Digital Commons Network^™

Plansplaining Ceqa: Explaining The Basics Of The California Environmental Quality Act, Eric Yu Wang

City and Regional Planning

The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is a half-century old public disclosure law. In recent years, it has attracted public attention in its role in hindering essential developments such as affordable housing and other major public projects. Throughout its lifetime, CEQA has evolved from a simple public project disclosure law into a complex system. However, because of the spread of sensationalized media, CEQA has become frequently mystified and misunderstood by the public.

Through a six-video series called Plansplaining CEQA, the YouTube channel Plansplainer seeks to de-mystify California's unique and infamous public disclosure law. The videos are made to accessible …

Evanescent: Animating Space, Kyle Servando

City and Regional Planning

A redesign of the open space of The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA into an plein air gallery for the public to be their own artists.

Reservoir System For Tissue-On-A-Chip, Olivia Corvelli, Kyle Cekada, Ryan Adams

Biomedical Engineering

Dr. Christopher Heylman’s research laboratory needs an improved reservoir system for their microfluidic device that reduces flow variance, failures, and the physical footprint. Current microfluidic devices have various types of reservoir systems, including vials, 96-well plates, and other cylindrical wells. Several patents and standards must be considered when designing the reservoir system. To develop a prototype the following design process was used: product discovery, project planning, product definition, conceptual design, product development. Dr. Heylman expressed various customer requirements including increased time between cell media changes, reduced leaks and blockages, and reduced flow variance. These were then translated into engineering requirements. …

Concrete Masonry Program (Cmd21) Usability, Allie G. Decker

Architectural Engineering

The Concrete Masonry Design Program, CMD21, can be utilized in the design of beams, columns, and walls, but this project focuses on the use of the program to analyze shear walls loaded in-plane. This report critiques and describes the learning process behind the CMD21 program.

The Leaf For Leaning Pine Arboretum, Maria Boyle, Shelby Holmquist, Andrew Duong

Architectural Engineering

The goal of this ARCE 415 senior project course was to create a shade structure that could be incorporated into The Leaning Pine Arboretum, located on campus at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. From start to finish, these three ARCE students took on the role of form-finders to form-testers to form-makers. We are putting the "architectural" back in architectural engineering as we reclaim the historical tradition of the engineer as the form finder. In many of our design labs we focused primarily on sizing members and analysis, just using a structure that the architect already had established. In this one-of-a-kind …

Paired Storage Distributed Energy System Design For A Local Community Farm, Neil Albert Collison, Lily Goldman

Electrical Engineering

This project considers the design of a renewable energy microgrid for a 19-acre community farm in San Luis Obispo, CA as the farm seeks to increase the magnitude of its electrical loads, and gain back-up electrical capability. The microgrid design will enable lower carbon emissions, reduce demand on the utility grid while saving on energy costs, and provide improved reliability and resiliency to the operator of the community farm. The eventual implementation of the design by a professional engineering entity will allow the community farm to expand its education program to include renewable energy as well as gain notoriety in …

Energy Storage And Communication System, Noah R. Johnson, Marc Wong

Electrical Engineering

The Industrial Power and Controls Lab in Engineering East is welcoming the addition of a new lab course, EE 435. Schneider Electric sponsors this course, which seeks to teach students how to use the Modicon M580 Program Logic Controller (PLC) in various industry use cases. This project is a continuation of previous senior projects and focuses on developing a lab experiment to teach students how to utilize the M580 in an energy storage use case. More specifically, it focuses on the battery management system that oversees the units and exposes students to the various situations this system may encounter during …

Cubicom: Noisy Office Environment Communication Device, Nicholas Alan Maley, Joshua Michael Heeren, Alejandro Peña

Electrical Engineering

The CubiCom is a system that enables secure and clear communication between users in a noisy office space. It can function in any small cubicle within a 12 foot radius. The system consists of a series of wireless headsets for 6 users to transmit and receive audio, and a communication box that facilitates this process. These headsets are noise-dampening, preventing ambient sounds from interrupting conversation and making sure that all parties can hear each other clearly. Line-of-sight (L.O.S.) with each headset is required to have proper communication between users. This feature ensures no one outside of the room can eavesdrop, …

Power Thyristor Controller For Speed Control Of Dc Motor, Alejandra Zapata, Morgan Erich Boehme, Abdullah Mohammed Awidah, Payton Robert Chalstrom

Electrical Engineering

In this work, a Power Thyristor Controller for Speed Control of DC Motor has been developed with the purpose of replacing an existing simulation experiment, aiming to effectively implement the principle of learning by doing. The primary objective of the experiment setup is to illustrate the fundamental principles and operational mechanisms underlying the firing angle and controlled bridge rectifier. The new experiment is taking advantage of the existing FCRO4100 Single Phase Firing Board that was donated to the University by ENERPRO. The pre-programmed microcontroller is connected to the thyristor bridge rectifier that’s powered by 24VAC. Additionally, a DC motor will …

Audio Research Codec, Charlie Sutro

Electrical Engineering

Active Noise and Vibration Control (ANVC) systems are of increasing relevance as urban areas get more densely populated with people and their noise sources. Community noise is of great importance to many forms of transit that aim to bring mobility to a region with minimal subsequent noise pollution. Active Vibration Control (AVC) is an emerging field of research which can be employed to further mitigated unwanted harshness in an acoustic environment by extending the principals of Active Noise Control (ANC)to solid mediums using surface transducers and piezoelectric actuators.

The Audio Research Codec (ARC) is a compact, cost-effective system designed for …

Diffusion-Driven Aggregation Of Particles In Quasi-2d Membranes, Oscar Gullickson Rausis

Physics

Many biological membranes can be modeled as two-dimensional (2D) viscous fluid sheets surrounded by three-dimensional (3D) fluids of different viscosity. Such membranes are dubbed quasi-2D as they exhibit properties of both 2D and 3D fluids. The Saffman length is a parameter that describes the energy exchange between the membrane and bulk fluids and controls the cross-over from 2D to 3D hydrodynamics. We aim to model diffusion-driven aggregation of particles embedded in a quasi-2D membrane. It is known that hydrodynamic interactions between solute particles significantly reduce their aggregation rate in 3D fluids. It is expected that in quasi-2D membranes the reduction …

Polyflowbuilder: An Intuitive Tool For Academic Planning At Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Duncan Thomas Applegarth

Computer Engineering

PolyFlowBuilder is a web application that lets users create visually intuitive flowcharts to aid in academic planning at Cal Poly. These flowcharts can be customized in a variety of ways to accurately represent complex academic plans, such as double majors, minors, taking courses out- of-order, etc. The original version of PolyFlowBuilder, released Summer 2020, was not written for continued expansion and growth. Therefore, a complete rewrite was determined to be necessary to enable the project to grow in the future. This report details the process to completely rewrite the existing version of PolyFlowBuilder over the course of six months, using …

Solar Array Mini Rover, Alexa Hansen, Storm Randolph, Derek James Russell

Computer Engineering

The RoverX Senior Project has been an evolutionary process, with its roots in the RoverX Capstone project which concluded in the Winter of 2023. Our journey commenced with a core focus on hardware, which culminated in the successful creation of the Minimum Viable Product (MVP). Further information on our initial endeavors can be found in the 2022 "Alpha Report" and the 2023 "Summary of Handoff Contents/Quick Start Guide" for the RoverX project. However, recognizing the limitless possibilities of software in enhancing the rover's capabilities, our focus shifted towards this exciting frontier. Our final quarter of the senior project was dedicated …

Analog Circuits For Computing, Nicole Christine Pickett, Lauren Cathy Sueko Chun, Dillon Ryan Nguyen

Electrical Engineering

This project entails designing, simulating, and verifying analog circuits that can perform essential computing functions for power systems applications. The project aims to remedy critical challenges associated with handling calculations digitally, namely, time and power. This project's scope includes creating a library of circuits in SPICE that can be used to model and simulate complex mathematical equations. From these SPICE models, the circuit can be constructed physically, where the solution can be generated in less time using less power than doing the computation digitally. The performance and efficiency of analog computing will be measured and compared to conventional digital methods.

Detecting Alzheimer's Disease Using Artificial Neural Networks, Sally Lee, Mia Keegan

Electrical Engineering

This project aims to use artificial neural networks (ANN) in order to detect Alzheimer’s disease. More specifically, convolutional neural networks (CNN) will be utilized as this is the most common ANN and has been used in many different image processing applications. The purpose of using artificial neural networks as a detect method is so that an intelligent way for image and signal analysis can be used. A software that implements CNN will be developed so that users in medical settings can utilize this software to detect Alzheimer’s in patients. The input for this software will be the patient’s MRI scans. …

Low-Cost Portable Laser Communication Device, Tom Elkayam, Basile Louis Scoffie

Electrical Engineering

The portable laser communication device (PLCD), is a low cost system used to set up networks in data isolated regions via an optical line-of-sight communications protocol. In this manner the PLCD transmits at 9600 baud using UART protocol over the visible light band at 635nm. The device is intended to operate in indoor conditions and be semi-permanent until redeployed. The PLCD is built as a transmitter, receiver pair and when installed, utilizes tracking to find each other and automatically set up communication within a window of 30° laterally and 10° vertically. Each side of the system is less than 15 …

Variable Frequency Motor Drive Application, Jason G. Milne, Nick Mark

Electrical Engineering

This project entails the development of an electrical engineering undergraduate lab module focusing on utilizing a variable frequency drive (VFD) controlled with a programmable logic controller (PLC) — the Modicon M580. The variable frequency drive is a device that is able to automatically change the frequency of an object through automation without having to physically change the device that is being controlled (ex: fans, pumps, motors, etc.). This project will guide students to understand the software for programming and controlling the PLC within a 3 hour laboratory experiment. Throughout the lab, the students will learn how to implement the PLC …

Vr Force Feedback Gloves, Mark Wu, Claire Chen

Electrical Engineering

The goal of this project is to produce a manufacturing plan for a consumer VR glove. The total addressable market of VR is over 170 million global users as of 2022 (Kolmar , 2022) with a serviceable available market of 300,000 users on Meta’s own social platform (Heath, 2022). The targeted Quest 2 platform utilizes handheld controllers, which causes a lack of immersivity in social settings and gaming scenarios. One common use of the platform involves social platforms such as “Horizons” where users meet in a virtual world to interact; handheld controllers don’t allow users to shake hands, make finger …

Development Of Cal Poly’S Hybrid Ac/Dc House, Eduardo Andres Muñoz, Giovanni Ramirez Angel

Electrical Engineering

The Hybrid House provides an example for what sustainable housing solutions could look like. It also functions as a potential solution to the current rural electrification issues many developing countries face. The use of a DC-DC MISO converter allows for combining multiple power sources into a single DC bus. The Hybrid House integrates the DC bus by employing the use of DC-DC converters for home use. This system may potentially improve the overall system efficiency by avoiding the losses associated with AC-DC converters. The use of the DC bus further leverages the Solar Panel renewable energy solution to become a …

Automotive Collision Warning System Retrofit, Ethan Clark Najmy

Electrical Engineering

In the early 2000s, few automakers began implementing forward collision warning systems in their cars. As technology advanced this system became available on more and more luxury cars. In recent years, this technology has spread to more affordable vehicles driven every day. However, as this technology has only recently advanced to less expensive, more economical cars, older vehicles of the same model may not have this advanced and important safety feature. This project investigates and creates a preliminary design for an affordable, easy-to-install, forward collision warning system that can be retrofitted to vehicles without the system currently installed. Using a …

Emulating The Doppler-Shift For Lora Based Low Earth Orbit Satellite Communication, Ariel Freiman, John Stephen Gharib

Electrical Engineering

This project investigates the adverse effects of the Doppler Shift on a LoRa waveform transmitted from a Low Earth Orbit Satellite or LEOSAT. This work is on behalf of Project OWL, who will use these results to justify further investment into developing a LEOSAT for their communication network. Part of the project is to design a test setup to replicate the Doppler Shift in the lab. The Doppler shift replication setup distorts the transmitted waveform, similar to how the signal gets distorted if sent from a LEOSAT. The test setup will comprise both software and hardware control, wherein software, the …

Instrumented Control Column For Optionally Piloted Aircraft, Andrew J. Klein

Electrical Engineering

Natilus, an aerospace company that is rapid-prototyping optionally piloted aircraft (OPA) for the shipping industry, needs a system that retrieves control column position data in order to manipulate flight simulator parameters in software. At present, a universally compatible system for all aircraft does not exist. Typically, established aerospace companies will sink significant time and money into developing proprietary systems for control column data retrieval as every aircraft is unique in its layout and linkage design. However, as a startup developing their first aircraft, Natilus does not have the privilege of modifying an existing sensor system to work with their HIL …

Cardio Trainer, Levi Rash, Cristian Rodriguez

Electrical Engineering

The Cardio Trainer Device is a wearable device that guides the user through a physical exercise based on the user’s heartbeat measurements. Users interface with the device via a wearable band. The band determines the heartbeat of the user in real time and, using that reading, gives the user verbal instructions to optimize their workout. These verbal instructions then serve to control the physical exertion of the user and are delivered through an audio device. Users input personal physical metrics to the Cardio Trainer Device that tailor the performance of the device in a manner of ways: rate of instruction, …

High Performance Radar System, Danny Maas

Electrical Engineering

This report covers the design, fabrication, and test of an X-band FMCW radar inspired by the radars from Cal Poly course EE 541, “Advanced Microwave Laboratory.” In this class, 2.4GHz Doppler and FMCW radars are designed and built using consumer off-the-shelf (COTS) components. Operability is the focus of this class, sacrificing performance, accuracy, and precision. this project aims to improve upon those radars by using custom-designed components instead of COTS components and shifting the operating frequency to 10GHz.. The use of custom components can improve output power and frequency stability, and higher frequency reduces component size. The FCC allows amateur …

Notification System For Unity Openxr, Shae Li

Computer Science and Software Engineering

As the field of digital media continues to advance, innovative ways of experiencing and interacting with entertainment content are emerging. One such groundbreaking development is the advent of interactive entertainment, where virtual environments become the canvas for immersive experiences. In this realm, I have joined a captivating project that harnesses the power of Unity to create a virtual reality (VR) chemistry laboratory. This project is designed to revolutionize the way chemistry experiments are conducted by providing a realistic and engaging virtual environment. In the real world, there are many reasons why school-age middle or high school students may not be …

An Interactive Ecosystem Simulator, Tong Zhou

Computer Science and Software Engineering

This project is about an ecosystem simulator game that allows players to manipulate the population size of the selected species and observe these species interact with each other. It focuses on reflecting the consequences of human intervention in the ecosystem and the difficulty of maintaining a balanced ecosystem. I’ve been astonished by how human intervention could easily crash the ecosystem and how difficult it could be to make up for our faults. And many people still hold the thought that we control the world and could determine the death or live of all other creatures as we like. However, the …

Tie Installer For Great Heights To Extend Research, William Moffat, Truman Giesen, Ryan Ghosh, Victor Rodriguez

Mechanical Engineering

This senior project consisted of developing and creating a hand held device that automatically installed zip-ties. Our project began as an entry to the NASA Micro-G NExT competition but was redirected towards the new goal of creating a consumer product.

Although installing zip-ties seems to be quite a simple process, throughout the entirety of our development we quickly determined that our device would have to embrace a higher level complexity to complete the objective of installing a zip-tie. The ultimate drive force of this project was meant to create a solution for the massive cost gap of already existing Zip-tie …

Wave Energy Converter For Marine Vessels And Isolated Communities, Leo Kirshenbaum, Owen Pyle, Gage Howard, Charlie Camilli, Jonathan Ma, Emigdio Islas, Joseph Bonafede

Mechanical Engineering

California Polytechnic State University’s 2023 Marine Energy Collegiate Competition team, Surf Supply, has developed a floating dock that transduces wave energy into electricity. The following report aligns with MECC requirements, and our design changes since CDR are present in the User Manual in Appendix F. Our primary market research of the Blue Economy identified electric marine vessel charging and isolated communities as early adopters that could benefit most from the first generation of our wave energy converter (WEC). Surf Supply’s design concept provides a reliable, affordable, and renewable energy source that reduces dependency on conventional fossil fuels, allowing blue economy …

Headlamp/Bike Light Damping System, Ethan Reece Clark, Alec Stonehouse, Omeed Ostry, Mitchel Anderson

Mechanical Engineering

The task for this project is to design a headlamp and/or bike light that absorbs the impact shocks from the user’s actions. The user that the system is being designed for may be riding a bike or running on a trail in the evening or early in the morning where the light needs to be stabilized and their path must be illuminated. This report presents the final design chosen after months of prototyping and design iteration. It encompasses the system design, design verification through testing, implementation, future recommendations, and lessons learned throughout the process. The chosen design utilizes a fully …

Weed Robot, Kaela Stern, Lewis Kanagy, Claire Franz, Carlos Rodriguez Orozco, Jackie Chen, Sachi Hiji, Ayush Kakkanat, William Ta

Mechanical Engineering

Team Weed Scouts has completed our work on a weed-cutting robot for the Girl Scouts of California’s Central Coast. The final robot build provides a solid foundation that can be built and improved upon by future teams. We have completed the robot base and structure, including the chassis, drivetrain, and robot shell. We also completed manufacturing a weed storage bin and canvas cover for the robot. Additionally, we have built a weed scooper, the mechanism that cuts weeds and transports them into a storage compartment. The electronics and programming for remote control of the robot are also implemented. After some …