, respectively. Since 2017, he has been an associate
professor at Da-Yeh University, Taiwan. His main areas of interest include
dental implantology, prosthodontology, 3D printing, the manufacture ofcomposite materials, tensile test research, control, and computer graphics.
(p2410@mail.dyu.edu.tw)
Tan-Chih Chang received his B.S. degree from Feng Chia University,Taiwan, in 1986 and his M.S. degree from Feng Chia University, Departmentof Civil Engineering, Taiwan, in 1989. He is currently a Ph.D. student at DaYeh University. Since 2018, he has been a researcher at Da-Yeh University,Taiwan. His research interests include 3D printing, the manufacture ofcomposite materials, tensile testing in carbon fiber research, voice control, andcomputer graphics. (hiciv@ms43.hinet.net)

		Feng-Min Lai received his B.S. degree from Chinese Culture University,
Taiwan, in 1991 and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from the National Chiao TungUniversity, Taiwan, in 1993 and 1997, respectively. From 2002 to 2016, he wasan associate professor at Da-Yeh University, Taiwan. Since 2017, he has been aprofessor at Da-Yeh University. His research interests are in composite
materials, computer graphics, and medical aid development.
(fengmin@mail.dyu.edu.tw)