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The purpose of this project was to develop a device that could accurately measure the drag on a fishing reel. There were four group members on this project and I lead the CAD design and Arduino programming.
Problem Definition: The current method of setting drag on a fishing reel is inaccurate and usually requires two people.
Drag is the friction force on a fishing reel that controls the tension in the line. If the drag is set too high, the line will snap and the fisher will lose the fish and any tackle attached to the end of their line. If the drag is set too low, the fish will not tire and the fisher is not optimally utilizing the strength of their line.
🏆 Most Marketable ME153 Project
The user inputs either the diameter or lb-test of their line, and our device will recommend a drag force. The motor then pulls off line and gives a live reading of the current drag force on the reel.
Motor Characterization
We placed different known loads onto the spool on the motor and were able to develop this linear motor characterization plot between load and motor RPM. This fit function is used to determine the drag of the reel based on motor RPM.
CAD Rendering
Physical Prototype
Due to time constraints and budget constraints ($150), we modeled the entire assembly in Solidworks so everything fit together first try (and it did). I modeled the blue box, ideated the interlocking finger with screw method for fixing the panels to each other, and wrote the Arduino code. My teammates designed the other components.
The Reel Easy team presented this project at the Junior Design Fair where we were awarded "Most Marketable" by a panel of professors.
In August 2023, we received a $3,000 innovation grant, which I was the lead author on the proposal. This grant allows us to continue developing this product as our senior capstone project, and we will also be developing a business model through the New Venture Competition.
This initial prototype was a good proof of concept for this product, but it still had many drawbacks including relying on wall power and requiring the reel to be mounted and dismounted to and from the rod. These are problems that will be addressed in our capstone project.
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