Engineering Commons^™

Coorstek- Spine Discectomy, Rhett Prestwich, Logan Bolingbroke, Ryan Thomsen, Aaron Blanchard, Kayla Park

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The objective is to design improved instrumentation for performing a spine discectomy. In particular, the instrument should remove the nucleus pulposus without damaging the annulus in order to prepare the spine disc for the insertion of an artificial spacer. As more nucleus pulposus is removed from the disc, the spine will fuse more quickly and completely after the artificial spacer is inserted. The current process involves removing the nucleus pulposus piece by piece with pituitary rongeurs. This process is slow and often incomplete.

Lightweight Deployment Mechanism Of Solar Arrays For Use In Cubesats, John Wood Ellis

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Cube satellites, also referred to as CubeSats, were developed in the late twentieth century, and have since served as a cost-effective method of gathering out-of-this-world data. The development of these small-scale satellites have helped universities and small companies worldwide to perform important experiments, as well as gather critical data in order to provide for further space exploration. Cube satellites are designed to be self-sustaining, by using solar cells to capture impinging thermal energy and convert it to power to be consumed by the electronics housed within the satellite itself. In order to function properly, these cells are extended in an …

Steady State Simulations Of A Mars Entry Vehicle, Daniel Guy Schauerhamer

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Using computational fluid dynamics, steady state simulations of a capsule like Mars entry vehicle at certain trajectory points was performed. Trajectory points were chosen incrementally from 90 to 11.5 kilometers altitude. The Direct Simulation Monte Carlo method and the Overflow 2 Navier-Stokes solver were used depending on Knudsen number values greater than or less than 0.1, respectively. To compare flow effects of the maximum angle of attack error margin of three degrees, axially symmetric cases were computed and compared to three dimensional cases demonstrating an attack angle (α) of three degrees. Lift and drag coefficients are reported and compared. The …

Women In Aviation, Kari Anne Sparks-Webb

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

My goal during my enrollment in the USU Professional Pilot Program is to further the advancement of women in the aviation industry and increase the number of women in the flight program. So, when it came time to choose my senior project there was no better choice for me than to exhibit at the Women in Aviation Convention. It would be a huge step for the school and a great opportunity for me and other students in the program.

Research And Design Of A High L/D Aircraft, Blake Ashby, Gregory Nielson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This senior design team, consisting of Blake Ashby, Shelly Barlow, Greg Nielson, Deryl Snyder, and Chris Wright, designed, built, and flew an airplane that met the requirements of the Cessna/ONR Student Design/Build/Fly Competition sponsored by AIAA. This radio-controlled airplane was designed to fly the most laps around a course in seven minutes using only 2.5 pounds of NiCad batteries. A total of three senior design teams from Utah State University designed separate airplanes. Though all three teams designed, built, and tested complete airplanes, each emphasized a different aspect of a successful entry. This team emphasized theoretical and numerical analysis in …

Freezing Point Mobile Munitions Assessment Sytem: Thermal Chamber Redesign, Sara Gifford, Preston Harris

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The Army is actively investigating non-intrusive methods to identify six chemical weapons agents. The chemical munitions in question are often found scattered across military bases and other facilities. These non-stockpile munitions are specifically targeted for identification using the mobile munitions assessment system. This program is being administered by the Idaho National Engineering Laboratory.

Optimization Of Torquer Coil Design For Use With The Small Satellite Attitude Control Simulator, David Deloyd Anderson

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

This paper presents a procedure used to optimize the performance of a ferromagnetic core magnetic torquer coil design for use on the Space Dynamics Laboratory (Logan, UT) Small Satellite Attitude Control Simulator. The items of optimization include the primary goal of maximizing the coil 's magnetic moment while reducing power consumption and system mass within given power, mass, and dimensional constraints. The optimization process makes use of several simple equations to determine a few starting points for design, after which an iterative approach based on experimentation is used to produce the final design. It is found that optimal magnetic moment …

Advanced Rover Chassis, Eric Alan Poulson, Collin Lewis, Todd Graves

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Background:

The six wheeled rover vehicle detailed in this design is intended as an upgrade test bed for the sensor array and autonomous navigation algorithms in use by Utah State University's Center for Self-Organizing and Intelligent Systems (CSOIS). The CSOIS's sensor suite can successfully detect and avoid unnavigable obstacles up to five vehicle lengths in front of the vehicle. The center presently uses a modified RC type chassis and only supports two wheel drive. This chassis was adequate to bring the CSOIS's algorithms to a proof-of-principles state, but in order to place the system in any practical application, a full …