Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Robotic Turret, Daniel Romero, Matthew (Matt) Martelle, Scott Mullens, Rachel Diamant

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Floating Tube Heat Exchangers, Patrick Harris, Christina Gedeon, Leonel Medrano, George Milam

Mechanical Engineering

With the slowly diminishing supply of fossil fuels across the world and the heightened risk of carbon dioxide pollution leading to global warming, a shift towards renewable energy is gaining momentum. Recent advances in wind and solar power technology have increased the power density of alternative sources while decreasing the cost per kilowatt-hour, but the technology has not become advanced enough yet for large scale deployment. Combined Power Cooperative has developed a revolutionary design for a concentrated solar power plant that utilizes Fresnel reflectors and a large body of water in which to install them. In addition to being low-cost, …

Linear Electromagnetic Energy Scavenging Device Designed In Low Temperature Co-Fired Ceramics, Hope A. Bateman

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

For a soldier deployed in a remote location on the earth or a recreational hiker in the wilderness or a wild land firefighter battling a destructive wildfire, access to a power source is problematic. Local and regional communication systems, navigation, lights, imaging: all of these require a power source. For short time periods, batteries may be sufficient but with extended time periods the weight of the batteries and cost of replacement becomes a problem. Energy scavenging devices could fill this need and be used as a secondary power source when solar or batteries are not available.

A linear electromagnetic generator …

Development Of A Scale Model Wind Turbine For Testing Of Offshore Floating Wind Turbine Systems, Heather Rae Martin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the development of a 1/50th scale 5 MW wind turbine intended for wind and wave basin model testing of commercially viable floating wind turbine structures. The design is based on a popular 5 MW wind turbine designed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) commonly utilized in numerical modeling efforts. The model wind turbine is to accompany generic floating model platforms for basin model testing. The ultimate goal of the model development testing program is to collect data for validating various floating wind turbine simulation codes such as those developed by NREL. This thesis will present an …

Quantification Of Stochastic Uncertainty Propagation For Monte Carlo Depletion Methods In Reactor Analysis, Quentin Thomas Newell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Monte Carlo method provides powerful geometric modeling capabilities for large problem domains in 3-D; therefore, the Monte Carlo method is becoming popular for 3-D fuel depletion analyses to compute quantities of interest in spent nuclear fuel including isotopic compositions. The Monte Carlo approach has not been fully embraced due to unresolved issues concerning the effect of Monte Carlo uncertainties on the predicted results.

Use of the Monte Carlo method to solve the neutron transport equation introduces stochastic uncertainty in the computed fluxes. These fluxes are used to collapse cross sections, estimate power distributions, and deplete the fuel within depletion …

Vibration-Based Health Monitoring Of Multiple-Stage Gear Train And Differential Planetary Transmission Involving Teeth Damage And Backlash Nonlinearity, Andrew Patrick Sommer

Master's Theses

The objective of this thesis is to develop vibration-based fault detection strategies for on-line condition monitoring of gear transmission systems. The study divides the thesis into three sections. First of all, the local stresses created by a root fatigue crack on a pinion spur gear are analyzed using a quasi-static finite element model and non-linear contact mechanics simulation. Backlash between gear teeth which is essential to provide better lubrication on tooth surfaces and to eliminate interference is included as a defect and a necessary part of transmission design. The second section is dedicated to fixed axis power trains. Torsional vibration …

Experimental And Numerical Investigations Of Tubular-Shaped Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (Dmfcs), Travis R. Ward

Master's Theses

This study focuses on both the numerical and experimental investigations of the novel, passively operated, tubular-shaped, Direct Methanol Fuel Cell (DMFC) as an alternative geometry to the traditional planar-shaped fuel cell. The benefit of the tubular geometry compared to the planar geometry is the higher instantaneous volumetric power density provided by the larger active area, which could be beneficial in applications that require a high instantaneous power while occupying a small volume. First, a two-dimensional, two-phase, non-isothermal model was developed to investigate the steady-state performance and design characteristics of a tubular-shaped, passive DMFC. It was found that a higher ambient …

In Situ Preconcentration By Ac Electrokinetics For Rapid And Sensitive Nanoparticle Detection, Kai Yang

Doctoral Dissertations

Reducing cost and time is a major concern in clinical diagnostics. Current molecular diagnostics are multi-step processes that usually take at least several hours or even days to complete multiple reagents delivery, incubations and several washing processes. This highly labor-intensive work and lack of automation could result in reduced reliability and low efficiency. The Laboratory-on-a-chip (LOC), taking advantage of the merger and development of microfluidics and biosensor technology, has shown promise towards a solution for performing analytical tests in a self-contained and compact unit, enabling earlier and decentralized testing. However, challenges are to integrate the fluid regulatory elements on a …

Understanding The Role Of A Bio-Inspired Surface Modification For Delayed Icing, Clayton Schenk

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Atmospheric icing event is problematic for outdoor structures because it can damage, slow, impede, and danger general routine. For a wind turbine blade, it can damage, disrupt movement, and cause potentially dangerous ice throw. Anti-icing based on a surface texture is advantageous due to the low cost of maintenance and there is no additional requirement of energy output for preventing the icing problem. This work is based on the biomimicry of the superhydrophobic nature of the lotus leaf, whereas the limited wettability supports the water to flow freely from the surface structure. The phenomenon is based on a morphology and …

A Solid State Nitrogen Gas Generating Chip And Applications For Picosatellites, Kyle Godin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A microscale gas generating chip has many applications; in this study, applications relating to picosatellites have been considered. Cube satellites, a type of picosatellite, are of mass around one kilogram and side length 10cm x 10cm x 10cm. Their launches are becoming more numerous since their debut ten years ago. Their low cost and deployment system makes space accessible to agencies hitherto barred from it, such as universities and small governments. However, their power, mass, and volume budget is extremely tight. A microscale gas chip could compete with other designs for attitude control devices, most not flown yet as cube …

Haptic Tele-Operation Of Wheeled Mobile Robot And Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Over The Internet, Zhiyuan Zuo

Masters Theses

Teleoperation of ground/aerial vehicle extends operator's ability (e.g. expertise, strength, mobility) into the remote environment, and haptic feedback enhances the human operator's perception of the slave environment. In my thesis, two cases are studied: wheeled mobile robot (MWR) haptic tele-driving over the Internet and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) haptic teleoperation over the Internet.
We propose novel control frameworks for both dynamic WMR and kinematic WMR in various tele-driving modes, and for a "mixed" UAV with translational dynamics and attitude kinematics.
The recently proposed passive set-position modulation (PSPM) framework is extended to guarantee the passivity and/or stability of the closed-loop system …

Reconfigurable Sampling For Enhanced Energy Efficiency In Power-Constrained Wireless Systems, Timothy Kurp

Master's Theses

Advancement in microelectronics and wireless communications has nurtured the development of low power and low cost wireless systems such as sensor networks. Each node is typically driven by a battery, which has a limited energy capacity that directly constrains node, and network lifetime. This presents a bottleneck for the widespread exploitation of wireless sensing technology. Therefore, improving the energy efficiency of wireless sensing devices is of critical importance and has attracted the attention of the research community.

In this work, a data-driven method has been proposed and systematically investigated. Specifically, this technique reconfigures, in real time, the rate of data …

Development Of A Cubesat Instrument For Microgravity Particle Damper Performance Analysis, John Trevor Abel

Master's Theses

Spacecraft pointing accuracy and structural longevity requirements often necessitate auxiliary vibration dissipation mechanisms. However, temperature sensitivity and material degradation limit the effectiveness of traditional damping techniques in space. Robust particle damping technology offers a potential solution, driving the need for microgravity characterization. A 1U cubesat satellite presents a low cost, low risk platform for the acquisition of data needed for this evaluation, but severely restricts available mass, volume, power and bandwidth resources. This paper details the development of an instrument subject to these constraints that is capable of capturing high resolution frequency response measurements of highly nonlinear particle damper dynamics.

Rapid Animatronic Target System, Brandon Keith Bray, Matt Gerhardt Guise, Martin Thomas Quinn

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Power Steering Concept, Anthony N. Escobedo, William Ryan Flores, Russell Haverstock

Mechanical Engineering

This senior project was created in conjunction with Edwards Lifesciences. This project was created under an non-disclosure agreement and will not be submitted to any outside sources. The submitted title page will act as proof of completion.

Thrust-Vector Control, Dane Larkin, Harsimran Singh

Mechanical Engineering

Mission Statement

The purpose of this project is to design, build, and test a thrust-vectoring rocket nozzle which will aid in controlling the trajectory of a solid-booster rocket. The system prototype must meet the requirements set forth by the sponsoring enterprise.

The Enterprise

Stellar Exploration is a small space systems technology company located in San Luis Obispo, CA. Stellar Exploration is currently seeking a thrust-vectoring system for its Silver Sword rocket.

Project Scope

The design and analysis portion of this project accounted for a system that would be mounted on to a rocket for operational flight. Therefore, this team has …

Structure Climbing Monkey Robot, Paul Bessent

Master's Theses

This report describes the design, building, and testing of the Structure Climbing Monkey Robot (SCMR). It is composed of seven successive joints and linkages with two grippers at the two ends. Each gripper can act as the base or the end of the robot. The SCMR has the ability to climb any structure. The gripper plates can be changed to grab different kinds of structures, but this one is made to grab 2x4‘s. A program was written to assist the user to grab four non-coplanar, non-orthogonal points.

The SCMR is actuated by a total of nine motors: two to open …

Telerobotic Sensor-Based Tool Control Derived From Behavior-Based Robotics Concepts, Mark William Noakes

Doctoral Dissertations

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Teleoperated task execution for hazardous environments is slow and requires highly skilled operators. Attempts to implement telerobotic assists to improve efficiency have been demonstrated in constrained laboratory environments but are not being used in the field because they are not appropriate for use on actual remote systems operating in complex unstructured environments using typical operators. This work describes a methodology for combining select concepts from behavior-based systems with telerobotic tool control in a way that is compatible …

Effects Of Inlet Conditions On Diffuser Outlet Performance, Zaccary A. Poots

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Building air distribution terminal system designers and system installers require accurate quantitative information on the performance of the installed system to achieve optimum efficiency and levels of human comfort. This requires field installation adjustment values from published ideal pressure loss, air distribution and sound generation installation performance. This study documents the air output performance of different installation configurations of six types of ceiling diffusers and compares the results to performance when installed according to ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 70-2006. A diffuser inlet supply plenum was designed for optimum flow and used to acquire a baseline set of data covering the six types …

Geomagnetic Compensation For Low-Cost Crash Avoidance Project, John C. Torres

Master's Theses

The goal of this work was to compensate for the effects of the Earth’s magnetic field in a vector field magnetic sensor. The magnetic sensor is a part of a low-cost crash avoidance system by Stephane Roussel where the magnetic sensor was used to detect cars passing when it was mounted to a test vehicle. However, the magnetic sensor’s output voltage varied when it changed orientation with respect to the Earth’s magnetic field. This limited the previous work to only analyze detection rates when the test vehicle travelled a single heading. Since one of the goals of this system is …

High-Resolution, Non-Contact Angular Measurement System For Psa/Rsa, Ronald D. Sloat

Master's Theses

A non-contact angular measurement system for Pitch Static Attitude (PSA) and Roll Static Attitude (RSA) of hard disk drive sliders is designed and built. Real-time sampling at over 15 KHz is achieved with accuracy of +/- 0.05 degrees over a range of approximately 2-3 degrees. Measuring the PSA and RSA is critical for hard drive manufacturers to control and improve the quality and reliability of hard drives. Although the hard drive industry is able to measure the PSA and RSA at the subassembly level at this time, there is no system available that is able to measure PSA/RSA at the …