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Fire & Life Safety Evaluation Of The Goff Health Sciences And Technology Building, Philip Bond

Fire Protection Engineering: Culminating Experience Project Reports

The purpose of this report is to practically apply the information conveyed in the Cal Poly Fire Protection Engineering Master of Science program by selecting a building and analyzing prescriptive and performance-based design features that accomplish the building’s life safety strategy. The selected building is the Goff Health Sciences and Technology Building located in Oak Ridge, Tennessee.

The Goff Health Sciences and Technology Building is a three-story educational facility with business, education, and assembly occupancies. The fire safety strategy of the building depends on a fire alarm communication system, wet pipe sprinkler system, structural fire protection components, and egress elements …

Light Based Wireless Communication, Nick Ghaffarian, Gibson Puckett

Electrical Engineering

The demand for high-speed, secure wireless communication is escalating, particularly in high-density environments like urban areas, and critical sectors such as healthcare and defense. Traditional Wi-Fi struggles with issues like signal congestion, electromagnetic interference, and security vulnerabilities, compromising connectivity quality. LiFi is much more suitable for areas like hospitals which contain equipment highly sensitive to electromagnetic interference, has a high bandwidth far away from standard radio waves which enables strong communication in highly congested areas.

We developed a small scale, low-cost LiFi system to demonstrate a proof of concept of LiFi that grants the user full access to the internet. …

Modeling A Hydropower Plant Powerhouse Based On Hebgen Dam, James Savella, Paul De La Cruz

Electrical Engineering

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) Water Power Technologies Office (WPTO) invited California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) to participate in the 2024 Hydropower Collegiate Competition (HCC) to research and design ways to convert non-powered dams (NPDs) to hydropower plants to contribute to a clean energy future. The Cal Poly HCC Electrical Engineering team used information gathered for the competition to create a simulated hydropower plant model of Hebgen Dam, in Montana, using a salient pole synchronous generator and a PID governor for an Electrical Engineering Senior Project. The simulated hydropower plant model allows a user to control the …

Cal Poly Gen 2 Battlebot Electrical System, Kelvin C. Villago

Electrical Engineering

BattleBots is a popular robot combat sport where engineers from all over the world design and construct a robot with the aim to disable or impair the opposing robot. The Cal Poly Gen 2 BattleBot aims to complete a robot from scratch with hopes to compete in the official competition. This report focuses on the electronic design behind the robot, specifically the printed circuit board (PCB) and component selection. The design process of this project involved choosing specific motors and microcontrollers based on cost, efficiency, and benefits with the end goal of a complete printed circuit board (PCB). Brushed motors …

Drone Swarm Search And Rescue, Rushabh Shah, Christopher Short, Anderson Macmillan, Wyatt Colburn

Electrical Engineering

Drone swarms offer the potential to drastically reduce search times and improve the effectiveness of search and rescue operations. This senior project explores the development of a drone swarm system for search and rescue missions, focusing on two key challenges: (1) precise localization of each drone within the swarm relative to one another and (2) accurate localization of a target beacon relative to the drones. The project utilizes Real Time Kinematic (RTK) processing to enhance the accuracy of drone localization, achieving centimeter-level precision. Target localization is achieved through a triangulation-based approach using Received Signal Strength Indication (RSSI) data from a …

Solid State Thermoelectric Generator For Remote Applications, Patrick Jackson, Drew Thomas, Bennett Pearce

Electrical Engineering

This paper proposes a device that utilizes thermoelectric generators (TEGs) for energy generation from solid biomass combustion, with a focus on addressing the low power electricity needs of off-grid dwellings and remote cabins in Alaska. The feasibility of a device utilizing TEG technology to convert waste heat from wood stoves into electrical power is explored, with the goal of offering a continuous and weather-independent energy source. Potential customers and stakeholders were consulted to build requirements for the system, including power output, size, ease of use, safety features, and cost considerations. The design utilizes passive water cooling to provide a temperature …

Digital Audio Synthesizer, Philip A. Schremp, Alexander J. Elliott

Electrical Engineering

With more and more of the modern music production and live performance workflow becoming digitized synthesizers are the perfect middle ground between the traditional instrument layout and the progressive electronic sound. Despite the fact that synthesizers have made their place in the modern music pipeline they have one significant drawback. Synthesizers are expensive. Whether they are analog or digital, many of the synthesizers produced today are not affordable for the average musician or synth hobbyist. We will be designing a cost effective digital audio synthesizer that will still have enough versatility and a high enough quality to be useful in …

Exploring The Effect Of Interactivity On Zoom Fatigue And Student Learning, Kendall N. Baebler

Communication Studies

The present study aims to address the immensely popular alternative to face-to-face classrooms in higher education that has emerged in videoconferencing, and the various challenges that it creates for students in comfort, enjoyment, and learning. While many cross-sectional studies have explored the evidence of and causes for this so-called “Zoom fatigue” (e.g., Aroaz et al., 2023; Castro & Tumibay, 2021; Fauville et al., 2021a; 2021b; Reidl, 2022), experiments testing potential alleviating factors to this fatigue are limited. The study used experimental design to evaluate the effect of interactivity in Zoom class sessions on the students’ perceived learning, Zoom fatigue, and …

Cheap Clothes And Costly Consequences: A Study On College Students’ Shopping Habits Surrounding Fast Fashion And The Theory Of Reasoned Action And Planned Behavior, Stella Rose Chamness

Communication Studies

This study investigates the impact of perceived attitudes and behaviors with regards to fast fashion and consumerism amongst Cal Poly students. Drawing on the Theory of Reasoned Action and Planned Behavior, the research measures student’s perceived facilitation, beliefs, and the influence of subjective norms towards consumption of fast fashion. The literature review establishes the theoretical framework, highlighting the importance of the Theory of Reasoned Action and Planned Behaviors. The study’s method involves a 17 item questionnaire administered to 108 participants. Half of the participants, 53, were randomly assigned to either a persuasive message or no message at all. The group …

Spring Rate Measurement Of A Pneumatic Mountain Bike Tire, Joseph D. Balderama, Alexandre Kachlakev, Duncan Wyke, Luki Rosen

Mechanical Engineering

The Final Design Review (FDR) presents a comprehensive overview of the spring rate measurement project for a pneumatic mountain bike tire. This report details the project's design, its implementation, and how it met all specified requirements. It also includes a discussion of the project's findings and recommendations for future work, assuming continuation of the project. The primary goal is to develop a device that allows professional race teams or experienced mountain bike riders to parameterize tires based on their spring rate in addition to internal pressure.

Since the Critical Design Review (CDR), the design has undergone significant changes due to …

Rapid Composter, Cate Seay, Clarisbet De Jesus, Lesley Milena Estrada, Reese Dennett

Mechanical Engineering

This Final Design Review documents the efforts of a team of mechanical engineering students from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo as they work towards completing their assigned senior design project. This team was tasked with designing and developing an onsite rapid composter for the Girl Scouts of California’s Central Coast. The selected design concept that will be explained focuses on creating a composter that is child-safe, portable, weatherproof, solar-powered, and requires minimal manual user input. This report will not only provide a detailed description of the chosen design but will also supply an extensive design justification. This mainly …

Powder Removal System For Additive Manufacturing, Kellan Spellman, Johan Barstad, Mari Natsuhara, David Smoots

Mechanical Engineering

Metal additive manufacturing, utilized by Parker Aerospace’s Exotic Metals Forming Division, enables the fabrication of intricately designed metal parts that pose significant machining challenges. This technology uses metal powder melted by a laser or electron beam to produce parts, but excess powder often becomes trapped within internal passageways due to complex geometries. Traditional methods like compressed air, vacuum processes, and manual banging are inadequate for effective powder removal. Consequently, an innovative solution is necessary. The designed solution utilizes a pneumatic motor to vibrate the printed part to break up or remove excess powder and was tested both quantitatively and qualitatively, …

Controls And Autonomy Research Testbed (C.A.R.T.), Sydney S. Ulvick, Joseph Micheal Sleeman, Mason Snyder, Lucas Grizzle, Aidan Schwing

Mechanical Engineering

Our team, Controls and Autonomy Research Testbed (CART) team modified and built upon the work of the Battery-Powered Autonomous Cart conversiON (BACON) senior project. BACON was the project before ours, with the goal of developing an autonomous vehicle platform for use as a test platform by the Mechanical Engineering department at California Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly). The project's scope included a redesign of the braking and steering systems, a ground-up design of the e-stop and acceleration systems, and integration with an embedded controller. This project was proposed by Professor Birdsong, who desires a platform for autonomous vehicle control system …

F56: Rocket Thrust Vector Control, Ethan Douglas Anderson, Yiming Trent Jia, Sahil Sampat

Mechanical Engineering

This Final Design Review (FDR) report compiles relevant information regarding the Rocket Thrust Vector Control senior project as sponsored by Ethan Anderson from Cal Poly Space Systems (CPSS). Documented in this report is our progress from the months following our Critical Design Review (CDR) completion. This consists of a brief overview of the design our thrust vector control (TVC) system and its subassemblies with design changes noted, a thorough walkthrough of our procurement, manufacturing, and assembly process for creating our verification prototype (including software), a breakdown of how we verified each of our specifications through inspection and testing and the …

Cal Poly Battle Bot (F41), Jyotaaver S. Nirula, Andrew D. Peterson, Johnathan W. Waldmire, Nathaniel Ab Davis

Mechanical Engineering

This senior project endeavored to design, construct, and optimize a 120lb robot combatant tailored for the competitive arena of combat robotics. The project is a collaborative effort between mechanical, computer, and electrical engineering students at Cal Poly, combining diverse expertise to achieve a unified goal. Our competition, RoboGames, was in April of this year in Northern California.

The mechanical engineering team assumed primary responsibility for the physical components of the battle bot, focusing on three pivotal components: a robust drivetrain, armor, and a highperformance vertical spinner. These elements constitute the foundation of the battle bot's offensive and defensive capabilities, crucial …

Sustaining Sustainable Farming: An Evaluation Of The Reasoned Action And Comprehensive Action Determination Frameworks For Persistence, Jet J. Tan

Master's Theses

This paper investigates the persistence of agricultural practices funded by the California Department of Food and Agriculture's Office of Environmental Farming and Innovation (CDFA OEFI). The central inquiry revolves around determining the most effective behavior model for analyzing persistence, comparing the Reasoned Action Approach (RAA), Comprehensive Action Determination Model (CADM), and CADM augmented with structural variables. The study's methodology integrates literature review, analysis of OEFI-funded practices, and statistical modeling to assess persistence levels. Contrary to existing literature, our findings reveal significantly higher levels of persistence than anticipated. Moreover, through model comparison, CADM augmented with political economic variables emerges as the …

Design And Implementation Of A Vision-Based Deep-Learning Protocol For Kinematic Feature Extraction With Application To Stroke Rehabilitation, Juan Diego Luna Inga

Master's Theses

Stroke is a leading cause of long-term disability, affecting thousands of individuals annually and significantly impairing their mobility, independence, and quality of life. Traditional methods for assessing motor impairments are often costly and invasive, creating substantial barriers to effective rehabilitation. This thesis explores the use of DeepLabCut (DLC), a deep-learning-based pose estimation tool, to extract clinically meaningful kinematic features from video data of stroke survivors with upper-extremity (UE) impairments.

To conduct this investigation, a specialized protocol was developed to tailor DLC for analyzing movements characteristic of UE impairments in stroke survivors. This protocol was validated through comparative analysis using peak …

The Effect Of Watts-Strogatz And Barabási-Albert Graphs On Memory Formation, Ethan Irick Wolfe

Master's Theses

Understanding higher level cognitive processes is a central problem in neuroscience. The Neuroidal model provides a useful framework for posing these problems in a computer science context. There has been significant recent work trying to understand memory capacity in the Neuroidal model but this work was done assuming that the network of neurons was an Erdos-Renyi random graph. However the network of neurons in the brain has been shown to exhibit small-world properties, which are not present in Erdos-Renyi graphs. In this research we explore replacing Erdos-Renyi graphs with Watts-Strogatz and Barabasi-Albert graphs in order to more accurately model the …

Automatic Mass Balancing Of A Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics Simulator With Six Sliding Masses, Amelia J. Gilman

Master's Theses

The goal of this thesis is to investigate automatic mass balancing methods for spacecraft attitude dynamics simulators, create a hardware design for a mass balancing system, and assemble the hardware on the Cal Poly Spacecraft Attitude Dynamics Simulator (SADS). Spacecraft attitude dynamics simulators replicate the torque-free environment of space with ground-based hardware. The SADS is mounted on a spherical air bearing, and includes a pyramid of four reaction wheels. The air bearing allows frictionless, unbounded rotation about the vertical axis, and 30 degrees about the horizontal axes. The torque-free configuration of the SADS can be used to test spacecraft attitude …

Next Generation Science Standards; Plant Science Education Stimulators, Kassidy J. Talbot

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

What is an Education Stimulator? The idea behind Education Stimulators is to help (in this case) high school aged students get familiar with the science material they are about to be learning from their teacher(s) from the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) curricular code. Whether it’s a student’s first time learning the material or it’s familiar to them, it allows for them to gear their brains towards what is to come without too many surprises that could uninterest them. There are three different types of Education Stimulators included with KEYs given also.

Smart Cushion Device For Elderly Aging In Place, Anna Dion, Nate Colley, Leonardo Bravo

Biomedical Engineering

Our task at hand is to develop a consumer-focused solution for improving elder care to provide additional peace of mind for seniors and caregivers using technology to extend independent living. We intend to create a device that will improve the quality of life of elderly individuals living alone by encouraging periodical movement throughout the day, along with monitoring pressure distribution and alerting when pressure concentration is potentially harmful. It will also alert users to the presence of moisture which can arise from spills or incontinence. The key stakeholders of this project include elderly adults over the age of 65 who …

Initiative To Increase Student Engagement In Undergraduate Structural Analysis Course, Danielle Rose Flores, Diego Alberto Tomas

Architectural Engineering

This report documents the design of physical models, software aids, homework supplements, and industry-related activities to support the Learn by Doing philosophy in an undergraduate structural analysis lecture and laboratory course pairing offered at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo in the Architectural Engineering department. The ARCE 302 Structural Analysis and ARCE 352 Structural Computing Analysis courses cover the fundamentals of analyzing indeterminate structures, primarily focusing on theoretical concepts and calculations.

Prior to the development of any new course materials for this project, feedback from students who had previously taken the courses was collected via a survey in the …

Analog Speech Recognition Circuit, Celeste Correa, Alyssa Lam, Grace Paladichuk

Electrical Engineering

This project performs speech recognition using analog circuits to compute the Fourier transform of a voice signal. There is a digital portion of the design to perform a comparison between the desired Fourier transforms and the voice signal’s Fourier transform. Due to time limitations, the project is limited to a set command that the circuit can execute. The design is also focused on the vocal frequencies of women due to the stark difference between men and women’s voices. Analog circuits are not being used commercially for speech recognition at this time, but there is research being done on methods to …

Prosthetic Forearm Controller, Claire Tylutki, Kevin Lopatka, Sofia Zaletel, Hardit Singh

Electrical Engineering

The EMG controlled prosthetic arm project represents a significant advancement in upper limb prosthetics, leveraging cutting-edge technology to address critical user needs. With over two million individuals in the United States living with limb loss, a substantial portion being upper limb amputees, the demand for accessible and functional prosthetic solutions is pressing. This project focuses largely on refining prosthetic limb control through the integration of electromyography (EMG) signal processing and control. Using surface electrodes, this project employs non-invasive means of data collection combined with modern digital signal processing methods to implement faster and more accurate control. The control system also …

Battery Energy Storage System, Alec C. Maclean, Kaylen H. Schwartz, Kyle A. Begley

Electrical Engineering

The project is a continuation of part 1 of the “Reliability Measurement for Grid-Connected Solar System” project. The goal is to continue where the previous design failed. This project will configure an ITECH IT-6000C and Tabuchi Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) to the small-scale microgrid at the Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo EE Department. Initially, a system was designed to connect an ITECH IT-M3633 as a PV solar source emulator to the Tabuchi BESS within a grid-connected microgrid system in Room 20-102 at Cal Poly. A Photovoltaic Thevenin equivalent model was developed for the ITECH IT-M3633, but this setup failed …

Ross Dam Micro Hydro Project, Marirose Evenden, Tyler Reents, Elena Ryan, Tevan Kim

Mechanical Engineering

The Ross Dam and reservoir in Angels Camp needs a reliable power source for powering its SCADA system which monitors its water level and flow rate. Currently, the existing hydro power supply is very unreliable and needs to be replaced with a micro hydro generator system that can consistently produce power to charge the onsite batteries. This paper details the design and implementation of a micro hydro Pelton wheel replacement system designed by our senior project team.

Outlined in this report is our design overview of the system and how our project will redesign and optimize the use of the …

Bolin Symes Prosthetic, Samuel C. Collins, Rowan Sun, Jake Hacker

Biomedical Engineering

This project’s purpose is to design a comfortable prosthetic for an individual with a Syme’s amputation, which is a below-knee amputation that removes the foot from the leg at the ankle joint. The goal is to minimize the discomfort that is associated with the current prosthetic leg options for the client, Mr. Bolin, who has the Syme’s amputation. This project also seeks to improve mobility, quality of life, and activity levels of the client. The stakeholder for this project is Mr. Bolin. The final prototype performed successfully when worn by the client and passed comfort testing. Furthermore, COMSOL modeling of …

Foot And Ankle Exoskeleton, Janet M. Velasquez Cabral, Kathryn C. Hamilton, Grant R. Lautze

Biomedical Engineering

This paper presents a non-motorized foot and ankle exoskeleton to assist persons who have no lower limb or abdominal function. Exoskeletons are defined as “an artificial external supporting structure” [1], they are wearable devices that can be used to assist the capabilities of the human body. Although the exoskeleton must be used with crutches, plantarflexion and dorsiflexion will be implemented within the ankle joint to alleviate strain on the foot and ankle, strategically designed in a way that supports the user so their walking performance is as ideal as possible. Additionally, safety straps will be integrated into the foot portion …

Prosthetic Aid For Lifting (Pal), Emma Caringella, Cameron Yartz, Dawn Veditz

Biomedical Engineering

Approximately 1.7 million people in the United States use a limb prosthetic [1]. For these individuals, their prosthetic often enables them to engage in their choice of physical activities. Many prosthetic companies design prosthetic limbs for use in specific athletic activities such as weightlifting. These devices are not designed for everyday wear or a large variety of tasks but enable the person to interact with free weights and workout machines. According to an email conversation between the team and Bob Radocy, Founder of Therapeutic Recreational Services (TRS Inc.) and upper limb amputee, while he could not reveal how many people …

Deep Vein Thrombosis Diagnostic Device, Alisha Mitha, Karina Martel, Ayla Silbahar

Biomedical Engineering

Deep Vein Thrombosis is one of the leading causes of death in hospitals worldwide due its ability to form in patients who are sedentary after receiving care. There is a need for a DVT diagnostic device that can be worn constantly in order to alert medical professionals if a thrombosis is forming, which is the basis of this senior project. The current solutions are time consuming, and look for thrombi after they have fully formed. The goal of this senior project is to design and construct a device to constantly monitor in-hospital patients for early stage DVT and alert hospital …