Engineering Commons^™

On The Application Of Mechanical Vibration In Robotics-Assisted Soft Tissue Intervention, Iman Khalaji

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Mechanical vibration as a way of transmitting energy has been an interesting subject to study. While cyclic oscillation is usually associated with fatigue effect, and hence a detrimental factor in failure of structures and machineries, by controlled transmission of vibration, energy can be transferred from the source to the target. In this thesis, the application of such mechanical vibration in a few surgical procedures is demonstrated.

Three challenges associated with lung cancer diagnosis and treatment are chosen for this purpose, namely, Motion Compensation, tumor targeting in lung Needle Insertion and Soft Tissue Dissection:

1. A robotic solution is proposed …

Design Of A Haptic Interface For Medical Applications Using Magneto-Rheological Fluid Based Actuators, Nima Najmaei

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This thesis reports on the design, construction, and evaluation of a prototype two degrees-of-freedom (DOF) haptic interface, which takes advantage of Magneto-Rheological Fluid (MRF) based clutches for actuation. Haptic information provides important cues in teleoperated systems and enables the user to feel the interaction with a remote or virtual environment during teleoperation. The two main objectives in designing a haptic interface are stability and transparency. Indeed, deficiencies in these factors in haptics-enabled telerobotic systems has the introduction of haptics in medical environments where safety and reliability are prime considerations. An actuator with poor dynamics, high inertia, large size, and heavy …

Semi-Automated Glass Mat Splice Operation For Asphalt Shingle Line, Justin Bracci, Harry Zhao, Chad Linafelter

Mechanical Engineering

The following report details the senior project sponsored by GAF Materials Corporation, Shafter, CA in regards to semi-automating a glass-mat splicing table for asphalt roofing shingle production. Herein includes details, research, design, and analysis regarding the semi-automation of the gluing processes for the splicing table. A working prototype was manufactured and tested for the future implementation onto GAF’s production line or further senior project involvement.

Run-Time Hev Engine-Generator Power-Speed Optimization For Fuel Consumption And Emissions Reduction, Chester Paul Rowe Ii

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

As fuel economy and emissions standards become more stringent, Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEV) using series architectures are being increasingly explored. Due to the decoupling of the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) from the road, the primary control challenge in this architecture is the optimization of an ICE control law. A run-time Genset speed controller is presented for use during the charge-sustaining mode in a Series PHEV to find the optimal operating parameters for a conventional diesel engine coupled to an electric generator in terms of minimized fuel consumption and emissions generation. On board vehicle sensors provide real time data to …

Electric Porsche Drivetrain Re-Design, Taylor Carlson, Quinton Petty, Spencer Treffry

Mechanical Engineering

The objective of this project was to redesign the drivetrain of the electric 1977 Porsche 911 Targa S with the goal of optimizing the drivetrain for motor efficiency and performance. The focus was to redesign the interface between the electric motor and rear wheels to maximize the efficiency of power transmission from the motor to the ground.

Two systems were proposed, a fixed gear reduction and two motors with an electronic differential. The fixed gear reduction was chosen to be designed and built by replacing the stock Porsche transmission with a differential featuring a favorable gear ratio for the electric …

Wingtip Dynamics Simulator, Eugene Fox, Nick Rodriguez, Steven Rieber

Mechanical Engineering

Raytheon is a defense contracting company with an electronic warfare division that is developing a radio frequency signal triangulation system. Part of the focus in improving this technology is the need for accurate and real time locational knowledge of the signal receivers, which are located at the tips of aircraft wings. Due to turbulence during flight, the fluttering motion of the wings alter the distance and angle relationships of the two receivers and add noise to the received signal data, which negatively affect the triangulation estimates. To mitigate this error caused by the wing flutter, Raytheon is developing a software …

Design And Control Of A Two-Wheeled Robotic Walker, Airton R. Da Silva Jr.

Masters Theses

This thesis presents the design, construction, and control of a two-wheeled inverted pendulum (TWIP) robotic walker prototype for assisting mobility-impaired users with balance and fall prevention. A conceptual model of the robotic walker is developed and used to illustrate the purpose of this study. A linearized mathematical model of the two-wheeled system is derived using Newtonian mechanics. A control strategy consisting of a decoupled LQR controller and three state variable controllers is developed to stabilize the platform and regulate its behavior with robust disturbance rejection performance. Simulation results reveal that the LQR controller is capable of stabilizing the platform and …

Ubot-7: The Design Of A Compliant Dexterous Mobile Manipulator, Jonathan Cummings

Masters Theses

This thesis presents the design of uBot-7, the latest version of a dexterous mobile manipulator. This platform has been iteratively developed to realize a high performance-to-cost dexterous whole body manipulator with respect to mobile manipulation. The semi-anthropomorphic design of the uBot is a demonstrated and functional research platform for developing advanced autonomous perception, manipulation, and mobility tasks. The goal of this work is to improve the uBot’s ability to sense and interact with its environment in order to increase the platforms capability to operate dexterously, through the incorporation of joint torque feedback, and safely, through the implementation of passive and …

New Generator Control Algorithms For Smart-Bladed Wind Turbines To Improve Power Capture In Below Rated Conditions, Bryce B. Aquino

Masters Theses

With wind turbines growing in size, operation and maintenance has become a more important area of research with the goal of making wind energy more profitable. Wind turbine blades are subjected to intense fluctuating loads that can cause significant damage over time. The need for advanced methods of alleviating blade loads to extend the lifespan of wind turbines has become more important as worldwide initiatives have called for a push in renewable energy. An area of research whose goal is to reduce the fatigue damage is smart rotor control. Smart bladed wind turbines have the ability to sense aerodynamic loads …

Flow Induced Vibration On Piezoelectric Structures: Prediction, Experiment And Applications, Felix Ewere

Von Braun Symposium Student Posters

No abstract provided.

Team Nathan Suspension, Frankie J. Wiggins, Alex D. Seitz, Justin P. Bautista

Mechanical Engineering

Nathan Cooper is an 8-year old boy with Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA). SMA has affected Nathan’s muscle development and requires him to use the Standing Dani™ mobility device. The Standing Dani is a motorized standing wheelchair, or Wheelstand. Nathan controls and uses it to get around. Though the Standing Dani performs well for most functions, it has some distinct issues. The primary issue that this project addresses is its lack of suspension and the discomfort that Nathan feels as a result. After talking with our client, we developed several specifications generally related to geometry, safety, vehicle dynamics, and reliability. Many …

Uncertainty Quantification For A Class Of Mems-Based Vibratory Angular Rate Sensors, Nujhat Abedin

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Numerical schemes that are suitable for predicting response statistics of mass-spring and ring gyroscopes are developed when this class of vibratory gyroscopes are subjected to certain system parameters as well as environment uncertainties. The emphasis is placed on the steady-state part of the response since it is more critical to the operation of a gyroscope. A peak-picking approach which simulates the demodulation process which is used in practice is employed first before applying the Monte Carlo simulation method to predict the response statistics. A number of simulation trials to predict response statistics have been performed for mass-spring and ring-type gyroscopes …

Development Of Integration Software For Multiple Inkjet Functionalization Systems, Jieyu Lu, J. William Boley, George T.-C. Chiu

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

Inkjet printing is widely used in functional product manufacturing. Performing a printing task requires communication and synchronization among multiple subsystems (e.g. motion and drop ejection), which introduces complexity in the overall printing system. A user interface has been developed, which enables users to input printing parameters and patterns for printing functional materials. The interface then sends commands to the controllers that execute the printing process. The software can also be expanded to carry out standard experiments for functional printing research and characterization. Moreover, the software is transferable to multiple systems. One application explored using the software is drug anti- counterfeiting …

Fluid Powered Miniature In-Vivo Robots For Minimally Invasive Surgery (Mis), Abolfazl Pourghodrat

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Minimizing the invasiveness of surgery is believed to improve patient outcomes. Bleeding, infection, and pain are major concerns in surgery afflicting patients for decades. Minimally invasive techniques have come into play to reduce these concerns and smooth the evolution of abdominal surgery to a scarless process where nearly all surgeries can be performed without a skin incision. Technology continually advances the frontier of development of novel surgical devices to implement less invasive surgical techniques.

Fusion of robotics and Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) has created new opportunities to develop diagnostic and therapeutic tools. Surgical robotics is advancing from externally actuated systems …

Modeling, Analysis, And Verification Of A Weld-Breaking Mechanism For Automatic Circuit Recloser Applications, Brian Korves

Master's Theses (2009 -)

The automatic circuit recloser (ACR) is responsible for protecting electrical distribution grids in the event that high voltage power lines come in contact with ground. In order to prevent damage, ACRs break the electrical continuity of the circuit through the use of a vacuum interrupter and a weld breaking mechanism. Vacuum interrupters consist of two metallic contacts in an air-tight ceramic housing. Due to the electrical interactions that take place during the interruption process, unintended welds are formed between the contacts. These welds have the ability to impede or completely stop the interruption process, thus rendering the ACR inoperable. In …

Energy Conservation By Intermittently Recirculating And Aerating An Aquaponics System With An Airlift, Bjorg Magnea Olafs

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

An airlift device providing aeration and circulation was designed to reduce electrical power requirements for aquaponics by eliminating the need for a water pump. The airlift performed better than predicted and achieved water flow rates of 10 L/min at 25 °C, in comparison to the theoretical design performance 2.65 L/min.

Koi (Cyprinus carpio) and sweet basil (Ocimum basilicum) were cultured for five weeks in two identical aquaponics systems. The system was located indoors and consisted of a fish tank, a sump tank, and a soil-free growth media bed under artificial lighting. The total water volume in each system was 230 …

Mobile Solar Pv Trainer, Matthew Myers, Matthew Clause, Lawrence Smith

Mechanical Engineering

The aim of the Mobile Solar PV Trainer Project was to design, construct and test a versatile and robust laboratory training rig for the Cal Poly Electrical Engineering department. This project was inspired by the desire of one or more California Polytechnic State University electrical engineering professors to add laboratory components to two established upper division electrical engineering courses in photovoltaic panels and solar power. This report contains a detailed description of the trainer’s desired specifications, our ideation process, a thorough description of the selected trainer design including part drawings, assembly documentation and a bill of materials as well as …

Automated Foosball Table, Jim R. Stefani, Alex J. Herpy, Brett Gordon Jaeger, Kevin S. Haydon, Derek Alan Hamel

Mechanical Engineering

This project is the second iteration of an automated foosball table for Yaskawa America as a trade show display. The table is meant to provide an interactive experience which highlights the speed and precision of the Yaskawa hardware. The first iteration of the project was mainly focused on creating the physical hardware for the system and to begin the basic programming for the system. This phase of the project was focused on finalizing the physical hardware of the system, implementing the vision system and to continue the basic programing of the system AI. A third team will be assigned to …

Friction Test Machine, Kyle Raymon Schless, Lynda Beatriz Tesillo, Mustapha Nadri

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Characterization Of 3d Interconnected Microstructural Network In Mixed Ionic And Electronic Conducting Ceramic Composites, William M. Harris, Kyle S. Brinkman, Ye Lin, Dong Su, Alex P. Cocco, Arata Nakajo, Matthew B. Degostin, Yu-Chen Karen Chen-Wiegart, Jun Wang, Fanglin Chen, Yong S. Chu, Wilson K. S. Chiu

Faculty Publications

The microstructure and connectivity of the ionic and electronic conductive phases in composite ceramic membranes are directly related to device performance. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) including chemical mapping combined with X-ray nanotomography (XNT) have been used to characterize the composition and 3-D microstructure of a MIEC composite model system consisting of a Ce_0.8Gd_0.2O₂ (GDC) oxygen ion conductive phase and a CoFe₂O₄ (CFO) electronic conductive phase. The microstructural data is discussed, including the composition and distribution of an emergent phase which takes the form of isolated and distinct regions. Performance implications are considered …

Modeling, Analysis, And Control Of A Mobile Robot For In Vivo Fluoroscopy Of Human Joints During Natural Movements, Matthew A. Young

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, the modeling, analysis and control of a multi-degree of freedom (mdof) robotic fluoroscope was investigated. A prototype robotic fluoroscope exists, and consists of a 3 dof mobile platform with two 2 dof Cartesian manipulators mounted symmetrically on opposite sides of the platform. One Cartesian manipulator positions the x-ray generator and the other Cartesian manipulator positions the x-ray imaging device. The robotic fluoroscope is used to x-ray skeletal joints of interest of human subjects performing natural movement activities. In order to collect the data, the Cartesian manipulators must keep the x-ray generation and imaging devices accurately aligned while …

Bellevue-Santa Fe Charter School Solar Panel Project, Dulce Arroyo Martinez, Henrik Lee, Moises Quiroz, Timothy Iafrate

Mechanical Engineering

This project covers the design, manufacture, and installation of solar panel frames on a charter school in Avila Beach, CA. Through preliminary research regarding important factors (such as solar movement, ideal panel angle, and site-specific factors), a frame that meets the standards set forth in the California Building Codes was designed. After approval by presiding authorities, parts specified in the design were ordered, inspected upon arrival, and manufactured to the design as necessary. Much of the challenge was related to the installation aspect of the project—coordination with the proper authorities and correct submission of applications was integral to the success …

Process Capability In A Computer Integrated Manufacturing Cell, Andrew Austin

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

With the rise of automation in traditional manufacturing processes, more companies are beginning to integrate computer integrated manufacturing (CIM) cells on their production floors. Through CIM cell integration, companies have the ability to reduce process time and increase production. One of the problems created with CIM cell automation is caused by the dependency the sequential steps have on one another. Dependency created by the previous step increases the probability that a process error could occur due to previous variation. One way to eliminate this dependency is through the use of an in-process measuring device such as a Renishaw spindle probe …

The Design Of A Mobile, Animatronic Bald Eagle, Eric Burns

Phi Kappa Phi Research Symposium (2012-2016)

Modern animatronics are used as a tool to help engage audiences in realistic and entertaining experiences. Many animatronic figures are dynamic in movement, but static in mobility. The research presented covers the beginnings of mobile animatronic research. An animatronic bald eagle, Opportunity, was designed for that purpose. Animations for Opportunity are generated by integration of Arduino, Pololu Mini Maestro, and Hitec Servo Motors. Arduino receives signals from flex sensors which cause voltage variations when “flexed”. The 1:1 scale, animatronic eagle can be perched on the arm of an “actor” who simulates an eagle’s caretaker. The flex sensors are located within …

Analytical Performance Evaluation Of Thermoelectric Modules Using Effective Material Properties, Sean Lwe Leslie Weera

Masters Theses

Designers often face the predicament of non-standardized forms of performance data provided by thermoelectric module manufacturers. Other than experimental means the only method to evaluate the performance of a product would be through analytical modeling using material properties that are usually undisclosed and unknown. This work studies the theoretical approach of obtaining such material properties using the maximum operating parameters reported by the manufacturers. These values are then analytically employed to evaluate the performances of these thermoelectric modules. Experimental means are also devised and carried out on these test samples to validate the integrity of the results. Three-way comparisons between …

Towards A Sustainable Modular Robot System For Planetary Exploration, S. G. M. Hossain

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This thesis investigates multiple perspectives of developing an unmanned robotic system suited for planetary terrains. In this case, the unmanned system consists of unit-modular robots. This type of robot has potential to be developed and maintained as a sustainable multi-robot system while located far from direct human intervention. Some characteristics that make this possible are: the cooperation, communication and connectivity among the robot modules, flexibility of individual robot modules, capability of self-healing in the case of a failed module and the ability to generate multiple gaits by means of reconfiguration. To demonstrate the effects of high flexibility of an individual …

Modeling Stress Distributions In Anodic Alumina Films Prior To The Onset Of Pore Formation, Kurt R. Hebert, Ömer Ö. Çapraz, Shinsuke Ide, Pranav Shrotriya

Ömer Özgür Çapraz

Porous anodic oxide (PAO) films are produced when reactive metals such as Al and Ti are electrochemically oxidized in baths that dissolve the oxide. Research in PAObased devices has been stimulated by the self-organized hexagonally ordered pore arrays found for some anodizing conditions. The initiation and ordering of pores follows a morphological instability of the initially planar barrier oxide, upon reaching a critical oxide thickness.

Morphological Instability Leading To The Formation Of Self-Ordered Porous Anodic Oxide Films, Ömer Özgür Çapraz, Kurt R. Hebert, Pranav Shrotriya, Fanliang Gao, Wei Hong

Ömer Özgür Çapraz

Porous anodic oxide (PAO) films are grown by electrochemical polarization of Al, Ti, Zr, Nb, Hf, and W in baths that dissolve the oxide. Procedures to grow films with highly ordered arrangements of nanoscale pores have led to the extensive use of PAO films as templates for nanostructured devices. The porous film geometry may be controlled precisely via the film formation voltage and bath composition (1). Recently, tracer studies and modeling showed that transport in the amorphous oxide involves both electrical migration and plastic flow (2,3). The oxide seems to behave as an incompressible material during steady-state growth of the …

Stress Distributions In Anodic Alumina Films Prior To The Onset Of Pore Formation, Ömer Ö. Çapraz, Pranav Shrotriya, Kurt R. Hebert

Ömer Özgür Çapraz

Porous anodic oxide (PAO) films are grown by electrochemical oxidation of valve metals in baths that dissolve the oxide. The self-organized hexagonal patterns of pores in these films have led to many investigations of PAO-based devices. However, the mechanisms of pore formation and ordering have not yet been fully explained. Recent experimental and modeling results indicate the importance of plastic flow during growth of self-ordered PAO.1 Here we investigated the origin of stress driving plastic flow, and the possible role of stress in the morphological instability leading to pore formation. We report the first measurements of the evolution of stress …

Tensile Stress Induced By Aluminum Corrosion, Ömer Ö. Çapraz, Kurt R. Hebert, Pranav Shrotriya, Gery R. Stafford

Ömer Özgür Çapraz

Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) is a critical problem affecting the safety and viability of both existing energy conversion systems and ones under consideration for future development. In SCC, chemical interactions of a metal with the environment during corrosion accelerate degradation of materials under tensile applied stress, by reducing the critical stress intensity for crack propagation. Many competing mechanisms for the effect of corrosion in SCC have been put forth, including formation of brittle oxide or hydride phases, stress concentration at corrosion pits, and absorption of hydrogen. An additional mechanism is based on observed generation of tensile stress during corrosion of …