Research Article
Towards the Optimal Performance of Washing Machines Using
Fuzzy Logic
Ayodeji Olalekan Salau
1,2
and Haymanot Takele
3
1
Department of Electrical/Electronics and Computer Engineering, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria
2
Saveetha School of Engineering, Saveetha Institute of Medical and Technical Sciences, Sriperumbudur,
Tamil Nadu 600124, India
3
School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Debre Markos Institute of Technology, Debre Markos University,
Debre Markos, Ethiopia
Correspondence should be addressed to Ayodeji Olalekan Salau; ayodejisalau98@gmail.com
Received 1 April 2022; Revised 2 August 2022; Accepted 20 August 2022; Published 26 September 2022
Academic Editor: Cristian Mateos
Copyright © 2022 Ayodeji Olalekan Salau and Haymanot Takele. is is an open access article distributed under the Creative
Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the
original work is properly cited.
Washing machines (WMs) are common household appliances that help to save time and effort used in brushing and washing
clothes. It is a common practice to use manually operated WMs, and based on their uses, WMs are classified into top and front
open cloth washing machines, which operate based on an automatic control mechanism. In this paper, we present the design and
simulation of an Arduino fuzzy logic-based WM control system, with an emphasis on improvement in its operating algorithm.
Simulations were performed to determine the optimal time the WM takes to wash clothes, the maximum number of clothes the
WM can wash per time, the acceptable dirtiness level of cloths, and the type of clothes that the machine can wash. e number of
clothes to be washed, the degree of dirtiness, and the type of clothes govern the fuzzy logic control process adopted by the WM.
e output voltage of the WM varies as the degree of dirtiness of the water varies from 0 to 1.95 V for very dirty water output from
washed clothes and varies from 4 to 4.89 V for low-contaminated water. Another constraint considered was the load current,
which increased as the number of clothes increased. e WM’s operation time is determined by the amount of voltage and load
current used during its operation. As a result, the control of the WM is dependent on the dirtiness level of the clothes and the
amount of load.
1. Introduction
One of the frequently used machines in the household is the
washing machine (WM) [1]. A WM is a device used for
cleaning and washing clothes/textiles that are dirty. Washing
machines (WMs) can be classified into various categories
depending on their mode of operation and loading charac-
teristics. Depending on the operating characteristics, WMs
are classified into two: manual and automatic washing ma-
chines (AWMs). is may be either semi or fully automatic
depending on the loading conditions (top-loading or front-
loading WMs). WMs that employ fuzzy control automatically
calculate the effect of numerous variables and select the
optimal wash settings, despite the fact that WMs do not al-
ways use fuzzy logic and their wash durations are typically not
well controlled. Performance, productivity, simplicity, and
low cost are some of the advantages of this device [2]. Fuzzy
logic is a concept that is utilized by computers to make de-
cisions that are similar to human behavior. It helps to make
production more convenient and to boost industry pro-
ductivity. ese machines help to save time and effort used in
washing clothes. Washing by hand involves soaking, beating,
scrubbing, and rinsing dirty textiles. Manual washing con-
sumes resources, labor, time, water, and detergent, and is
most times costly depending on the number of clothes in
consideration. Most WMs have been found to operate at low
speeds, and although they do not measure the water level with
a sensor, they must measure the level of inclination by weight.
Furthermore, some WMs do not have temperature sensors to
detect overheating of the system, and wash times are manually
Hindawi
Scientific Programming
Volume 2022, Article ID 8061063, 11 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2022/8061063