Engineering Commons^™

Snowboard, Ski, And Skateboard Sensor System Application, Adrien Doiron, Michael Fernandez, Victor Ojeda, Robert Ross

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

The goal of this project was develop a sensor for the commercial market for skiers, snowboarders, and skateboarders that can give them the data such as speed, elevation, pressure, temperature, flex, acceleration, position, and other performance data such as trick characterization. This was done by using a variety of sensors, including a GPS, flex sensors, accelerometer, and others to provide data such as speed, position, position, and temperature. The sensors were placed in an external polycarbonate casing attached to the ski or board by using an adhesive pad on the bottom of the casing. These sensors then transmit the data …

Workspace Analysis Of A Linear Delta Robot: Calculating The Inscribed Radius, Michael Louis Pauly

Graduate Theses - Mechanical Engineering

One of the most important traits of a robotic manipulator is its work envelope, the space in which the robot can position its end effector. Parallel manipulators, while generally faster, are restricted by smaller work envelopes [1]. As such, understanding the parameters defining a physical robot’s work envelope is essential to the optimal design, selection, and use of robotic parallel manipulators. A Linear Delta Robot (LDR) is a type of parallel manipulator in which three prismatic joints move separate arms which connect to a single triangular end plate [2]. In this study, general inverse kinematics were derived for a linear …

Induction Phone Charger Case, Dante Eley, Nicholas Mason, Laurence Pringle

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

This report discusses the project of creating a manual charging phone case for smartphones by means of electromagnetic induction. In today's world, smartphones are being used on the go more often, creating an increased demand for battery life. The capacity of current batteries cannot keep up with the constant usage of data in such activities as emailing, social media, apps, and more. We developed an efficient, ergonomic, and aesthetically pleasing phone case that can manually charge a smartphone without an electrical outlet, but by means of electromagnetic induction. This product would target two main demographics: business people who are constantly …

Aeroponic Test Bed For Hypergravity Research, Shane Brunner, Theron Hawley, Mike Nichols, David Patzelt, Kurt Sprouse

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

Taking one pound of food to space costs over $10,000. A plant growth chamber in space would help reduce the cost of transporting food by creating a healthy, long-term source of food that can be used for extended space missions. Currently, there is a lack of knowledge in gravity response mechanisms of plants to facilitate employing such a system. The overarching goal of this project is to add to the current body of knowledge related to growing plants in space by conducting research regarding the effect of hypergravity on cherry belle radish growth. To successfully accomplish this goal, an aeroponic …

Swing Wing Aerial Drone (Swad), Chris Barton, Robert Gomez, Matt Kochalko, Kyle Nakagaki

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

Drones are unmanned aerial vehicles that have a variety of different applications in the field. Drones are very helpful for first responders such as firefighters, police, and even ranchers and large landowners. Most drones have a fixed wing. This report will show the design, construction, and fluid dynamic testing of a drone that has multiple wing positions. These modes are the straight wing position and swept back position. This design will change the flight profile of the plane, allowing for the user to launch at a faster speed and the glider to get to the desired location faster. Once the …

Vex Robotics, Ho Joon Cha, Joshua Del Real, Jamie Kalb, Thomas Nance, Jenny Yang

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

The objective of our project was to design and construct a control system for communication between two autonomous robots, of different size and capabilities, in an environment with numerous obstacles and challenges. These challenges, completed autonomously, involved moving over and under barriers along with the obtainment and transportation of spherical objects. Our project was tied to the VEX Robotics competition environment as we tested our robots by competing at the World Championships. Unfortunately, due to time and budget considerations, we had to scale back our sensor subsystem. This led to a simpler control system than originally intended; however, we were …

Solar Absorption Chiller, Craig Carlson, Mark Coulter, Claire Kunkle, Patrick Watson

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

In developing nations access to electricity is inconsistent at best, and food spoilage is a prevalent issue. The solar powered absorption chiller is a refrigeration system designed to provide refrigeration to these developing areas. This year, our team has worked to develop a system where the sun's rays are collected as heat to power an absorption refrigerator. The goal of this project was to take an existing solar tracker system and use its collected heat to power a refrigerator. Our team designed and built heat exchangers to extract heat from the concentrated solar system; assembled components for a fluid circulation …

The Poverty Crusher, Rob Golterman, Brian Hammond, Thien-Ryan Le, Arvin Lie

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

The Poverty Crusher team built a human-powered rock breaking device for the women in Nepal who make $1.50 - $3 per day crushing rocks. A prototype jaw-type rock crusher was designed and built over a period of several months. However, the device was unable to break rocks due to excessive bending in the connection points of the frame and in the crushing faces. Improvements were suggested for the next prototype, which include increasing the second moment of inertia of the crushing faces, using a welded frame, and generally decreasing the cost and weight of the device.

Wireless Impact Sensing Headband - W.I.S.H., Ryan Daly, Doug Furstinger, Tim Sashegyi, Nicklaus Schmidt, Mihir Shah

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

The prevalence of undiagnosed head injuries in the athletic world, and their associated health risks, is too great to ignore. This is especially true in non-helmeted sports where the availability of impact monitoring technologies is few and far between. In this paper, we discuss our wireless impact sensing headband technology that aids in the awareness and detection of potential concussions, from inception through design completion. Through the use of a custom-built validation system capable of simulating impact collisions, along with a series of experiments and revisions, our team was able to build a device that can sense and transmit data …

Benchtop Centrifuge For Materials Science, Jose Lizheno, Nathaniel Tseng, Ryan Tsuzaki

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

The Benchtop centrifuge for materials science was designed to be a versatile, cost-effective, user-friendly and safe centrifuge for the university setting. While a prototype was not completed due to running out of time for assembly, various forms of analysis were conducted including Natural Frequency Analysis and Finite Element Analysis. The team hopes that the work completed will provide a useful starting point for other teams that may wish to continue the project in the future.

Akabot: 3d Printing Filament Extruder, Emily Albi, Kevin Kozel, Daniel Ventoza, Rachel Wilmoth

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

3D printing could usher in a new age of localized manufacturing in places like Uganda, where three of our senior design team members spent the summer of 2013. Motivated by a concept for our senior design project, one of our team members interned with Village Energy, a small electronics business in Kampala, Uganda, as it piloted the use of a 3D printer to manufacture enclosures for its solar lights. The need for our project arose when we realized that although the 3D printer proved a viable method of manufacturing enclosures, Village Energy could not afford to continue 3D printing with …

Automated Precision Passing System, Bryan Herrera, David Savitz, Mikiah Raffaeli

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

Athletes are always seeking ways to improve their performance. Down time and a lack of capable throwers prevent athletic receivers from practicing their skills. We hope to aid athletes in receiving drills within their respective sports and increase practice efficiency. In order to achieve this, the machine has one major axis of rotation driven by a motor. This enables it to adjust where the ball is being thrown. Using an Arduino Uno coupled with a Roboteq AX1500 motor driver, the Automated Precision Passing System is able to throw a ball to a specified point in space by adjusting both the …

Santa Clara University Human Powered Vehicle 2013-2014, Peter Chester, Luis Flores, Ian Jones, Ryan Nakamura, Dylan Porter, Peter Stephens

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

This document discusses the conceptual design for the 2013-2014 Santa Clara University Human Powered Vehicle. The objective of the Santa Clara University Human Powered Vehicle team is to design and manufacture a human powered vehicle that is practical, sustainable, and efficient. Key design features include a partial body fairing, tilt and ackermann steering, and cargo space. Ultimately we had to block out the tilt steering because its operation conflicted with the Ackermann steering. This vehicle's design satisfies the primary needs of a commuter and ultimately serves as a practical alternative to an automobile. Finally, this design complies with the requirements …

Rsl Rover: Robotic Systems Laboratory Rugged Offroad Vehicle For Experimental Research, Garrett Bonner, Owen Hale, Julian Pitt, Andrew Torrellas

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

The goal of this project was to build an autonomous vehicle testbed for the Robotics Systems Laboratory. This testbed will be used by undergraduate, graduate, and faculty researchers to test different control methods, sensor combinations, vehicle control laws, and eventually autonomous navigation. This paper documents our accomplishments to achieve this goal; we built a hierarchical control system, robust actuator mounts, and an effective safety system. The result is a capable 6-wheeled offroad vehicle that can be electronically controlled by remote or directly by wire. A feed-forward control law was incorporated for speed control, yielding predictable performance given a desired speed. …

Legacy Borehole Project, Maza Brady, Luke Cashman, Erin Hicks, Meghan Richey

Interdisciplinary Design Senior Theses

The Legacy Borehole Project is a three-year effort to design and build a sensor package that will be used to explore the geological and chemical conditions of the ocean floor. Over the course of three years, a mechanical structure and a robotic system will be constructed to lower sensors into previously drilled boreholes. As the team responsible for the development of the first year of this project, we have constructed a prototype sensor package and mock mechanical structure to test a communication interface between the sensors and a graphical user interface. The sensors were tested by lowering the sensor package …

Shrouded Small Wind Turbines, Kristen Flannery, Michael Holligan, Joseph Soares

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

The goal of this project is to improve the energy production of small wind turbines (rated less than 100 kW) by increasing wind velocity at the turbine blades through the design of a shroud attachment. The design process involves the analysis of various computer aided design (CAD) nozzle/diffuser shroud geometries. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) modeling is used to analyze the effect of shroud features on velocity and pressure fields. A 3D printed scale model is tested in a wind tunnel with strain gauges and pressure transducers to validate the CFD data. The resulting design locally increases velocity by a factor …

Proteus: Mini Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicle, Jorge Guerra, Robert Heinevetter, Tristan Morris, Killian Poore, Alexandra Waschura

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

Marine ecosystems contain life, minerals, information, etc, that can help the planet, however, only 5% of them are explored. This is mainly because existing Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are expensive and require a lot of workand time to use. Team Proteus designed a low cost, easy to use, portable, safe, and reliable ROV capable of being used for scientific research, while being operated and maintained by students. In this paper we explain the necessity behind this project, how it compares to similar projects and the design decisions made in developing the ROV, to include the options and trade-offs considered. …

Lightweight Uav Launcher, Ben Miller, Christian Valoria, Corinne Warnock, Jake Coutlee

Mechanical Engineering

This report discusses the design, construction, and testing of a lightweight, portable UAV launcher. There is a current need for a small team of soldiers to launch a US Marine Tier II UAV in a remote location without transport. Research was conducted into existing UAV launcher designs and the pros and cons of each were recorded. This research served as a basis for concept generation during the initial design development stage. It was required that the design weigh less than 110 lbs, occupy a smaller volume than 48" x 24" 18" in its collapsed state, be portable by a single …

Environmental Stimulation Chamber For Nanosatellite Functional Testing, Taylor Donato, Nicholas Page, Joshua Summers, Brandon Wood

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

The goal of this project is to develop a nanosatellite thermal testing chamber for the Robotic Systems Laboratory at Santa Clara University. The nanosatellite industry has thrived in recent years and continues to grow at the level of universities and small businesses. To meet this demand, the team designed and built a testing bed capable of achieving environmental conditions adequate for testing nanosatellite hardware as a low-cost and low-maintenance alternative to more expensive and robust systems. Furthermore, the design can be fully manufactured and assembled at the university or small business level with inexpensive, sustainable, and commercially available components. The …

In Situ Stress Measurement During Aluminum Anodizing Using Phase-Shifting Curvature Interferometry, Ömer Çapraz, Kurt Hebert, Pranav Shrotriya

Ömer Özgür Çapraz

Stress measurements yield insight into technologically relevant deformation and failure mechanisms in electrodeposition, battery reactions, corrosion and anodic oxidation. Aluminum anodizing experiments were performed to demonstrate the effectiveness of phase-shifting curvature interferometry as a new technique for high-resolution in situ stress measurement. This method uses interferometry to monitor surface curvature changes, from which stress evolution is inferred. Phase-shifting of the reflected beams enhanced measurement sensitivity, and the separation of the optical path from the electrochemical cell in the present system provided increased stability. Curvature changes as small as 10−3 km−1 were detected, at least comparable to the resolution of state-of-the-art …

Evaluation Of A Torch Ignition System For Propulsion, Robert Ellis

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In recent years NASA has had a renewed interest in oxygen and methane as propellants for propulsion. The drive for this combination comes from several factors including ease of land- based storage, handling safety, in situ resource utilization, and a relatively clean burning process when compared with the widely used hypergolic propellants. This project is part of a larger goal of the Center for Space Exploration Technology Research (cSETR) to better understand all aspects of using LOX/CH4 propellants to create future hardware that is specially optimized for these propellants. This paper discusses the literature background and reasons that led to …

Computationally Efficient Representation Of Statistically Described Material Microstructure For Tractable Forming Simulations, Nicholas Landry

Honors Theses and Capstones

The purpose of this project is to reduce a large statistical distribution of metal microstructure orientations to a manageable distribution to be used in metal forming simulations. Microstructure sensitive simulations at the macro-scale are impractical, because with so many state variables associated with material microstructure data, these simulations are extremely computationally expensive.

The goal was to develop a framework to accurately model plastic material response while representing the material microstructure in a more compact form, reducing 106 or more microstructure orientations to a significantly smaller statistical distribution of representative orientations. This will significantly increase the computational efficiency and make the …

There Can Be Turbulence In Microfluidics At Low Reynolds Number, Guiren Wang, F. Yang, Wei Zhao

Faculty Publications

Turbulence is commonly viewed as a type of macroflow, where the Reynolds number (Re) has to be sufficiently high. In microfluidics, when Re is below or on the order of 1 and fast mixing is required, so far only chaotic flow has been reported to enhance mixing based on previous publications since turbulence is believed not to be possible to generate in such a low Re microflow. There is even a lack of velocimeter that can measure turbulence in microchannels. In this work, we report a direct observation of the existence of turbulence in microfluidics with Re on the order …

Fatigue Based Structural Design Exploration Via Engineering Data Analytics, Hao Li

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

In manufacturing industry, a successful machine development requires the durability of structure components to meet fatigue life targets. The typical way to obtain fatigue design loads for conceptual design exploration is based on hand calculations or historical data to capture envelopes of expected system responses, which may not guarantee to capture actual damaging loads. In this study, a new approach is developed to extract a fatigue design load set directly from measured load data for a conceptual design exploration. The proposed framework integrates the techniques from data analytics and physics based engineering mechanics to amplify and detect fundamental damaging load …

Validation Studies Of Sc/Tetra Code In 2d And 3d Simulations, Shuo Mao

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, 2D CFD simulations, 3D CFD simulations, and one 2D Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) problem were investigated using combined CFD and an FEA (Finite Element Analysis) tool. Discussions focused on turbulence models, mesh sizes, prism layer sizes, under-relaxation-factor, etc. The solution of CFD simulation and FSI simulation was validated using the results of previous CFD solvers and experimental data presented in the literature. The SST model results for the 2D mixing layer, 2D airfoil near-weak, axisymmetric subsonic jet, and 2D convex curvature boundary layer studies agree with previous CFD results within a 1% error. The k-e model with wall …