Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Edwards Lifesciences - Skirt To Frame Attachment Manufacturing Aid, Samuel Joda, Cesar Grimaldo, Patrick Hutchinson

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Multilink Suspension & Steering System For Cal Poly Formula Electric, Tristan French, Alissa Roland, Maximilian Sluiter

Mechanical Engineering

The purpose of this project was to design a suspension that would improve the performance of the Cal Poly SAE Formula Electric car around a racing track Performance would be quantified through skidpad, slalom, and straight-line acceleration tests as well as autocross lap times. The approach to meeting the objective was to increase the steady-state lateral acceleration and quicken the transient response while maintaining predictable handling so that the driver could extract maximum performance from the car.

The car uses round-section (motorcycle) tires at a large negative camber angle because the lateral force generated by a pair of negatively-cambered tires …

Evs Sports Knee Brace Testing Machinefinal Design Report, Silvia Aguilar, Nick Mattison, Chris Mccarthy

Mechanical Engineering

The purpose of this document is to report on the development of a test machine for EVS’ Web and Axis knee braces. Between September 2012 and June 2013, Team CSN, comprising of Nick Mattison, Silvia Aguilar, and Chris McCarthy, have methodically planned, designed, built, and tested this machine. The overarching goal of this unique machine is to address the need for both hyperextension and fatigue testing. From here on out this report dives into details of the machine with an Appendix C reporting testing results of said knee braces.

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.

Rapid Decompression Containment System, Evan Domingue, Michelle Rudney, Daniel Trees

Mechanical Engineering

Cal Poly students; Evan Domingue, Michelle Rudney and Daniel Trees; are working with General Atomics Aeronautical Systems, Inc. (GA, ASI) and engineer John Wilcox to complete a senior project. The senior project is focused on finding a solution to meet the requirement set forth in MIL-HDBK 1791 4.2.5.2 for rapid decompression which requires cargo items to be designed with pressure relief devices or to be configured for air shipment as to prevent any part from becoming a projectile in the event of catastrophic loss of aircraft cabin pressure. The goal of this project is to design a safe, cost-effective, and …

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

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Android App For General Aviation Ground Collision Avoidance, Corey Taylor Christiansen, Timothy Justin Dascomb, John Preston Cook

Mechanical Engineering

This project used ground collision avoidance algorithms developed by NASA's Dryden Flight Research Center to create an Android application that could be used by general aviation pilots. The application uses GPS and accelerometer data to calculate future trajectories and checks them against a terrain elevation map of the United States stored on the SD card. X-Plane, a flight simulator, was used for project testing.

Barbeque Grill Temperature Distribution Design Improvement, Peter Gobell, Connor Mcgill, Thomas Willson

Mechanical Engineering

Team License to Grill set out to asses Bull Outdoor Products, Inc.’s barbeques and quantify the apparent uneven temperature distribution or “hot spots” and “cold spots” across the grill. This testing was accomplished with the design and fabrication of a test fixture allowing for accurate and repeatable temperature collection across the barbeque. With results that matched the sponsor’s claims of hot and cold spots, an engineering model was made using heat transfer and thermodynamic equations. Once the model somewhat resembled the experimental data, it was used to suggest different modifications that would allow for better temperature distribution. It was discovered …

Design, Construction And Evaluation Of A Low Head Hydroelectric Turbine For Canals, Sean Phillip Ellenson

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Means of hydroelectric power generation today typically require state or federal funding, massive construction projects and high head differentials with the use of a dam. With thousands of miles of canals and waterways at our disposal, it is necessary to find a cost effective way of generating a substantial amount of power from low-head hydroelectric power sources.

This senior project details research on low-head hydroelectric power generation, along with the design, construction and evaluation of a twisted Savonius hydroelectric turbine. Sizing optimizations for a twisted Savonius turbine were performed, and the hydroelectric power generation unit was constructed, including a housing …

Design And Development Of A Stair Ascension Assistive Device For Transfemoral Amputees, Casey Michael Barbarino

Master's Theses

Transfemoral amputees around the world experience increased difficulty in climbing stairs due to lack of muscle, balance, and other factors. The loss of a lower limb greatly diminishes the amount of natural force generation provided that is necessary to propel oneself up stairs. This study investigated possible solutions to the problem of stair ascension for transfemoral amputees by the means of designing and developing an externally attachable device to a prosthesis. The number of amputations from military service has greatly increased since 2008, which shows there is a clear need for assistive devices (Wenke, Krueger, & Ficke, 2012). With the …

Intuity Sleeve Redesign, Maxwell Arnold, Brittany Kinkade, Dominic Nicoletti

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

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.

Dedion Axle Senior Project, Nick Schraan, Mark Shushnar, William Swenson, Ramy Tall

Mechanical Engineering

The sponsor, EV Grid Inc. is a company looking to the future with the development of a vehicle to grid infrastructure. The vehicle in development is a Ford E-250 Van which had been converted to electric drive with a front motor, rear drive layout. The sponsor wanted to move the electric motor to the rear and develop an axle to support this change. By eliminating the driveshaft, a more efficient use of battery space could be utilized. The goal of this project is to design and fabricate a prototype deDion rear axle which incorporates a system of drive components that …

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.

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 …

Mercedes-Benz Oil Level Monitor, Emmanuel Camacho, Jonathan Manriquez, James Young

Mechanical Engineering

The purpose of this project is to develop an engine oil level monitoring system that will replace the current dipstick method during vehicle testing for Mercedes-Benz Research and Development North America, Inc. (MBRDNA). Currently, MBRDNA test drivers check the engine oil level twice a day after two eight hour shifts each day. To measure the oil level, the driver parks on a level surface, waits five minutes for the oil to cool, and then manually checks the oil level with the dipstick. The goal of this project is to have a reliable, physical, working prototype that MBRDNA can use for …

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 …

Rebounder Fatigue Test Machine, Caroline Reeves, Will Robertson, Ethan Flory

Mechanical Engineering

JumpSport, a company that designs and sells trampolines and trampoline accessories, has sponsored this senior project team to design, build, and test a trampoline fatigue test machine. The machine must simulate a person jumping on the trampoline to test the life of JumpSport’s fitness trampolines and kids’ trampolines. Partway through the design process, the objectives were altered and this senior project team was tasked with merging with another Cal Poly senior project group to create an all-inclusive test machine to accommodate both full-trampoline testing and individual bungee cord testing.

The final design is centered on a slider crank linkage driven …

Human Powered Helicopter: Spars, Jason Addy, Sterling Fuentes, Graham Garvin, Kenneth Girardin, Lipski Timonthy, Daniel Logue

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Abstract

Neal Saiki, a Cal Poly alumnus, donated a human powered helicopter to the Cal Poly Aircraft Design and Construction Club in Fall Quarter 2012. To achieve the requirements of the Igor Sikorsky Human Powered Helicopter Competition, this senior project was tasked with reducing the weight of the load-bearing spars without changing geometry.

The aluminum spars were replaced with carbon fiber. The spars were designed to maintain the bending and torsional stiffnesses. Twelve sections of carbon fiber tubes ranging from 8 to 12 ft in length and 2" to 3" in inner diameter were made using pre-preg carbon fiber wrapped …

S&G Metal Fab Battery Tray, Matthew Nartatez

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

This report was written for the design of a battery tray and manufacturing process for S&G Metal Fab. The manufacturing steps of how to process the sheet metal to create the product are defined and documented in this report. This project began with constraints given by S&G and were all accomplished using coursework knowledge obtained as a manufacturing engineer student at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. This report mainly covers parameters regarding the cutting, bending and, deforming of sheet metal to acquire the desired shapes and sizes. It also analyzes the costs that are associated with these processes and material. …