Development of a Bluetooth-Controlled Automated Screw-Jack: A Mobile Device to Reduce Tyre Replacement Drudgery

Replacement of vehicle tyre is a challenge for many people especially women, the aged or the physically challenged when it has to be done using traditional (manual) screw-jack. In this work, a Bluetooth-Controlled automated screw jack is developed to reduce the drudgery involved in lifting a vehicle in the process of changing tyres. The developed device is unique because it uses Bluetooth technology from a mobile device to wirelessly connect to a microcontroller (Arduino Nano) which in turn switches an electromechanical relay. This relay switches ON and OFF the motor responsible for lifting and lowering the mechanical screw jack. The developed automated screw-jack was tested with five different models of Toyota vehicles with weights ranging from 1186 kg to 1143 Kg. The evaluation revealed an average lifting speed of 231.4 rpm and a lifting time of 50 seconds. This study also revealed that once a critical distance of 10 m (line-of-sight) between the user-friendly application on the Android mobile phone and the automated screw-jack is exceeded, the performance of the automated screw-jack deteriorates in terms of speed and stability of measured values. The device has the advantage of maintaining safety when vehicular lifting is taking place and would enable women, children and the physically challenged to easily replace their tyres with minimal effort.