Digital Commons Network^™

Composite Pegboard, Asa J. Cusick, Luis Corrales, Joelle Hylton, Wyatt Pauley

Mechanical Engineering

Many of those with mobility limitations who are told they will need a wheelchair for the rest of their lives can actually begin to stand and walk again given the proper tools and support. The current design for a wheelchair seeking to support this process is overly complex, heavy, and exhibits some features that could potentially pose a serious health hazard to those using it. The scope of this project is to aid in the design of an adaptable composite wheelchair frame that can be both lightweight and strong, while still allowing for physical diversity of potential users. Through research …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Active Transportation, Timothy Scott Mcbirney

City and Regional Planning

This research project examines the impact the COVID-19 pandemic had and will continue to have on active transportation, in particular, cycling. This research was initiated by my own interest in cycling for both recreational and utility purposes as well as articles I had read on the rise in recreational cycling over the course of the pandemic. I wanted to understand and summarize the best practices for converting the increase in cycling for recreation into a meaningful, long-term shift toward active modes in urban transportation in the future. This paper explores how the pandemic has impacted active transportation around the country …

Health + Efficiency House: A Take On The 50x50 Glass House, Eva Wieczorek, Krystal Bacon, Kaylee Hernandez, Jennifer Long, Moises De La Cruz, Elle Gallmann, Jurgis Vaišvila

Architectural Engineering

Under the guidance of Professor Edmond Saliklis and Professor Meredith Sattler, four Architectural Engineering students joined forces with three Architecture students from both Cal Poly and Vilnius Technical University in Lithuania. The portfolio exemplifies a complete reimagination of Mies van der Rohe and Myron Goldsmith's 50x50 Glass House as if it were designed today in Palm Springs, CA. The work completed in this interdisciplinary studio includes historical context, abstract creation, architectural and structural design all relating back to the Glass House.

Power Line Coupling Power Supply Design, Janine Gian Christii C. Darato, Jeni K. Kawate, Nicholas A. Marta

Electrical Engineering

In this project, a power supply was designed for a startup company, Perch Sensing, to detect wildfires with the use of distributed sensors across power lines. The purpose of the power supply is to provide 15W of power to a microcontroller, which controls the sensor nodes. The power supply hangs from power lines and draws energy by inductively coupling to these lines. Our design starts with a current transformer that steps down the current from the power line, which is fed into a shunting mechanism as a safety precaution when the load is absent, then to the power supply itself. …

Buck Converter With Voltage Foldback Protection, Fabian Aaron Enriquez, Pedro Rincon Rosales

Electrical Engineering

In this work, we implemented the idea of current foldback protection onto a buck converter. Current foldback protection essentially helps reduce the power dissipation which may be caused by a short circuit or overload scenario. To achieve the goal of this project, we used a combination of comparators, operational amplifiers and MOSFETs to create a current foldback sub controller. This controller would then serve as a feedback device between the output of the converter and the main controller to detect if a fault condition has occurred. Following the design, we performed simulation of the current foldback controller using PSpice and …

Early Wildfire Detection System, Edward A. Hernandez, Thomas Bruno Lubet, Kirsten Faith Lau

Electrical Engineering

Fires ravaged over 4 million acres and thousands of structures across California during 2020[1]. California is prone to fires due to dry flatland and scarce rainfall every year. Fires cause damage to not only natural habitats, but also communities near the fire. Rebuilding taxes the local communities as well as state and federal resources. Stopping fires before they start is crucial to protecting ecosystems as well as lives. Currently, manned towers are the system in place today to detect fires. This project aims to detect early signs of fire through visual and infrared image capture in an automated process.

Insulation And Structural Support For Solar Electric Cooking, Jack J. Crofton

Physics

The Insulated Solar Electric Cooker (ISEC) project is aimed at providing an alternative method for cooking that does not require fuel or fire, has no harmful emissions and is appealing to the culinary tradition of cultures around the world. The World Health Organization estimates that three billion people cook with biomass and coal, which causes 4 million deaths per year from breathing the associated emissions (WHO, 2016). Besides the dangers of indoor air pollution (Lim, 2013; Subramanian, 2014), cooking over open fires also results in deforestation, and greenhouse gas emissions of CO2 and soot (MacCarty 2008; Bailis & Kammen 2005). …

Solar Photovoltaic Iv Curve Tracer, Jonathan W. Skelly

Electrical Engineering

The Solar Photovoltaic Current-Voltage (IV) Curve Tracer, sponsored by Cal Poly Professor Dale Dolan, characterizes solar array current vs. voltage curves for any given temperature and irradiance. The curve tracer is battery powered, and functions autonomously across loading conditions from short circuit to open load on any sub-450-watt solar array. The curve tracer supports separate data logging modes for both single cells and single modules to maximize data accuracy for each. For testing full strings of solar panels, up to 10 IV curves may be stored in persistent EEPROM memory. Stored data may be recalled later for output to a …

Led-Based Solar Simulator, Jonathan E. Honrada

Electrical Engineering

Solar simulators are great laboratory tools that help users conduct tests with solar cells indoors. Conventional solar simulators typically use xenon arc bulbs as a light source, which can have considerable disadvantages. Recent projects have sought to design and implement LED-based solar simulators, as they are more power-efficient, inexpensive, and durable.

Based on these advantages, the goal of this project is to create an LED-based solar simulator that can replicate the characteristics of solar light, but also be tunable with controls. This broadens the testing capabilities of the device, allowing users to conduct tests with more narrow spectrums of light …

City Of San Luis Obispo Creek Walk Phase Iii, Ryan Thomas Anderson, Peyton Marie Ratto

City and Regional Planning

The following project includes a detailed narrative of project components and conceptual designs for the proposed City of San Luis Obispo (SLO) Creek Walk Phase III. The “project area” includes San Luis Obispo Creek and adjacent land uses/parcels from the Nipomo Street Bridge to the Marsh Street Bridge. This project is relevant because the City has interest in developing Phase III as an extension from the current walkway that begins at Mission San Luis Obispo de Tolosa. In order to ensure consistency with City goals and policies, various City documents were reviewed, including the Downtown Concept Plan. Our progress was …

Blds Pressure Belt, Hailey Earnest, Sean Casteel, Benjamin Bons, Biren Rama

Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Westphal has a Boundary Layer Data System (BLDS) that is used to take pressure measurements on the surface of the aircraft. Our team has created a design and manufacturing method for producing the corresponding pressure belt that attaches to Dr. Westphal's system to obtain pressure data.

Autonomous Tennis Ball Collector, Frances Erin Belcher, Michael Wai-Chun Yiu, Matthew David Hoffman, Alex Boyko Petrov, Robert E. Luttrell

Mechanical Engineering

Practicing tennis often involves hitting many tennis balls from one side of the court to the other without an opponent to hit the balls back. In training sessions like these, the task of collecting the balls is laborious when performed manually. The objective of this project is to develop a robotic tennis ball collector that can automatically collect the balls from one side of the court so that the player can rest rather than collect the balls manually. This document outlines the process of designing such a robot. Included in this report is background research, prototype, and concept modeling, along …

Investigating Daily Fantasy Baseball: An Approach To Automated Lineup Generation, Ryan Smith

Master's Theses

A recent trend among sports fans along both sides of the letterman jacket is that of Daily Fantasy Sports (DFS). The DFS industry has been under legal scrutiny recently, due to the view that daily sports data is too random to make its prediction skillful. Therefore, a common view is that it constitutes online gambling. This thesis proves that DFS, as it pertains to Baseball, is significantly more predictable than random chance, and thus does not constitute gambling.

We propose a system which generates daily lists of lineups for Fanduel Daily Fantasy Baseball contests. The system consists of two components: …

A Study Of Implementation Methodologies For Distributed Real Time Collaboration, Lauren A. Craft

Master's Theses

Collaboration drives our world and is almost unavoidable in the programming industry. From higher education to the top technological companies, people are working together to drive discovery and innovation. Software engineers must work with their peers to accomplish goals daily in their workplace. When working with others there are a variety of tools to choose from such as Google Docs, Google Colab and Overleaf. Each of the aforementioned collaborative tools utilizes the Operational Transform (OT) technique in order to implement their real time collaboration functionality. Operational transform is the technique seen amongst most if not all major collaborative tools in …

An Inclusive Design Approach To Integrating An External Human Machine Interface With Autonomous Vehicles, Sandra Roksic

Master's Theses

As autonomous vehicles become more prevalent in urban traffic settings, the safety of vulnerable road users, predominantly pedestrians, must be placed in high regard relative to the design of the autonomous vehicle's (AV's) external human machine interface (HMI). Traditionally, there exist communication methods between drivers and pedestrians, such as hand gestures, eye contact, and verbal cues that convey the driver's awareness of the pedestrian's presence. However, with autonomous vehicles, there is a shift in communicative responsibility from the driver to the vehicle itself. It is the vehicle's responsibility to intuitively and clearly indicate its actions to the pedestrian.

This research …

An Equity-Minded Assessment Of Belonging Among Computing Students At Cal Poly, Kylan Nicole Stewart

Master's Theses

Creating a Computer Science and Software Engineering Department that supports students with diverse identities and backgrounds is essential to creating a computing workforce that reflects the world at large. Inspired by the work of Metcalf et al.'s survey conducted at the University of Illinois, we use the same methods to examine the state of our computing department with respect to issues of inclusive climate and student sense of belonging, which have been shown to be important for retention in STEM fields. We use the four areas that contribute to belonging based on the work of Rainey et al. along with …

Solar Decathlon Competition 2021, Khanh My Fleshman, Ashley H. Kim, Ian Grant Maclean, Erich Peter Fenczik Warnock, Carina Michaela Nani Monaco

Mechanical Engineering

This report is intended to outline all relevant background information, decisions, and design direction for our senior project at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. We will be designing net-zero, affordable housing to compete in the attached housing division of the 2021 Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. With the increased urgency of climate change and focus on sustainability in construction, the importance of designing a net-zero structure is very apparent. Because there is a great need for affordable and sustainable housing in Watts, CA, we will be tailoring our design to meet this community’s needs. Details of the Solar …

Aged 539 Graduate Internship Report - Delano High School, Ernesto H. Marcial

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This internship and project report includes validation documents required in meeting the quality criteria for secondary-level programs of instruction in agriculture. The supporting material includes information to receive state and local funding, outline the goals and objectives of the program, along with an overview of Delano High School, the agriculture program, and the community.

Aged 539 Graduate Internship Report - Tulare High School, Debrah Silva

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This internship and project report includes validation documents required in meeting the quality criteria for secondary-level programs of instruction in agriculture. The supporting material includes information to receive state and local funding, outline the goals and objectives of the program, along with an overview of Tulare High School, the agriculture program and the community.

Solar Energy In Relation To Structural Engineering, Rachel Keith

Architectural Engineering

Solar power is increasingly popular among households around the world. However, many people may not understand how solar modules work, system design, factors that affect efficiency, or options for integrating a residential solar system with the existing power grid. This paper addresses all of these.

49 X 49 Glass House, Daisy Penaloza, Emmanuel Corona Navarro, Chengbin Kuang, Blake Durham, Grace Lauer, Augustas Lapinskas

Architectural Engineering

This project started with an analysis of the Core House or 50x50 House by Mies van der Rohe and Myron Goldsmith. Through many iterations and obstacles, we arrived at the 49x49 house. We looked into some literary influences that affected the social interpretations of glass, the most notable one being Zamyatin’s “We”. These factors influenced our main design process as we asked ourselves, what can we do with glass? When we were imagining our initial ideas for what would become of our house in the future, we took inspiration from another master’s work, New Babylon by Constant Nieuwenhuys, which correlated …

An Architectural And Structural Investigation And Reimagination Of The 50x50 Glass House, Andrew Hensen, Ivan Avila, Donatas Krivicius, Sarah Navias, Sevilla Santana, Katherine Sheetz, Michael Storti

Architectural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Journeyman International: Dwell Being Jonestown, Mississippi, Autumn Wagner

Architectural Engineering

Journeyman International is a non-profit organization that works with countries all over the world to support humanitarian projects by pairing clients with design professionals and volunteers to oversee the design and construction of projects. This specific project partners with Third Lens Ministries and But God Ministries, two organizations that are hoping to empower the community in Jonestown, Mississippi. Dwell Being promotes sustainability and affordable housing in a new housing community in Jonestown that is designed for healthy living and community interaction. Jonestown is a very small 0.4 square acre town that has roots in systemic racism and oppression. A once …

Williamson County Building Safety Plan, Jack Combs

City and Regional Planning

My senior year at Cal Poly offered me a vast array of opportunities for enriching my knowledge of the field of city and regional planning. The most impactful of my experiences was the time I spent working for the facilities department of Williamson County, Texas. This department is responsible for constructing and maintaining all of the buildings owned and occupied by Williamson County; this includes more than 60 buildings and more than 2,000,000 square feet. Additionally, as the fastest growing county north of Austin with roughly 600,000 residents, this department had many pertinent development projects to attend to.

As an …

Conspiratorial Thinking And Personality, Fiona R. Papile

Social Sciences

Why do some people believe in conspiracies more than others? Previous research suggests that variables such as education level, gender, race, or political preference are not useful in a predictive capacity, so what individual traits or characteristics make someone more likely to believe in conspiracy theories?

Locus of control is a psychological personality trait that indicates how an individual attributes the causes and outcomes of life events. Locus of control ranges from a more internally located locus, to more externally located. Internally located individuals believe that their own actions primarily impact the outcomes of events, whereas externally located individuals believe …

Mapping The Suitability Of Cal Poly's Insulated Solar Electric Cookers (Isec) In Ghana, Togo, And Jamaica, Julia G. Kraatz

Social Sciences

The World Health Organization estimates that 3 billion people depend on biomass fuels for cooking, heating, and other day-to-day activities, which causes approximately 4.3 million people annually to die from illnesses attributable to indoor air pollution. The issue is especially pressing for women and children in developing countries, because women care for the home and are consequently responsible for attaining household fuels and cooking. In 2015, ISECs (Insulated Solar Electric Cookers) were developed at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, as a technology that utilizes solar electricity to directly cook food in a well-insulated chamber. They are capable of …

Securing Funding For The 40 Prado Medically Assisted Residential Treatment Center, Manees Kanukuntla

Social Sciences

For my senior project, I wrote a grant proposal on behalf of the Community Action Partnership of San Luis Obispo (CAPSLO). The proposal was to be submitted to the Miossi Charitable Trust, and funds secured would have been used to complete the construction of a medically assisted residential in-patient detox facility on CAPSLO’s 40 Prado campus. The detox facility, which is currently under construction, will provide treatment for individuals who struggle with substance abuse disorders, and will specifically provide treatment for those facing opioid addictions. Most importantly, the facility is specifically available for low-income and unhoused individuals of San Luis …

Female Representation In The Film Industry: Bringing Women In Film To Universities Around The Nation, Allison Mays

Journalism

The following study explores the lack of gender parity in the film industry and dives into the nuts and bolts of what makes up female representation in the industry. It also explores the potential a national organization like Women In Film has on a university campus. Despite the majority of people believing women make up nearly half of the film industry, the reality is that only 23% of the key behind-the-scenes roles in the film industry are occupied by women. Since 1998 up to the year 2020, female representation has only grown by 6% (17% in 1998 to 23% in …

Care: Covid-19 Abatement Return To Education, Matteo Marsella, Emma Oneto, Janis Iourovitski

General Engineering

The COVID-19 pandemic poses new challenges in many aspects of life and society. Being that the prime ethical responsibility of engineers is to keep people safe, our sponsor, John Nielsen, asked us to develop a solution that addresses a current or anticipated need related to the ongoing COVID- 19 pandemic. We entered a needs-finding phase to search for problems caused by COVID-19 that people want or need to be solved. We identified K-12 education as an area that has undergone drastic changes due to the pandemic. After conducting interviews with educators, we found that K-12 teachers need a way to …

San Joaquin Parks And Recreation Site-Specific Strategic Plan, Ida Araghieyan, Jessica M. Gastineau Romero

City and Regional Planning

The San Joaquin Parks and Recreation Strategic Plan (SJPRSP) outlines a road to success for parks, open space, and recreational amenities. Areas of improvement are identified, and local assessments of opportunities and strengths of San Joaquin are examined to curate a site-specific plan of what could be implemented regarding local parks and recreation and open space.