Engineering Commons^™

Soft Robotic Arms For Fall Mitigation: Design, Control And Evaluation, Param Malhotra

All Theses

Most fall mitigation devices present a heavy system that avoid injuries to the user by preventing the impact of a fall. They are dependent on the user capability or on the probability that the user falls in the assumed manner the system was designed for. Often that is not the case, hence this project initiates a novel concept of using soft robotic arms to prevent falls from happening in the first place itself and save the user from any injuries. This thesis describes the prototype and development of a soft continuum robotic backpack system. The system can validate its use …

Ambient Temperature Phase Change Launcher, Johnny Molloy

Senior Honors Projects

JOHNNY MOLLOY (Mechanical Engineering) Ambient Temperature Phase Change Launcher Sponsor: Bahram Nassersharif (Mechanical Engineering)

Deployment of payloads stored in watertight cylindrical bodies in underwater environmental conditions are of interest to the marine and naval community. The proposed work will investigate the possibility of using inert carbon dioxide gas compressed into its liquid state and stored under pressure to launch payloads by means of expansion from a cylindrical tube. To suit the needs of the Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC), this launching system must fire from up to 14 ft underwater, have two degrees of freedom, and the payload must not …

2 Degree Of Freedom Robotic Leg, Oded Tzori, Henry Terrell, Adan Martinez

Mechanical Engineering

Professor Xing, an assistant professor at Cal Poly, proposed the 2 DOF Robotic Leg project for this quarter’s senior project class. The project is to build a robotic leg attached at the hip to a stand, which will be used as a teaching tool and eventually help develop Cal Poly’s very own robotic quadruped. Since this project has multiple uses after its completion, there are multiple customers that it must perform well for: the Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering (ME) Department, the ME Lab instructors, and the students. The Scope of Work (Sections 2 & 3) is composed of 2 main …

Design And Optimization Of Dynamic System For A One-Kw Free Piston Linear Engine Alternator-Gensets Program, Nima Zamani Meymian

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

In power/energy systems, free-piston linear machines are referred to as a mechanism where the constrained crank motion is eliminated and replaced with free reciprocating piston motion. Depending on the application, the piston motion can be converted into other types of energy and includes compressed air/fluid, electricity, and high temperature/pressure gas. A research group at West Virginia University developed a free-piston linear engine alternator (LEA) in 1998 and have achieved significant accomplishment in the performance enhancement of the LEAs to date. The present LEA design incorporates flexure springs as energy restoration components and as bearing supports. The advantages of using flexure …

Autojack - Hydraulic Powertrain System, Tyce Vu

All Undergraduate Projects

A primary problem for mechanics and automotive enthusiasts is the risk associated with lifting and securing a vehicle with conventional jack stands. Often times, improper jack-stand installation results in the vehicle collapsing unexpectedly, causing injury and/or death. This problem can be minimized through the application of a newly re-designed vehicle lifting system. The conventional method for lifting cars is time consuming and can be unsafe in many circumstances. A better, safer, and more efficient lift design was needed; the AutoJack. The approach of the AutoJack design was entirely focused on the safety of lifting a vehicle. Safety was improved by …

Reactive Archey Target Design Team "Mimic", Brandon Croyle, Jacob Boss, David Rodgers, Austin Wivell

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This design project will aim to provide archery hunters with a platform to simulate shooting at string jumping deer. String jumping refers to a spooked deer hearing the snap of a bow string and instintivly ducking up to ten inches. This often results in wounded or missed deer. We will design and build a control system that uses the sound of a bow string as a trigger to operate a mechanical target system. A sound sensor will mimic a deer’s hearing in close range hunting and then send a signal to the mechanical system to replicate the dropping motion of …

Structural And Aerodynamic Design, Procedure And Analysis Of A Small V-Shaped Vertical Axis Wind Turbine, Odari J. Whyte

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Over the last two decades there has been a renewed interest in Vertical Axis Wind Turbines. This turbine configuration though unpopular for large-scale generation has found a niche market in the way of offshore energy harvesting. However, offshore wind has its challenges. In this thesis a detailed comprehensive study of a proposed V-shaped vertical axis turbine rotor is performed in order to examine its structural and aerodynamic characteristics. The design met and exceeded the safety parameters establish for test bed operation, showing a factor of safety of 1.87 with regard to fatigue stress response. A satisfactory fatigue stress design life …

A Magnetic Resonance Compatible Knee Extension Ergometer, Youssef Jaber

Masters Theses

The product of this thesis aims to enable the study of the biochemical and physical dynamics of the lower limbs at high levels of muscle tension and fast contraction speeds. This is accomplished in part by a magnetic resonance (MR) compatible ergometer designed to apply a load as a torque of up to 420 Nm acting against knee extension at speeds as high as 4.7 rad/s. The system can also be adapted to apply the load as a force of up to 1200 N acting against full leg extension. The ergometer is designed to enable the use of magnetic resonance …

Water Jet Cutting Head Actuator, Jacob D. Augustynovich

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

In an effort to increase efficiency and productivity, WARDJet was seeking a better actuation method for the cutting head on their waterjets. Current actuation methods were, for the most part, purely mechanical, relying on compressed air, springs, and water pressure to open and close the valve to 60,000 psi of water. Increasing the speed of the on/off cycle times of the waterjet would allow for faster movements of the cutting head from one cut to the next, increasing the overall amount of products cut in a day, week, and year. This obviously points to increased sales, increased profit, and increased …

Design, Testing And Evaluation Of Robotic Mechanisms And Systems For Environmental Monitoring And Interaction, James K. Higgins

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

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) have significantly lowered the cost of remote aerial data collection. The next generation of UAVs, however, will transform the way that scientists and practitioners interact with the environment. In this thesis, we address the challenges of flying low over water to collect water samples and temperature data. We also develop a system that allows UAVs to ignite prescribed fires. Specifically, this thesis contributes a new peristaltic pump designed for use on a UAV for collecting water samples from up to 3m depth and capable of pumping over 6m above the water. Next, temperature sensors and their …

Automated Bearing Press, David Baker, David Brock, Engelbert Diec

Mechanical Engineering

Our group was presented with a challenge to design an automated machine to replace Micro-Vu’s current manual pressing operation. We moved, planned, and scheduled our tasks for the three quarters we will be working on this project by using a Gantt chart. In designing the machine, we generated concepts and used analysis and prototyping to select the most promising ones. Our final design uses a pneumatic press to press the parts, and it includes magazines to hold the parts before pressing, pneumatic actuators to move the parts to and from the pressing location, and a lever to separate the defective …

Cultural Change Through Bim: Driving Lean Transformation In Education, Avril Behan, Malachy Mathews, Kevin Furlong, Ciara Ahern, Una Beagon, Peter Brennan, Colin Conway, Lee Corcoran, Pierce Fahy, Alan Hore, Barry Mcauley, Trevor Woods

Conference papers

This paper presents a case study of how the adoption of BIM-based practices in the AECO industry is being reflected by cultural change in higher education in Ireland. The silo-mentality that has dominated the AECO sector for more than a century has, despite numerous reorganisations, been replicated in the structures of educational institutions, including in Dublin Institute of Technology since the inception of its founding colleges in the late 1800s. Most AECO programmes must include content that is external to the programme’s specific discipline. Through the School structures of the Institute, delivery of such content is known as "service teaching" …

Senior Design: Kong Toy Instruction-Manual Insertion, Rachael L. Innocenzi, Ashley N. Cuthbert, Marianna R. Smith

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The team’s goal is to design and test a prototype and procedure that will automate the insertion of the Kong toy instructions into the cardboard packaging. This automation will increase the speed at which the product is packaged and will serve as an aid to workers with limited dexterity who find the task cumbersome.

Senior Design:Kong Toy Instruction-Manual Insertion, Ashley N. Cuthbert, Rachael L. Innocenzi, Marianna R. Smith

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The team’s goal is to design and test a prototype and procedure that will automate the insertion of the Kong toy instructions into the cardboard packaging. This automation will increase the speed at which the product is packaged and will serve as an aid to workers with limited dexterity who find the task cumbersome.

Design And Implementation Of Eight-Legged Robotic Transporter, Jeremy David Depangher

Master's Theses

This thesis contains the design, manufacturing, and testing of a functional eight-legged robotic transporter based on the concept design laid out in U.S. Patent 7,246,671. The device is intended to achieve three different sequences of motion: regular driving, obstacle climbing, and stair climbing. The prototype was carried through concept design, analysis, selection of materials and components, manufacturing, software development, and final assembly and testing. The device can be assembled under multiple configurations, which harbor certain advantages and disadvantages. The results of the testing encourage the continuation of a second iteration of this concept.

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 …