Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Hitch Cart “Landing Gear”, Rebekah White, Jose Raygoza, Randy Hernandez, Brandon Leon

Mechanical Engineering

This report aims to allow our sponsor, to review our design process of the Hitch Cart Landing Gear Prototype. In the design overview section of this report, we discuss the primary design modifications we made to the wheel mechanism of the existing hitch cart prototype, including the addition of the ACME screws and the folding brackets. This allows our sponsor to see the intended improvements made to the past prototype and understand the primary goal of our project. Then, in the implementation section, we cover the entire manufacturing process to allow our sponsor to understand what manufacturing steps must be …

Band Motor Crankshaft For Hydrogen Combustion Engine, Lincoln Hofer, Jacqueline Mendoza Cortes, Austin Rhee, Roze Raymond

Mechanical Engineering

This report outlines the steps in which a group of four mechanical engineers at California Polytechnic State University California, San Luis Obispo, addressed an issue brought up by Professor Roger Benham from the Materials Department. The task included developing an automated and modular testing platform for a revolutionary concept crankshaft prototype – meant for a hydrogen combustion engine - developed and produced by the sponsor: Roger Benham. A testing platform is necessary to measure the performance of the shaft design created to eventually implement this subsystem into a complete hydrogen engine design. Values being tested include geometric validation, maximum static …

Slitter Blade Sharpener, Griffin Buchan, Regan Lane, Kinsale Sproule

Mechanical Engineering

Within this document, our team, “Think Sharpener”, will discuss the following work we have completed since the Critical Design Review: material and part procurement, the manufacturing process for our prototype, and a discussion of our results from testing our final Verification Prototype (VP). To summarize our team’s work during the last portion of this project, our design for the slitter blade sharpening mechanism required us to consult the IME department for materials and manufacturing guidance, order pneumatic components from various online hardware companies, and test our VP to verify we met the engineering design specifications. Our slitter blade sharpening mechanism …

Road Embedded Traffic Actuated Turbine (Retat), Derek Terry Cedillo, Jairo Fernandez Garcia, Alejandro Samaniego, Yosef Towfique

Mechanical Engineering

The Road Embedded Traffic Actuated Turbine (RETAT) project aims to revolutionize sustainable energy solutions by harnessing the power of passing vehicles to generate electricity. This Final Design Review (FDR) encapsulates the evolution of the project, from conceptualization to the tangible realization of the Verification Prototype created by a team of mechanical engineering students. The RETAT boasts an innovative design, incorporating square steel tubing and a unique linear-to-rotational energy conversion mechanism. This report provides a comprehensive overview of the design, implementation, and testing phases, highlighting achievements, challenges, and areas for refinement. As the RETAT project strives to contribute to a cleaner, …

Tagalong Trail, Sean Wahl, Jason Davis, Quinlan Stephens, Ryan Johnson, Vinh Vo

Mechanical Engineering

The Cal Poly mechanical engineering team working on the Path of Lights and Sounds for the Girl Scouts of California’s Central Coast has now completed their project. In the last quarter of their project, they were able to finalize their tile’s structural design while iterating through several electronics board designs. Through this iteration, they were able to create a final electronics board and designed a water-resistant enclosure to house the board. A new team member was added, allowing them to manufacture 28 tile structures and 30 electronics assemblies over the course of two and a half weeks. This proved to …

Interactive Water Vortex Exhibit, Simon Way, Emily Laing, Roqaya Naseri, Makenzie Kan

Mechanical Engineering

The San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum requested an interactive water vortex exhibit to both engage and entertain inquisitive guests, ages two to eight. The goal was to design and manufacture an exhibit that would educate its users on the fluid mechanics behind water vortices. They activate the mechanics by spinning a wheel, which is perceived as the catalyst to manipulate the flow of water to successfully create a whirlpool. Our team has created an interactive display that will enlighten young minds, providing the museum with an educational exhibit which shares a concept not currently taught by any other. Our project …

Cnc Retrofits, Fabian Samano, Murat Askin, Daniel Lonczak, Zane Campise

Mechanical Engineering

The Boxford CNC Lathe is a machine used for educational purposes. The goal of the CNC Retrofits project is to improve the Boxford MT2’s performance and functionality to enable Mr. Lonczak to manufacture customized ballpoint pens. Within this Final Design Review (FDR) document, we present design updates since the CDR and implementation/assembly techniques. This work culminates in a solution to Mr. Lonczak’s needs which is analyzed in three subsystems: main control, spindle position tracking, and user interface. Within this report, we show the results of each subsystem’s verification process. These results prove that the design concept was met by describing …

Maitreya Desalination, Riley Taft, Hudson Kispert, Brendan Dizon

Mechanical Engineering

This document relays the design and manufacture of a dual power input Reverse Osmosis desalination unit. It's power sources are electric drive and human power via recumbent seated cycling. Fresh water outputs range from 4 - 7 GPH for human power inputs of 150 - 280 Watts depending on the selected gearing ratio from the derailleur.

Integrated Actuator, David Hefter, Mathew Smith, Amanda Westmoreland, Akanksha Maddi

Mechanical Engineering

This Final Design Review document outlines the senior project design that we, a team of four mechanical engineering students at California Polytechnic State University, are developing for Charlie Refvem, a lecturer in the mechanical engineering department. The final design has undergone significant modifications since the Critical Design Review, such as a redesigned vertical shaft, material changes, and the incorporation of belt tensioners. These redesigns are thoroughly discussed in the context of testing and assembly error resolution.

The document outlines the detailed steps for the production and testing of the design verification prototype. This includes the procurement and manufacturing of components, …

Northrop Grumman Collaboration Project, Nikkia Psomas-Sheridan, Santiago Robles, Ben Elkayam, Benjamin Ulfhake

Mechanical Engineering

The Northrop Grumman Collaboration Project (NGCP) is a collaborative club project sponsored by Northrop Grumman for the students of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo (CPSLO) and Cal Poly Pomona (CPP) to create a fleet of vehicles to aid in the simulated rescue of stranded hiker. The CPSLO club is responsible for delivering an autonomous flight vehicle that can suppress a fire and retrieve a payload. Mechanical Design Team of the CPSLO team was responsible for the design of the frame, electronics housing, and payload and fire suppression systems.

Valve Efficiency Testing Device, Jake Robert Rydberg, Andrew Keith Willardson, Jake Ben Jezier, Emily Marie Wannenmacher

Mechanical Engineering

This document serves as the official Final Design Review (FDR) for the mechanical engineering team on the Valve Efficiency Testing Device project for the Phillips 66 Rodeo Refinery. The team attends California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The project involved designing and building a valve efficiency testing device. The goal was to create a finished test device that can be used in the Phillips 66 Rodeo Refinery machine shop to test reciprocating compressor valves before they are installed. The purpose of this document is to describe the manufacturing and design verification activities that have been completed since Critical Design …

Biomechanical Knee Joint For Exoskeleton, Gabriel Ireton Ahern, Calloway Miller, Christianna Altamura, Eric Mailes

Mechanical Engineering

Our senior design project consisted of designing and manufacturing a biomechanically accurate, actuated knee joint to be integrated into an exoskeleton being developed by the Lower Limb Exoskeleton Assist Project (LLEAP), a part of the EMPOWER student association at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. As the human knee flexes and extends throughout gait motion, the center of rotation changes. Currently marketed exoskeletons have one point of rotation, which over constrains the knee and causes misalignment between the user and the suit [1]. Our goal was to mimic natural knee joint motion by changing the center or rotation, thus reducing misalignment …

Rapid Composter, Shannon Shinozaki, Avin Atencio, Jonathan Fraser, Lukas Kolbl, Russell Occhipinti

Mechanical Engineering

This project was created with the intent of automatically composting equine bio waste to be reused as plant fertilizer. The system consists of four subsystems: power generation and storage, automatic controls, aeration, and structure. Each subsystem may be manufactured independently, then put together. This system will not have access to power outlets, so it was designed to be solar-powered.

Cooled Liquid Rocket Thrust Chamber, Benjamin Gibson, Kealan Frederick Harris, Ryan Frank Schackel, Bjorn Thorsen

Mechanical Engineering

Cooling may affect the thrust output of a small-scale rocket. Little research is published about small-scale rocket performance. We hypothesize the thrust produced varies as the amount of cooling varies. To facilitate assessing this hypothesis, we have designed and built a liquid rocket engine rated for at approximately 25 lb_f of thrust. Our objective was to build in parallel with Cal Poly Space Systems, who built a rocket engine with similar specifications except without cooling. Our challenge is to integrate film cooling, so that the effects of cooling may be compared to Cal Poly Space System’s engine which has …

Weed Robot, Kaela Stern, Lewis Kanagy, Claire Franz, Carlos Rodriguez Orozco, Jackie Chen, Sachi Hiji, Ayush Kakkanat, William Ta

Mechanical Engineering

Team Weed Scouts has completed our work on a weed-cutting robot for the Girl Scouts of California’s Central Coast. The final robot build provides a solid foundation that can be built and improved upon by future teams. We have completed the robot base and structure, including the chassis, drivetrain, and robot shell. We also completed manufacturing a weed storage bin and canvas cover for the robot. Additionally, we have built a weed scooper, the mechanism that cuts weeds and transports them into a storage compartment. The electronics and programming for remote control of the robot are also implemented. After some …

Saver: Surface Autonomous Vehicle For Emergency Rescue, Lucas Je Sandsor, Michelangelo Coltelli, Brian Wong, Sebastion Rivero, Kobe Hayashi

Mechanical Engineering

The design, fabrication, and testing of an unmanned surface vehicle for the NASA Micro-G NExT SAVER challenge. This device features a radio direction finding phase array to autonomously navigate to an emergency distress beacon to deliver emergency supplies.

Wave Energy Converter For Marine Vessels And Isolated Communities, Leo Kirshenbaum, Owen Pyle, Gage Howard, Charlie Camilli, Jonathan Ma, Emigdio Islas, Joseph Bonafede

Mechanical Engineering

California Polytechnic State University’s 2023 Marine Energy Collegiate Competition team, Surf Supply, has developed a floating dock that transduces wave energy into electricity. The following report aligns with MECC requirements, and our design changes since CDR are present in the User Manual in Appendix F. Our primary market research of the Blue Economy identified electric marine vessel charging and isolated communities as early adopters that could benefit most from the first generation of our wave energy converter (WEC). Surf Supply’s design concept provides a reliable, affordable, and renewable energy source that reduces dependency on conventional fossil fuels, allowing blue economy …

Parametric Bicycle Yoke, Colin Reay, Walter Minehart, Robby Harrigan, Jordan Olson

Mechanical Engineering

This report outlines the entire design, fabrication, and validation process of a parametric yoke design that addresses the packaging problem of the bottom-bracket chainstay junction in modern bicycle frames. The goal was to create an elegant, space-efficient solution that is accessible to the Cal Poly Bike Builders Club. The report includes documentation of the three-part fixture system, manufacturing process, and testing results for the yoke.

Our yoke design outperforms traditional round-tube weldments in torsional and vertical stiffness. Additionally, all manufacturing fixtures and machining operations function as intended, resulting in a finished yoke that meets all required tolerances in under an …

Treadmill Platform For Quadrupedal Robots, Baxter J. Bartlett, Jack F. Butler, Phillip A. Shafik, Tarun S. Ganamur

Mechanical Engineering

Cal Poly Legged Robots, led by Professor Refvem and Professor Xing, has been leading Cal Poly’s attempts to simulate, produce, and test their legged robots. The initial testing of the locomotion of these robots can be dangerous to the robot since any bugs in the code could cause the robot to fall over and harm itself. Our responsibility as a team was to deliver a portable platform for testing the locomotion capabilities containing a fall prevention mechanism. In short, we have designed a platform for this purpose that consists of a treadmill surrounded by a wheeled chassis with a system …

Flexible Water Cooling, Joshua Terlaje, Andrew Lin, Nicholas Morales, Tanner Parrott

Mechanical Engineering

The goal of this project is to develop and deploy a water-cooling system to reduce the danger of heat exhaustion among communities of farmworkers. Currently, it is difficult to keep chilled water available throughout the workday when using portable water coolers. The idea uses a refrigeration system to chill the water supply by using the power take-off (PTO) on farm equipment and a corresponding generator to get around this restriction.

The project places a strong premium on keeping the chilled water supply at a maximum temperature of 59°F to ensure compliance with the California Department of Industrial Relations' requirements. Each …

In-Situ Mechanical Tester, Andrrew Murach, Gustavo Marquez, Kosimo Tonn, Jake Vormbaum

Mechanical Engineering

Over the course of the 2022-23 Cal Poly SLO school year, a small tensile tester device was developed specifically for Dr. Long Wang to test thin film materials under a microscope and generate accurate force versus displacement graphs. A tensile tester was manufactured using purchased and machined components, electronics were consolidated in a separate box and connected, and a program and user interface were written to control the motion, provide custom inputs, and organize useful data for the researcher. Tests were conducted to compare the performance of the device to universal tensile testers available in the Composites lab. The device …

Metamaterial-Based Soft Actuators, Savannah June Cheney, Nathan Kessenich, Marco Leen, Merek Mcgill

Mechanical Engineering

For this project the team was tasked with designing a soft actuator that incorporated aspects of mechanical metamaterials. The team’s goal was to demonstrate the feasibility of structural metamaterials in the field of soft robotics and demonstrate a novel response with a final assembly. Also included in the team's discussion are the manufacturing steps, protype tests & results, and suggested future next steps. Following the previous report (critical design review) the team chose to follow the path of designing a continuum robot with metamaterials incorporated into the design. A continuum robot consists of a soft cylindrical body with rigid evenly …

Perforated Groove Cam Lock, Matthew J. Redmond, Samuel A. Potter, Dylan Weiglein, Andrew Reese

Mechanical Engineering

NASA Artemis III astronauts need a way to attach and detach various tools to an extension handle to be used during lunar EVA sample collection. Because lunar dust is so harsh and abundant, mechanisms must be designed to function regardless of the number of contact particulates. Past designs used on the Apollo missions proved to be problematic for their operators, opening the door for innovative improvement. A new mechanism has been proposed that directly addresses the performance issues of the original handle extension mentioned in NASA’s Apollo mission reports. The new mechanism boasts an open design that promotes dust tolerance …

Therapeutic Mechanical Horse Project, Broghan Martin, Carson Roff, Zach Barnisham, Lydia Barnes

Mechanical Engineering

This project team created a simple mechanical model of a horse that disabled children could ride on to feel more comfortable partaking in equine therapy. This project was sponsored by Jack’s Helping Hand as part of their equine therapy program. The team went through the entire design process of researching, ideating, prototyping, and testing to create the final product. Finite element analysis of the structural members of the horse was performed. The forces used in that model were later validated through testing of the strength of those same members after manufacturing. In the end, a self-actuating single degree of freedom …

3d Printed Aircraft, Matthew Nagy, Charles D'Amico, Alexis Salgado Medina

Mechanical Engineering

This project is to design, build, and test a 3D-printable aircraft. The goal is to create a final design that will be able to fly for the longest duration possible, around 20 seconds. To determine the correct preliminary design and manufacturing process for a 3D printed RC aircraft, an analysis of multiple design options and manufacturing materials was performed. This allowed for a variety of choices for aircraft type, airfoil design, structure, among other topics to be narrowed down to the most promising option. It has been found that the aircraft will follow a design similar to industry motor-gliders, with …

Bespoke Bicycle Enclosure, Thomas Link, Kyle Mcafee, Marc Monier, Hunter Walden

Mechanical Engineering

Brian Higgins is an American veteran with retinitis pigmentosa who relies on cycling for transportation. The motivation for this project is to design and manufacture a refined prototype bicycle attachment to support him while biking in the rain and cold. The attachment will serve to enclose him for optimal protection from inclement weather, while maintaining sufficient mobility for daily cycling. Mr. Higgins’ bicycle is equipped with an attached sensor system which assists his visual impairment by using an ultrasonic sensor. Therefore, the attachment cannot adversely affect the function of the sensor system. The project timeline is set at approximately 7 …

Tie Installer For Great Heights To Extend Research, William Moffat, Truman Giesen, Ryan Ghosh, Victor Rodriguez

Mechanical Engineering

This senior project consisted of developing and creating a hand held device that automatically installed zip-ties. Our project began as an entry to the NASA Micro-G NExT competition but was redirected towards the new goal of creating a consumer product.

Although installing zip-ties seems to be quite a simple process, throughout the entirety of our development we quickly determined that our device would have to embrace a higher level complexity to complete the objective of installing a zip-tie. The ultimate drive force of this project was meant to create a solution for the massive cost gap of already existing Zip-tie …

Animatronic Monarch Butterfly: Mechanical System, Janine Rae Moreno, Enrico Cruz, Alexia Murphy, Lakshmanan Muthukaruppan

Mechanical Engineering

This report describes the design, manufacturing, and design verification of an interactive animatronic monarch butterfly created by a team of mechanical and computer engineering students for the Girl Scouts of California's Central Coast. The purpose of the project is to engage Girl Scouts in learning about monarch butterflies and provide hands-on experience in robotics and STEM. The report covers design changes, manufacturing processes, and assembly of various components, including the butterfly body, wings, legs, and electronic housing. The software and electronics used in the project are also briefly discussed, as the computer engineering team was responsible for the software and …

Mechanics Desktop Lab Equipment, Dante Azpilcueta, Quentin F. Mormann, Arfan Ansar

Mechanical Engineering

This paper overviews the design, implementation and testing of a senior project designed to fix the issue of there being no lab equipment or space for content pertaining to mechanic of materials topics. This is of concern as Cal Poly is reorganizing content as it switches to the semester system and is in need of labs for this material. The solution found was to create a portable miniature universal test machine that could be carted into non-lab classrooms. The goal was to create a device that was low-cost, modifiable, durable, easy to manufacture and repair as these were the qualities …

Valve Efficiency Testing Device, Jake Robert Rydberg, Andrew Keith Willardson, Jake Ben Jezier, Emily Marie Wannenmacher

Mechanical Engineering

This document serves as the official Final Design Review (FDR) for the mechanical engineering team on the Valve Efficiency Testing Device project for the Phillips 66 Rodeo Refinery. The team attends California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The project involved designing and building a valve efficiency testing device. The goal was to create a finished test device that can be used in the Phillips 66 Rodeo Refinery machine shop to test reciprocating compressor valves before they are installed. The purpose of this document is to describe the manufacturing and design verification activities that have been completed since Critical Design …