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Full-Text Articles in Mechanical Engineering

Rifle And Shotgun Recoil Test System, Benjamin Canfield-Hershkowitz, Trevor Foster, William Meijer Dec 2013

Rifle And Shotgun Recoil Test System, Benjamin Canfield-Hershkowitz, Trevor Foster, William Meijer

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.


Sodhana Environmental - Final Design Report, Eric Taylor, Corissa Bellis, Cody Perez, Cameron Zeller Dec 2013

Sodhana Environmental - Final Design Report, Eric Taylor, Corissa Bellis, Cody Perez, Cameron Zeller

Mechanical Engineering

A fully designed cost-effective, sustainable, toilet for the developing world.


Prototype Device For The Detection Of Subsurface Peach Pit Fragments, Colby Lippincott, Hamilton Little, Rick Hayes, Elliot Wenzel Dec 2013

Prototype Device For The Detection Of Subsurface Peach Pit Fragments, Colby Lippincott, Hamilton Little, Rick Hayes, Elliot Wenzel

Mechanical Engineering

Peach pits can break during processing into several small fragments and are difficult to see and remove from the peach. Wawona Frozen Foods is asking for a fully designed, built and tested prototype that can detect these pit fragments with ease and speed. Our design uses an array of needles that puncture into a peach half. A pressure sensor measures the force on the needles and determines whether or not each needle hit the peach flesh or a pit fragment. The array of needles consists of 313 needles each with a diameter of 0.6 mm with a total array diameter …


Low-Cost Scheffler Solar Concentrator For The Developing World, Darren Sholes, Jason Morgan, Nicholas Fuller Dec 2013

Low-Cost Scheffler Solar Concentrator For The Developing World, Darren Sholes, Jason Morgan, Nicholas Fuller

Mechanical Engineering

This report will outline an approach to design, test, and build a low-cost Scheffler solar concentrator to be used for safer, sustainable and cost effective cooking in the developing world. The function of Scheffler concentrators and a proposed method to create one in an economic, environmentally conscious manner is summarized. If successful, the design will be presented in a way that is readily and freely available to anyone in the world. The authors have examined existing technology and researched the availability and cost of different materials. Analysis was performed in order to verify the feasibility of the different design ideas …


Subway Rail Car Filter Sampling Tool, Brian Hong, Julia Pollard, Philip Ybarra Dec 2013

Subway Rail Car Filter Sampling Tool, Brian Hong, Julia Pollard, Philip Ybarra

Mechanical Engineering

The following design report has been prepared by Team Slice for both Cal Poly’s Mechanical Engineering Department and Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. This report provides an overview of the design ideation process of creating a subway rail car filter sampling tool. This cutting tool will take samples of HVAC filters from subway railcars in New York City, NY. These samples will then be used for processing in biological terror emergency response situations. This device will provide an easy, safe, and user friendly tool to cut filter samples. The current method of cutting is a pair of scissors or shears, which …


Trampoline And Bungee Fatigue-Test Machine, Andy Brock, Christopher D'Elia, Ryan Murphy Dec 2013

Trampoline And Bungee Fatigue-Test Machine, Andy Brock, Christopher D'Elia, Ryan Murphy

Mechanical Engineering

JumpSport, a Saratoga based recreational and fitness trampoline company, sponsored this senior project team towards the development of a fatigue-testing machine. The goal of this project was to iterate the previous machine JumpSport used for bungee cord, spring, and trampoline fatigue testing. Since minimal study had been conducted on these specific bungee cords, the fixture was designed to confirm the theoretical correlations for rubber and perform the final tests according to a strict protocol. Operating with a specific test protocol in mind will allow the data from multiple tests to be combined and analyzed statistically. With a design concept in …


Heat Transfer Experiment: Energy Conservation, Ben Ward, Brett Wallace, Ryan Waltman Dec 2013

Heat Transfer Experiment: Energy Conservation, Ben Ward, Brett Wallace, Ryan Waltman

Mechanical Engineering

This proposal, prepared for the Mechanical Engineering Department by the HTEC design team will redesign and replace the current energy conversion lab that is inaccurate and out of date. The team will evaluate methods of energy conversion, specifically using braking systems, as well as existing labs in order to design an accurate and relatable experiment for this lab. The project team will work with Professor Kim Shollenberger in order to design an experiment that demonstrates energy conversion through the first law of thermodynamics while utilizing a common device that is practical in student’s lives. The final result of this project …


Peripheral Artery Catheter Tracking System, Chris Blecher, Michael Lashore, Nhan Le Dec 2013

Peripheral Artery Catheter Tracking System, Chris Blecher, Michael Lashore, Nhan Le

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.


Otto - The Wall Driving Platform, Cameron Venancio, Eric Mar, Kelvin Lei Dec 2013

Otto - The Wall Driving Platform, Cameron Venancio, Eric Mar, Kelvin Lei

Mechanical Engineering

A robotic wall-climbing robot.


Computer Controlled Vegetable Oil Fuel System, Joseph W. Souza Dec 2013

Computer Controlled Vegetable Oil Fuel System, Joseph W. Souza

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.


In-Bottle Wine Aerator, Kevin Kesler, Patrick Lowry, Paul Woolworth Dec 2013

In-Bottle Wine Aerator, Kevin Kesler, Patrick Lowry, Paul Woolworth

Mechanical Engineering

The proposal for Capitol Cultivators discusses and evaluates the development of an in-bottle wine aerator. It defines the problem and need for an aerator located inside the wine bottle. Additionally, it outlines requirements essential for an effective design and describes the engineering process that will be followed.


Design Of An Automatic Wood Trimming Machine, Van Ho, Nicholas Maskal, Andrew Rutland Dec 2013

Design Of An Automatic Wood Trimming Machine, Van Ho, Nicholas Maskal, Andrew Rutland

Mechanical Engineering

This final design report, prepared for Sunrise Arts by the Cal Poly design team Mahogany Automation, details the year-long process in which the team of three engineering students designed and built an automated wooden -plank edge trimming machine that incorporates anti-jamming and continuous loading features. The team has examined current woodworking machines and features available on the industrial and commercial market, and used these as guides along with device requirements set by the project sponsor, Bruce Palmer. The focus has been on designing the simplest and most cost effective device that allows operators to make production runs of wooden slats …


Automated Foosball Table Year 1: Final Project Report, Juan David Gutierrez-Franco, John Inlow, Jesse Graham, Larry Huang Dec 2013

Automated Foosball Table Year 1: Final Project Report, Juan David Gutierrez-Franco, John Inlow, Jesse Graham, Larry Huang

Mechanical Engineering

This project is a first iteration of an automated foosball table designed and created using servomotors provided by Yaskawa to create an interactive tradeshow display where guests can play against the algorithms developed in the PLC (programmable logic controller) controlling the servomotors. There will be a second iteration of the project done by a different team directly following this one. The motion components were selected with the intent to be able to surpass the reaction times and speeds of expert human players. There are a total of eight servomotors, four controlling linear actuators for translation of rods, and four controlling …


Twelve Days Of Christmas Mechatronic Display, Michael Beltran, Christine Hagerman, Katie Ruhm Nov 2013

Twelve Days Of Christmas Mechatronic Display, Michael Beltran, Christine Hagerman, Katie Ruhm

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.


Human Powered Hydrofoil Bike Pontoon Floatation, Shelley Dangoor, Tyler Brennent Jun 2013

Human Powered Hydrofoil Bike Pontoon Floatation, Shelley Dangoor, Tyler Brennent

Mechanical Engineering

This report documents the brainstorming and design development of the hydrofoil bike floatation device. This project is in conjunction with senior project team MobyBike. MobyBike’s focus is in the development of the bike actuation system, as our team’s focus is on designing and developing the floatation device to be incorporated in the final hydrofoil bike design.


School Van Access In Nepal, Edgar Corona, Humberto Maldonado, Josh Schiesl Jun 2013

School Van Access In Nepal, Edgar Corona, Humberto Maldonado, Josh Schiesl

Mechanical Engineering

A need has been identified by a school in Nepal intended for children with Cerebral Palsy, called Sathi Sansar, to develop a more effective solution to loading and unloading students onto the school’s Toyota HiAce van. Currently, a combination of the driver, parents and teachers manually help the students on and off the van. However, this task has proven to be both laborious and time consuming for all parties involved. A solution to this problem needs to be designed and one is currently being developed by a team of engineering students from California Polytechnic State University-San Luis Obispo and Katmandu …


Loaded Shift Tester Sram, Nick Cox, Sam Shaffer, Michael Polka Jun 2013

Loaded Shift Tester Sram, Nick Cox, Sam Shaffer, Michael Polka

Mechanical Engineering

This report details the design, manufacturing, and testing of a loaded shift tester for the SRAM Bicycle Corporation. The machine is used to perform developmental and qualification tests on various bicycle drivetrain components. Using SolidWorks, the design team created a solid model of the machine on the computer, then ordered and manufactured the parts required to build it. The machine was tested to ensure that all the parts worked together, and was finally delivered to SRAM when it was deemed ready.


High Temperature Filter Test Unit Upgrades, Blair Frandeen, Will Schill, Erick Shewmaker, Joshua Turgeon Jun 2013

High Temperature Filter Test Unit Upgrades, Blair Frandeen, Will Schill, Erick Shewmaker, Joshua Turgeon

Mechanical Engineering

The purpose of this project was to improve the existing High Temperature Filter Test Unit (HTTU) by optimizing performance and adding new features. These features include viewing ports and a camera system for observation of tests, a leak detection system, and a flame impingement system. Additional considerations included improving the current operation of the HTTU by reducing test time and energy loss. The HTTU is designed to test High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters at temperatures up to 1300 ˚F, creating conditions which simulate a fire in a chemical processing facility. The HTTU was originally built as a Cal Poly …


Beach Wheelchair Project, Rory Aronson, Joshua Marcum, Samuel Coyne, Alex Hayes, Alexa Colburn, Max Hessel, Benedikt Strauss, Marvin Rimmele, Marco Pietsch Jun 2013

Beach Wheelchair Project, Rory Aronson, Joshua Marcum, Samuel Coyne, Alex Hayes, Alexa Colburn, Max Hessel, Benedikt Strauss, Marvin Rimmele, Marco Pietsch

Mechanical Engineering

The Beach Wheelchair, Sandcrawler, is a machine intended to help give people with disabilities the full beach experience. The non-profit organization Bridge II Sports sponsored this project, and tasked us with developing the design and fabricating a prototype. This chair has several features including a linkage mechanism that raises and lowers a chair relative to an external frame, hand crank drive with Gates Carbondrive belt and sprockets, buoyant Wheeleez balloon tires, and much more.


Rapid Tool Heating, Jason Chi, Bobby Dodge Jun 2013

Rapid Tool Heating, Jason Chi, Bobby Dodge

Mechanical Engineering

Quatro Composites creates various molded parts for an array of industries. They are seeking to improve their thermoplastic molding process by decreasing the amount of time to heat up the steel tool that molds the thermoplastics. Currently, it takes approximately 1 hour to heat up their 120 pound steel mold from room temperature to approximately 700°F. The goal of this project is to create an optimum heating method that will minimize that heating time to about 20 minutes or less. It is critical for the stakeholders (Quatro Composites) to have a faster heating time in order to increase their production …


Hoist To Transfer Athletes From Wheelchair Into A Kayak, Jennifer Batryn, Javier Mendez, Kyle Mooney Jun 2013

Hoist To Transfer Athletes From Wheelchair Into A Kayak, Jennifer Batryn, Javier Mendez, Kyle Mooney

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.


Titan 130 Engine Aft-Mount, Woody Newell, Michael Haworth, Dylan Perry Jun 2013

Titan 130 Engine Aft-Mount, Woody Newell, Michael Haworth, Dylan Perry

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.


Adaptive Golf Device, Nick Baker, Katie Delaurentis, Grant Martens, Liz Allison Jun 2013

Adaptive Golf Device, Nick Baker, Katie Delaurentis, Grant Martens, Liz Allison

Mechanical Engineering

Our primary objective was to design a golf device that enables its user, who has limited leg movement and control, to be able to produce a balanced golf swing. Ultimately, the device maximizes the golfer's independence, and increases the accuracy of and power behind each shot. Specifically, the device was designed around the needs and requirements of Dr. Joshua Pate, Professor of Adapted Recreation at James Madison University. Dr. Pate has cerebral palsy limiting his lower body mobility and making it difficult for him to produce a balanced golf swing.


Exploration Station Kidshake Table, Jeremy Duhe, Philip Hopkins, Matt Ostiguy, Samantha Weiner Jun 2013

Exploration Station Kidshake Table, Jeremy Duhe, Philip Hopkins, Matt Ostiguy, Samantha Weiner

Mechanical Engineering

The KIDShake Table is an all mechanical earthquake shake table sponsored by the Exploration Station Children's Museum of Grover Beach. This interactive exhibit has two working mechanisms, a hand crank and pull rope, that provide two axis movement for knocking down block structures. This table was built and designed for a target age of 10 years.


Adaptive Floor Hockey Device, Chris Gaul, Ricardo Gaytan, Matt Spaulding, Shannon Brant Jun 2013

Adaptive Floor Hockey Device, Chris Gaul, Ricardo Gaytan, Matt Spaulding, Shannon Brant

Mechanical Engineering

Sean is a young boy living with ataxic cerebral palsy. Ataxic cerebral

palsy affects Sean’s balance and coordination, so he uses a walker to

increase his mobility. Sean would like to play Special Olympics Floor

Hockey but his walker prevents him from participating. The goal of this

Senior project was to develop a device to be attached to his previous

walker to allow Sean to play floor hockey in the least restrictive

environment possible. The Adaptive Floor Hockey Device is the product

we designed to satisfy this need.


Drape Forming Machine, Adam Johnson, Will Schlosser, Brian Miller Jun 2013

Drape Forming Machine, Adam Johnson, Will Schlosser, Brian Miller

Mechanical Engineering

The goal of this project was to build a prototype machine that formed multiple sheets of debulked pre-preg OOA carbon fiber into a 2-foot long trapezoidal shape. The machine was required to do this process semi-automatically.


Pier Portal Ii, Misha Balingit, Cory Spieler, Aaron Jen Jun 2013

Pier Portal Ii, Misha Balingit, Cory Spieler, Aaron Jen

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.


Bicycle Wheel Test Machine, Dylan Harper, Kevin Hom, Ross Williams Jun 2013

Bicycle Wheel Test Machine, Dylan Harper, Kevin Hom, Ross Williams

Mechanical Engineering

In recent years, the cycling industry has witnessed huge advancements in bicycle components and materials. The age old goals of speed and low weight are still present today, but the pursuit of these goals may be reducing the structural stability of various components integral to wheel performance, including the wheel hub bearings. These bearings are invaluable to bicycles but little is known about how the forces and loads applied to a bicycle affect the performance of these bearings. Broken axles and hubs are indicators of significant stresses within the hub, but little is known about how the resulting deformation affects …


Bocce Ball Launcher: An Adaptive Bocce Ball Device, Jake Deschamps, Megan Hughes, Thomas Lynch Jun 2013

Bocce Ball Launcher: An Adaptive Bocce Ball Device, Jake Deschamps, Megan Hughes, Thomas Lynch

Mechanical Engineering

This report details the adaptive bocce launching device created by Team B.A.L.L. and theprocess of designing, building and testing it. The final design was a wirelessly controlled pneumatic catapult capable of propelling a bocce ball such that it would land fifteen feet away and roll the length of the wheelchair accessible bocce courts located at the Colony Park Community Center in Atascadero. A wide variety of users are supported because the system is controlled by a single button which can be actuated by the user’s hand, forearm, head or anything else they are able to move. The catapult allows the …


Adaptive Eating Device, Patrick Yale, Jillian Hiu, Jeremy Black, Kevin Farmer Jun 2013

Adaptive Eating Device, Patrick Yale, Jillian Hiu, Jeremy Black, Kevin Farmer

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.