Vehicle Underbody washing system

Final year Mechanical Engineering students of Don Bosco College of Engineering, Fatorda, Goa, Abhijit Dessai, Dheeraj Naik, Mukesh Naik, Pratish Naik and Volney Travasso have successfully developed and tested a prototype of a “Washing System for the Underbody of the Car” under the guidance of Prof. Sachin Turi, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department.

Under present scenario cleaning of underbody of cars is very difficult due to its unreachability. The cleaning has to be done raising the vehicle on a hydraulic ramp or an underneath washing pit, leading to safety hazards to operators.

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The Product has been designed and fabricated to clean the underbody of Hatchback cars within the ground clearance of the vehicle. The system is programmed to get aligned with the width of the car, as per the signals received from IR Proximity Sensors fitted to the system. The action is achieved with the help of a steering system actuated by a stepper motor. The system is self-driven based on a programmed Arduino Uno, and powered by a DC motor. The cleaning is achieved by rotary motion of a brush powered by a separate set of DC Motors and mounted on a spring base for a varying ground clearance. Before activation of brushes, jet of water is sprayed underneath the vehicle with the help of two nozzles fitted in front of the brush system. The full system is mounted on a steel frame and all the actions of the system are controlled by ATMEGA328P microcontroller.

The prototype can be further taken for product development for domestic use. It can be very efficiently used for washing of cars within the household parking area, eliminating the time consumption in waiting at car washing centres.