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Full-Text Articles in Engineering

Development Of A Low Cost Handheld Microfluidic Phosphate Colorimeter For Water Quality Analysis, Sean C. Kaylor Aug 2009

Development Of A Low Cost Handheld Microfluidic Phosphate Colorimeter For Water Quality Analysis, Sean C. Kaylor

Master's Theses

This thesis describes the design, fabrication, and testing process for a microfluidic phosphate colorimeter utilized for water quality analysis. The device can be powered by, and interfaced for data collection with, a common cell phone or laptop to dramatically reduce costs. Unlike commercially available colorimeters, this device does not require the user to measure or mix sample and reagent. A disposable poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) microfluid chip, powered by an absorption pumping mechanism, was used to draw water samples, mix the sample at a specific ratio with a molybdovanadate reagent, and load both fluids into an onboard cuvette for colorimetric analysis. A …


Electro Mechanical Actuator Test Stand For In-Flight Experiments, Michael Koopmans, Catlin Mattheis, Austin Lawrence Jun 2009

Electro Mechanical Actuator Test Stand For In-Flight Experiments, Michael Koopmans, Catlin Mattheis, Austin Lawrence

Mechanical Engineering

The Prognostic Center of Excellence at NASA Ames is currently researching actuator prognostics, specifically in the application of electro mechanical actuators (EMA’s). Cal Poly ME students Michael Koopmans and Catlin Mattheis and EE student Austin Lawrence have chosen to undertake the task of building a test stand that will be flown in flight while testing EMA’s specific faults. A stand was designed to fit inside a standard 19” rack, take power from the aircraft 3 EMA’s, a computer, data acquisition, and electric magnets switches are powered. A MIL STD 1553 interface is present to allow fault injection. Vibration and temperature …