Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering Commons^™

An Exploration Into The Design Of A Portable Music Player For People With Alzheimer’S And Dementia, Jaxon V. Silva

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

An exploration into the design of a portable music player for people with Alzheimer's and dementia.

Human Powered Vehicle Trainer, Nicholas Hung Nguyen, Gregory Reece Bridges, Jacinta Garcia, Mitchell Sidney Smith

Mechanical Engineering

This Final Design Review (FDR) document describes the final design and completed prototype of a Mechanical Engineering senior project team at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The project goal is to create an adjustable human powered vehicle training bike for George Leone that allows a rider to gain confidence with the unique reclined bike geometry ahead of the World Human Powered Speed Challenge at Battle Mountain, Nevada. This document outlines the customer’s needs and technical research performed which together determine the project’s scope and engineering specifications. Next, we present the initial idea generation process and its results, along …

An Ergonomics Investigation Of The Application Of Virtual Reality On Training For A Precision Task, Delaney M. Bales

Master's Theses

Virtual reality is rapidly expanding its capabilities and accessibility to consumers. The application of virtual reality in training for precision tasks has been limited to specialized equipment such as a haptic glove or a haptic stylus, but not studied for handheld controllers in consumer-grade systems such as the HTC Vive. A straight-line precision steadiness task was adopted in virtual reality to emulate basic linear movements in industrial operations and disability rehabilitation. This study collected the total time and the error time for the straight-line task in both virtual reality and a physical control experiment for 48 participants. The task was …

Liquid Force Kite Control System Design, Brendan Kerr, Brodie Sutherland, Alden Simmer

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Kiteboarding is an ocean sport wherein the participant, also known as a kiter, uses a large inflatable bow shaped kite to plane across the ocean on a surfboard or wakeboard. The rider is connected to his or her kite via a control bar system. This control system allows the kiter to steer the kite and add or remove power from the kite, in order to change direction and increase or decrease speed. This senior project focused on creating a new control bar system to replace a control bar system manufactured by a kiteboarding company, Liquid Force. The current Liquid Force …

Solar Turbines Compressor Blade Installation Tools, Ryan Bruce, Carolyn Honeycutt, Stephen Oltrogge, Emmett Ross

Mechanical Engineering

The following report documents a California Polytechnic State University, Mechanical Engineering Senior Project sponsored by the gas turbine manufacturer, Solar Turbines. The senior project team consisted of four senior mechanical engineering students at Cal Poly, all with general concentrations; Ryan Bruce, Carolyn Honeycutt, Steve Oltrogge, and Emmett Ross. Kenneth Thomas sponsored the group and serves as the point of contact between the senior project team and Solar Turbines. He is a member of the Solar Turbines Mechanical Design Engineering Team and a Cal Poly graduate. Christoph Maurer served as the project team’s on-campus advisor.

A gas turbine uses internal combustion …

An Ergonomics Analysis Of Redundancy Effect In Touch Screen Design For The Aged Population, Sarah Riesenberg

Master's Theses

Touch screen technology is rapidly increasing, and at the same time there is a shifting, aging population. As the percentage of the population over the age of 65 increases, adults of the age group are adopting smartphones and tablets more now than ever before. Although older adults are adopting touch screen devices, they face many challenges when interacting with said devices, such as not knowing how to navigate between pages, not knowing where to click for an action to occur, and the touch screen interface is often too sensitive or the buttons are not big enough. Furthermore, the challenges of …

Ergonomics Analysis Of Touchscreen Utilization As A Function Of Preferred Hand And Gender, Jordan E. Odell

Master's Theses

The growth of touchscreen technology has changed the way users interface with a wide range of computing and communication products and systems. Examples range from personal tablets and laptops to industrial applications such as process control, point-of-sales, and ticketing kiosk systems. An important area of application is the automobile industry which is designing cars with touchscreen control panels to replace the previously designed mechanical knobs and buttons. However, interacting with touchscreens does not provide the same tactile feedback as physical mechanisms, therefore they require more precise movement and visual attention, which distracts the user from the primary task.

The purpose …

Process Improvements Of Cilantro Harvesting With Ergonomic Considerations, Eric Penningroth, Branden Shimamoto

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The problems presented by Talley Farms to the team were a lower than desired cilantro harvesting capacity and work health pertaining to lower back problems. The project objectives were to address and improve upon both of these objectives. To increase harvesting capacity, a simulation model was created using standard times from time studies. The simulation model helped to compare the different harvesting methods as well as the effect of the utilization of the on-site manager. The throughputs between each of the models were analyzed. To address ergonomic concerns, a work sampling study was conducted and it was determined that kneeling …

2d Wireform Process Improvement, Katy Conlin, Carlo Ebora, Jordan Gamble

Mechanical Engineering

The body of this work has been created for Edwards Lifesciences in conjunction with senior project requirements. As such, the information produced and contained within is under a non‐disclosure agreement. As per request by sponsor, the body of the work will not be submitted to any outside parties, and the title page will serve as proof of completion.

Lunalight - Bringing Light To The Expanding World, Gabriela M. Igel, Daniel J. Patrick, Kimberley M. Smith

Materials Engineering

The LunaLight, a solar rechargeable light and cell phone charger, addresses the lack of access to electricity faced by 1.4 billion of the world’s population (International Finance Corporation). The LunaTech team has developed a product that is bright, simple, compact, versatile and competitive with existing products. Through a partnership with the non-profit organization One Million Lights, LunaTech has improved a previous team’s design to address user feedback, concerns of durability, and manufacturability.

The LunaLight design includes a 5 component plastic housing held together by 4 screws, a surface mounted PCB, a lithium-ion (Li-Ion) battery, one high-brightness LED, a solar panel, …

Ergonomic Improvement On The Farm/Garden Hoe, Yuan Chao Jiang

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The hoes are widely used in the farms and home gardens in the United States. Many existing hoes are not ergonomically designed because they require a lot of back bending and wrist bending during use. Back bending often causes lower back injuries, and wrist bending often causes carpal tunnel syndrome. It can be very expensive to cure these injuries. The objective of this project is to reduce back bending and wrist bending by redesigning the hoe in an ergonomic perspective. In order to achieve the objective, ergonomics and human factors concepts are applied in the design. Two additional side handles …

Human Factor And Ergonomic Considerations And Improvements For A Table-Free Card Game Product, Enrique Daniel Aguirre

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The purpose of this project is to design a table-free Yu-Gi-Oh! Card Game product that will make the transition of said game from table to user more fluid and intuitive, improving on past designs in the process. Despite there currently being many similar products in the market, there has not yet been one that adequately fulfills game requirements and comfortably adapts to the range of players associated with the game. Taking ergonomic and human factor considerations into account during the development of the design, a prototype was created as part of this project that was subsequently tested against a past …

New Product Development Project Construction, Implementation And Continual Improvement: A Case Illustration From Semiconductor Manufacturing, Philip Daniel Walker

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Successful projects are the backbone of companies that lead their respective fields. Failed projects for one reason or another are more often than not the reason some companies fall further and further behind their counterparts. Projects are becoming more technologically advanced. Projects are more expensive and are receiving less funding than they used to due to a highly competitive economic climate. The projects in the second decade of 2000 have to meet the triple bottom line of cheaper, faster, and better than ever before. Due to these reasons projects have continued to fail at an alarming rate (nearly 70% in …

The Ergo Knife Manufacturability Project: A Prosthetic Device, Caleb Sarris

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Millions of Americans’ upper extremities have been rendered useless or amputated due to injury or illness. Without strength and dexterity in the hand or wrist, these people are in need of tools to help them in everyday activities. The Ergo Knife offers these individuals a way to cope with this way of life as a device that can assist them, primarily in food consumption and can also be expanded to many other applications. The purpose of this project is to further develop the Ergo Knife so that it can better assist these individuals and improve the necessary processes used to …

Process Improvement Of Kaiser Permanente Medical Group, Connie Chou, Brett Witherall

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This report seeks to improve the operations of the Kaiser Permanente’s Central Refill Pharmacy. In particular, the need for better workstations became evident when witnessing the cluttered appearance of the packing workbenches in the facility. Furthermore, one of Kaiser’s largest problem areas is the physical strain caused by the repetitive motion required of the packing job function. A redesign of the packing workstations has been developed on Microsoft Visio in order to reduce clutter, be more space efficient, and decrease eye and arm movement associated with employee strain. The most significant additions are an automated slide that transfers packages from …

Hardy Diagnostics Facility Redesign, Jamie W. Lam

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This senior project is a facilities design for the plate production room at Hardy Diagnostics. This project was completed using a systematic layout planning approach. The main reason for this redesign was to consolidate all plate line production into one room. This would ensure better visability for the managers. After the project was defined, the different departments were established and the relationships between those departments were found. The space requirements needed for those departments were then measured out to also include the aisle widths and any machinery or carts needed to complete each function. Having determined all requirements for this …

Assessing Living Arrangements In Residential Halls, Romel Penaflor Auza

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Hundreds of thousands of high school graduates head off to college each fall not knowing the environment they'll be living in for the next four years. The factors that predict success in the academic, social, and personal aspect of these freshmen students' lives revolves around one aspect that is often times overlooked. Freshmen students are subjected to the fast paced lifestyle of college and often times they need to feel “at home”. Their personal space becomes a matter that is important to them in relation to their success in the three aspects of academic success, social integration, and personal health. …

Ergonomic Methods To Improve Safety In The Construction Sector And Reduce Costs, Mona Barjasteh

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Many small construction companies have difficulty providing a safe working environment for their employees because of their lack of resources. There is a need to provide a manual for small construction companies employing 10 or fewer workers with the best ergonomic solutions of the top most common injuries. Accidents in the construction field are very high with nearly 175,00o nonfatal injuries and 1,121 deaths in 2002. The nonfatal cases occur 7.1 times per 100 full time workers, while serious injuries occur 2.8 times per 100 full time workers. This information reveled the importance of focusing on minor injuries in order …

Recycling Made Easy: An Ergonomic Approach To Home Recycling And Trash Containers, Landon P. Boisclair

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The purpose of this project is to create an ergonomically sound recycling/trash container, with the ultimate hope of making the recycling process easier and more intuitive, thereby increasing recycling rates. Currently, while there are many recycling/trash containers available for purchase, there is no product that has a design without glaring ergonomic flaws. An ergonomic design and product prototype was created as a part of this project, and was subsequently tested against a conventional prototype model. The data collected from the experiments conducted suggests that the new ergonomic model makes the waste disposal process and the container transportation process easier, while …

Design, Reconstruction And Evaluation Of A Dynamometer For Quarter Scale, Samuel Sanchez

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This project discusses the design, reconstruction, and evaluation of a dynamometer. A new test stand for the Quarter Scale team would improve the testing of the engines and the Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT). All the readings will be done electronically in order to provide the most accurate data collection. The dynamometer will be a closed hydraulic system for ease of use. This system will be able to test all of Quarter Scale engines. The data collected will be used to determine which engines are in the best condition, and which may need to be fixed. With the new design, the …