Engineering Commons^™

Deep Well Pump Seal, Peter M. Gordon, Matt C. Johnson, Dylan A. Smith

Mechanical Engineering

Lifewater International, a Christian non-profit, trains locals to repair water well hand pumps in various third world countries. It would be beneficial to retrofit difficult-to-repair hand pumps with a locally-made pump cylinder such as HydroMission's "SlapShot". The majority of the components in the "SlapShot" can be easily obtained in rural third world villages. However, the thick leather gaskets required to seal the water cylinder during the pumping operation are imported. These thick leather gaskets are expensive, and when they fail, this results in pumps being out of commission for extended periods of time. Lifewater has presented this problem to a …

Dyno-Mite Redesign, Brandon Joseph Miller, Daniel Robert Hoffman, Richard Demedici Young

Mechanical Engineering

The Cal Poly Mechanical Control Systems Laboratory currently employs an outdated device, known as the Motomatic, to teach students about various motor characteristics and control methods. These include open-loop vs. closed-loop control, speed vs. position control, and DC motor response curves. The current device does not function properly and produces unreliable data due to overwhelming non-linear effects such as stiction and shaft misalignment. Our team was tasked with designing a replacement device that retains many of the same educational goals as the original lab procedure, while also adding new educational goals pertaining to the device system dynamics. The new apparatus, …

Rogue Rotary - Modular Robotic Rotary Joint Design, Sean Wesley Murphy, Tyler David Riessen, Jacob Mark Triplett

Mechanical Engineering

This paper describes the design process from ideation to test validation for a singular robotic joint to be configured into a myriad of system level of robots.

Streaming Mysql Database Activity To Aws Kinesis, Chris I. Voncina

Computer Engineering

Connecting Amazon RDS MySQL engine with AWS Kinesis is a feature that RDS customers have often requested. A good example indicating customer demand is demonstrated on AWS’ forum post at https://forums.aws.amazon.com/thread.jspa?messageID=697516.

Upon completion, my project will enable Amazon RDS to pick up the MySQL open source project, integrate the MySQL plugin with Amazon RDS MySQL and deliver this feature to Amazon RDS MySQL customers. Other open source engine projects can follow and build upon my project.

Amazon Aurora delivered similar capability to the project. See details at https://aws.amazon.com/about-aws/whats-new/2016/10/amazon-aurora-new-features-aws-lambda-integration-and-data-load-from-amazon-s3-to-aurora-tables/

Real Time And High Fidelity Quadcopter Tracking System, Tyler Mckay Hall

Computer Engineering

This project was conceived as a desired to have an affordable, flexible and physically compact tracking system for high accuracy spatial and orientation tracking. Specifically, this implementation is focused on providing a low cost motion capture system for future research. It is a tool to enable the further creation of systems that would require the use of accurate placement of landing pads, payload acquires and delivery. This system will provide the quadcopter platform a coordinate system that can be used in addition to GPS.

Field research with quadcopter manufacturers, photographers, agriculture and research organizations were contact and interviewed for information …

Solutions And Findings Of The San Diego Homeless Paradox, Devon A. Nicklas

Construction Management

There is no question that San Diego is facing a chronic problem of their increasing homeless population. According to HUD, the homeless count as of January 2016 reached a high of 9,116 homeless people in San Diego County. Oddly enough, the city of San Diego reports that the city has seen an increase in new construction by 3.2% over the past several years and expects to see an increase of new construction as high as 12.9% by 2017. This draws the question of why there is still an increasing amount of homeless when so much new construction is underway, and …

Certifications In The Construction Industry: A Look Into Industry Standards, Shawn T. Pacaoan

Construction Management

Becoming certified in various areas of construction is a task that requires completing rigorous courses to become more knowledgeable and give those the tools to succeed in a certain path within construction. Having a multitude of certifications diversifies your portfolio, and strengthens your resume but acquiring multiple certifications can be a very expensive and time-consuming task. Is the time commitment and expenses worth it? By the end of this paper students will finally know the answer to a question they have always been asking, “Do construction certifications actually better your chances to get a job?” Since there are numerous certifications …

Development Of An Insulated Solar Electric Cooker (Isec) With Thermal Storage For Use In Developing World Countries, Amanda Gyokery, Spencer W. Davis, Kyle Henry Smit

Mechanical Engineering

According to the World Health Organization, about half of the world’s population uses biomass stoves to cook their meals. However, biomass fires can be dangerous. Unattended biomass fires and indoor air pollution are responsible for an estimated 600,000 deaths annually and the creation of approximately 4 million instances of chronic disease. They also release CO2 and other pollutants into the air, and require the families to gather enough material to keep it burning (WHO 2017). Although cleaner cooking technology seems like a clear solution, often families are either unwilling to change how they cook food or are unable to afford …

Museum Wave Tank Design, David James Streng, Lisa Michelle Dischinger, John Frederick Niemoller

Mechanical Engineering

The Santa Maria Discovery Museum would like to add a tsunami wave tank to be one of their demonstrations. The wave tank needs to draw the attention of their young crowd and be educationally informative about the shapes and effects of waves. As this is a museum demonstration for children, the structure, user interface, and wave making mechanism must be durable.

We are a senior project team from California Polytechnic State University that worked on this project with Allan Hancock College and Stanford University. We created waves by rapidly moving a plunger vertically in the water column. This project allows …

Usa Boccia Ball Ramp For Athletes With Quadriplegia, Alissa A. Koukourikos, Matthew Lee, Nathan Bernards

Mechanical Engineering

In this report, the design process in creating an assistive device for Boccia Classification 3 (BC3) players is outlined. The initial research steps, including research into the rules of the game, capabilities of the players, and existing products is documented to show where ideas for the product stemmed from. This transitions into requirements that the sponsor requested, and preliminary designs and ideas for the product. Finally, this report explains the details of the final design, which has been analyzed for safety, ease of use, and ability to function under different conditions. The processes of manufacturing and testing will also be …

Pubwc Bathroom Review App, Clay Jacobs

Computer Science and Software Engineering

For my senior project, I developed an iOS application to allow users to find, rate, and review nearby public restrooms. The app takes advantage of crowdsourced data to collect bathroom and review information. I also created a REST API to interface with the backend database that could be used to port the application to other platforms.

Poly Spotlight Control, Ryan P. O'Neill, C. Oleg Frandle, Anthony T. Lombardi

Mechanical Engineering

When this project began, The Cambria Center for the Arts Theater used a manually-operated spotlight. The sound created by the fans, along with the sheer size of the spotlight, required that it be housed in an attic room above the theater and shined through a closed window. This trapped a lot of heat in the room and involved some risk with climbing into and out of the attic room. This project sought to remedy those issues by mounting a pair of newer LED spotlights inside the theater. Doing this required a method for remotely controlling and actuating the angular position …

Portable 6 Lead 4 Electrode Ekg, Cody Magnuson, Wes Archbold

Electrical Engineering

This project focused on designing a small, portable, 6 lead 4 electrode electrocardiogram (EKG) machine with enough accuracy and resolution to successfully diagnose clinical issues. The electrical design used to measure signals originating from the heart can be broken up into three stages. The first stage is the human device interface. Next, is the analog block that filters out common mode noise and conditions the signal for digital encoding using instrumentation amplifiers, a right leg circuit, high pass, low pass, and an amplifier. This circuit filters all frequencies above and below the frequency band of meaningful data (1-160Hz), rejects signals …

Mobile Applications To Aid Office To Field Communication, William Hunter Bryson

Construction Management

The advancements in new age communication technology are changing and shaping the construction industry more than ever, and this technology can be utilized to solve the many issues faced in the realm of office to field communication. Currently, many companies in the construction industry struggle to effectively manage office to field communication. In an industry where details surrounding RFI’s, change orders, and submittals are constantly changing, it is imperative that information is communicated effectively and in a timely manner to the necessary people. If communication is not flowing in an accurate and succinct manner, very costly mistakes can be made …

Dc-To-Dc Buck Converter, Kyle Christopher Roman

Electrical Engineering

The growth of sustainable energy requires many components to work in harmony creating one efficient and effective system. Sustainable energy generation that produces a DC current varying in voltage requires a subsystem to convert voltage to a practical and usable value. The DC to DC Buck converter converts high DC solar generated voltage to a 12V output. This Modular -Level power electronic (MLPE) device performs as a solar charge controller for small lithium ion batteries. Fluctuating voltage levels generated by Photovoltaic cells makes the solar controller a critical part of the solar system. Regulating the DC voltage allows safe and …

Dual Method Headphone Amplifier, Joseph S. Gross, Timothy P. Murphy

Electrical Engineering

Many high impedance headphones underperform their full potential when directly connected to the audio source. Amplifiers boost the audio signal and provide the headphones with sufficient power to ensure their maximum performance. The invention of transistors caused vacuum tube implementation to decline, leaving many audiophiles unsatisfied with the transistor’s sound signature. Vacuum tubes and transistors both amplify signals, however the distinct “tube sound” has vanished.

We have designed and created a product where the user selectively switches between solid-state transistor and tube amplification to compare the sound signatures of each amplification method. The ability to switch between the solid-state and …

Flexible Custom Electric Skateboard, Caleb Adam Kelsay

Electrical Engineering

At Cal Poly traveling long distances only accessible by foot such as across campus or from the car park to class can be tiring and time-consuming. While not physically demanding, the trek consumes time in our tight college life schedule. To improve our time efficiency this project provides a relatively lightweight, powered solution to quickly and effectively travel long distances while maintaining full control and safety even on hills, a current limitation of traditional skateboards.

This electric skateboard includes the battery capacity to travel all around campus on a single charge with a compact and flexible skateboard design that provides …

Metallica Worldwired Tour: Case Study, Phillip Matthews

Construction Management

The concert touring industry is financially performing at its highest level in history. A shifting trend from selling records to selling live entertainment experiences has caused a boom in the event production field. This project examines one of the most successful global tours of 2017, Metallica’s WorldWired Tour. This tour was able to achieve success with an unconventional stage design. The goal was to enhance the audience experience and interaction with the band. To achieve this, Metallica toured with a roofless stage. This unique stage design proposed challenges for all areas of concert production, including lighting, audio, video, and atmosphere. …

Best Practices For Preparing For The Reno Commercial Problem, Cole Range

Construction Management

The ASC Region 7 Commercial competition is one of the largest and most popular student competition in the country. Students from some of the most prestigious construction management and construction engineering schools compete in a rigorous eighteen hour competition. These teams have around 6 months to prepare for the competition. Their preparation methods have a significant impact on how they place in the competition. The amount of time spent with the teams industry sponsor, number of practice problems completed, hours spent practicing, number of team bonding events, and many other factors contribute to the team’s success. Many of the schools …

Sex Differences In Collateral Remodeling Following Hindlimb Arterial Occlusion, Laura Burckhardt

Master's Theses

Clinical evidence indicates a higher incidence of peripheral arterial occlusive disease and associated likelihood of critical limb ischemia in women, as well as worse prognosis and decreased survival post myocardial infarction. Therefore, understanding the possible differences in underlying vascular compensation mechanisms is crucial. With arterial occlusions, necrosis and tissue injury can be naturally mitigated by the collateral circulation, improving patient prognosis. Previous sex-comparison studies describing differences in vascular remodeling are inconsistent. Therefore, the aim of this study was to describe the effect of arterial occlusion on collateral remodeling in healthy male and healthy reproductive-stage female mice. At 7 days following …

Interfacing A Hirudo Medicinalis Retzius Cell With Insulated Gate Of Mosfet, Rachel M. Smith

Master's Theses

Much work has been done to study the external stimulation of nervous tissue as well as the transmission of neural signals to electronics. Peter Fromherz was one of the pioneers in this area of electrophysiology, with a series of experiments in the 1990s that aimed to characterize and optimize the interface between neural tissue and transistors. In this thesis, Kurt Sjoberg and I interfaced a Retzius cell isolated from a Hirudo medicinalis ganglion with the insulated gate of a MOSFET. The goal was to see change in membrane potential that could be related Fromherz’s original 1991 work. Our experimental setup …

Thermal-Fluid Dynamic Model Of Luge Steels, Brandon Stell

Master's Theses

Luge is an Olympic sport in which athletes ride feet-first on sleds down an ice-covered track. Competitors spring from the starting position and accelerate their sled by paddling with spiked gloves against the ice surface. Once the Luger leaves the starting section, their downhill motion is solely propelled by the effects of gravity. Athletes compete, one after the other, for the fastest time. Runs can differ by as little as a thousandth of a second, meaning that every minor sled adjustment, change of line choice, and shift of body position is critical. In the past, the sport of Luge has …

Sd-Mcan: A Software-Defined Solution For Ip Mobility In Campus Area Networks, Adam Chase Calabrigo

Master's Theses

Campus Area Networks (CANs) are a subset of enterprise networks, comprised of a network core connecting multiple Local Area Networks (LANs) across a college campus. Traditionally, hosts connect to the CAN via a single point of attachment; however, the past decade has seen the employment of mobile computing rise dramatically. Mobile devices must obtain new Internet Protocol (IP) addresses at each LAN as they migrate, wasting address space and disrupting host services. To prevent these issues, modern CANs should support IP mobility: allowing devices to keep a single IP address as they migrate between LANs with low-latency handoffs. Traditional approaches …

Smart Dc/Dc Wall Plug Design For The Dc House Project, Richard Sinclair Liu

Master's Theses

The present day duplex wall receptacle in the United States provides 120Vrms AC at 60Hz, which comes from a standard set for AC loads by the National Electrical Manufacturers Association. With a DC system, such as what is used in the DC House project currently being developed at Cal Poly, providing DC power to DC loads presents a technical challenge due to the different required DC operating voltages of the loads. This thesis entails the design and construction of a Smart DC/DC Wall Plug, which can automatically adjust its output voltage to match any required DC load voltages. In the …

The Role Of Soil Stiffness In Reverse Fault Rupture Propagation, Moises I. Buelna

Master's Theses

A nonlinear Mohr-Coulomb constitutive model with a strain dependent yield surface and non-associated flow was employed to study the plastic soil properties which affect the rate of surface fault rupture propagation in reverse events. These numerical simulations show a trend for soils with higher stiffness to have a higher rate of rupture propagation. Additionally the study shows the effects of strain softening and hardening on the rate of rupture propagation. Soils which strain harden exhibiting ductile behavior typically require more basal offset to rupture to the surface than soils which strain soften exhibiting brittle behavior. These results agree with our …

Eeg Characterization During Motor Tasks That Are Difficult For Movement Disorder Patients, Adam Joshua Aslam

Master's Theses

Movement disorders are a group of syndromes that often arise due to neurological abnormalities. Approximately 40 million Americans are affected by some form of movement disorder, significantly impacting patients’ quality of life and their ability to live independently. Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is one treatment that has shown promising results in the past couple decades, however, the currently used open-loop system has several drawbacks. By implementing a closed-loop or adaptive DBS (aDBS) system, the need for expensive parameter reprogramming sessions would be reduced, side-effects may be relieved, and habituation could be avoided. Several biomarkers, for example signals or activity derived …

Manufacturing And Instrumentation Of An Open End Compressed Air Shock Tube, Josue O. Ruiz

Master's Theses

Shock tubes have been used extensively to study shock wave structures and high speed flow features. The purpose of constructing this open end shock tube was to have the ability to produce shock waves in a laboratory setting but also understand the exit flow coming out which can be applied to future studies that are beyond the scope of this work. This undertaking would require that an open end shock tube be built and instrumented with PCB Integrated Circuit Piezoelectric (ICP) Pressure Sensor Model 113B24 that would then be connected to a PCB Model 482C05 Signal Conditioner with the purpose …

A Comparison Study Of Composite Laminated Plates With Holes Under Tension, Joun S. Kim

Master's Theses

A Comparison Study of Composite Laminated Plates with Holes under Tension

A study was conducted to quantify the accuracy of numerical approximations to deem sufficiency in validating structural composite design, thus minimizing, or even eliminating the need for experimental test. Error values for stress and strain were compared between Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and analytical (Classical Laminated Plate Theory), and FEA and experimental tensile test for two composite plate designs under tension: a cross-ply composite plate design of [(0/90)4]s, and a quasi-isotropic layup design of [02/+45/-45/902]s, each with a single, centered hole of 1/8” diameter, and 1/4" diameter (four sets …

Case Study: Diesel Excavators Compared To Hybrid Excavators, Corey Mcgrillen

Construction Management

The construction industry is constantly evolving and developing equipment that is more efficient, materials that promote sustainability and practices that emphasize lean construction principles to enhance productivity on projects. Modern day construction projects have become highly reliant on these ideals due to the highly competitive nature of the industry. In regards to heavy civil construction, specifically the underground utilities market, equipment costs count for a large percentage of overall project costs. Reducing these costs allows a contractor to be more competitive. As the focus on infrastructure construction continues to grow and expand, many heavy civil contractors are turning to alternative …

Best Practices And Applications Of 3d Printing In The Construction Industry, Jake Kidwell

Construction Management

The construction industry is constantly looking for new ways to improve project efficiency and profitability. Many new technologies such as Business Information Modeling (BIM) programs, and project management software have been introduced to aid in preconstruction and on site coordination. However, traditional building methods have remained relatively unchanged for decades. 3D printing (3DP) is a promising new technology that has the potential to not only be an effective means of increasing project efficiency and profitability in the field, but also have positive environmental impacts. However, as it exists today, this technology is highly limited by size, material, skilled labor, and …