Engineering Commons^™

Towards The Development Of A Unified Synthesis System Framework: Advancement Of Avds Towards A Generic, Multi-Disciplinary, And Multi-Fidelity Aerospace Vehicle Design Environment, Ian Wesley Maynard

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations

At the start of any design program for the development of a novel aerospace vehicle, there can be millions of design, mission, and technology trades to be explored. Design software is needed that can modularly adapt itself such that it can be generically applied to a wide variety of aerospace applications. It needs to be automated such that it can ‘stitch’ together and generate synthesis codes using a wide variety of disciplinary methods including geometry, aerodynamics, propulsion, trajectory, weights, stability and control, cost, etc. It should also be able to modularly switch the multi-disciplinary synthesis execution process in the synthesis …

Capstone Review: Filament Unit Multiplexing Engine, Gal Cohen

University Honors Theses

The Filament Unit Multiplexing Engine (FUME) is a Mechanical Engineering capstone project sponsored by Portland State University's Electronic Prototyping Lab (EPL). The project addresses the need for an automated system to manage 3D printing operations. The current manual process of selecting and routing a spool of filament to one of the available 3D printers is labor-intensive and limits the efficiency of the lab's 3D printing farm. FUME aims to create a custom solution tailored for a multi-user, multi-spool, and multi-printer environment. The designed system includes key components: a spool holder, an engine, a track and shuttle system, and a funnel. …

Design And Analysis Of Coupler Installation Tooling With Computer Vision For Fermilab’S Single Spoke Resonator 2 Srf Cavity, Caleb T. Denton

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Fermi National Laboratory (Fermilab) and the European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN), forerunners in the exploration of the subatomic world, are both in the process of improving their particle accelerators with the Proton Improvement Plan II at Fermilab and the High-Luminosity Large Hadron Collider Accelerator Upgrade Plan (HL-LHC AUP) at CERN. Both particle accelerators have cavities that serve to either accelerate the particle beam or guide it into an optimal position and have the need for radio frequency (RF) power couplers to generate the field that controls the particle beams. When installing the coupler onto the cavity, a reliable vacuum …

On The Development Of A Sensing System Methodology To Evaluate The Viscoelastic Properties Of Soft Tissues As A Means Of Disease Prognosis, Shashank S. Kumat

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations

Identification of tissue viscoelastic properties could provide valuable information for assessing its healthiness or disease state. Current technologies present challenges to access and perform localized tissue assessment in confined spaces in the human body through contact indentation/palpation. As such, there is a need for a diagnostic system capable of measuring tissue relaxation response at the local site by accessing the tissue through a natural orifice. This dissertation presents a strain gauge-based uniaxial micro-force sensor, part of the aforementioned system, capable of measuring tissue response data in confined human space environments. A sensing system design methodology is developed and presented. The …

Compliant Robot Manipulator For Transurethral Diagnosis, Samson A. Adejokun

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations

ABSTRACT: Minimally invasive procedures employ continuum manipulators, however, the internal human anatomy presents challenges relating to size, dexterity, and workspace for these manipulators. This research presents modeling, kinematic analysis, limited prototyping, and characterization of a micro-robotic manipulator to assess viscoelastic tissue properties of the bladder through transurethral palpation towards the diagnosis of bladder dysfunction, urinary incontinence, and early-stage bladder cancer. The proposed micro-robot consists of two subsystems; a unique 4mm outer diameter tendon-driven continuum segment from assembled “vertebrae” components with male and female snap-in features for joint assembly, an elastic tube encompassing each joint for controlled compliance and structural integrity …

Rc Baja Suspension And Steering, Garrett Bailey

All Undergraduate Projects

The RC Baja team set out to engineer and construct a working remote-control device that can compete in the ASME Baja Competition. The students have a focus on either suspension and steering or drivetrain and chassis. This report is centered on the suspension and steering. First, multiple analyses were completed using engineering methods such as mechanical design, statics, strengths of materials, and dynamics for parts of the device. The calculations found in the analysis are then used to create designs for the parts so that they will meet the requirements and be successful in the competition. After the parts are …

Landing Gear Sealing Solution, Andrew Milligan

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

XYZ Landing Gear Solutions has been tasked with redesigning two internal components of the landing gears for the ABC-123 aircraft program. The customer, ABC Aeronautics, informed XYZ Landing Gear Solutions that a particular system of the landing gear does not meet the necessary performance requirements of the program. As a result, the entire system will have to be removed, facilitating the need for a redesign of the two components that the system interfaced with. The focus of this project will be completing the redesign process for both of these components. “Redesign” and “design” will be used interchangeably in this report. …

Design, Development, And Control Of A Robotic Gripper For Activities Of Daily Living (Adl) Assistance., Jaime Rafael Hernandez

Theses and Dissertations

This research contributes to developing a robotic gripper designed to improve the performance of assistive robots to help people with upper limb impairment due to stroke, injury, and other trauma. As developed in this research, the gripper for assistive robots (GAR) can be an alternative solution to the existing robotic grippers increasing the benefits in different ways, including the cost/benefits ratio and the range of graspable objects.

The GAR has been designed with simplicity in mind with a minimum viability approach. The design, construction, control, and operation of this robotic hand have been simplified with a minimal number of custom-made …

Soft Robotic Arms For Fall Mitigation: Design, Control And Evaluation, Param Malhotra

All Theses

Most fall mitigation devices present a heavy system that avoid injuries to the user by preventing the impact of a fall. They are dependent on the user capability or on the probability that the user falls in the assumed manner the system was designed for. Often that is not the case, hence this project initiates a novel concept of using soft robotic arms to prevent falls from happening in the first place itself and save the user from any injuries. This thesis describes the prototype and development of a soft continuum robotic backpack system. The system can validate its use …

B.A.C.O.N. (Battery-Powered Autonomous Cart Conversion) Autonomous Vehicle Design, Robyn C. Ribet, Damond Li, Tanner Hillman, Christopher Or

Mechanical Engineering

The goal of our project is to convert an electric go cart into an autonomous testing platform. We must enable autonomous braking, steering, and acceleration with electro-mechanical systems. We began the project with ideation to create our initial design and have since received ample feedback from faculty, students, and our sponsor. With this feedback we were able to refine our preliminary ideas and produce a detailed design supported with ample analysis, research, and external advice. We have developed our project in four main subsystems: Steering, braking, acceleration, and emergency braking. Following, we procured, manufactured, and assembled all of our designed …

Manual Material Handling Lift-Assist System For Occupational Exoskeleton, Erik Goes, Daniel Guthrie, Trevor Ward

Honors Capstones

It is no secret that lifting heavy objects is one of the premier causes of workplace injury, and the modern worker needs help to remain healthy. Workers need something they always have with them that makes their work safer as well as easier; our solution is an active lift-assist exoskeleton. The proposed exoskeleton design includes a military backpack exoskeleton frame, on which two actuators pull cables attached to end effectors that the operator will be holding. This system can adjust to conform to a wide variety of operator sizes, without restricting any of their range of motion. This leads to …

Developing New Crutch Tip Design For Overall Increased Stability And Improved Movement On Different Terrains, Lauren Skinner

Honors Theses

Crutches are a mobility assistive device that are often used in various situations, such as post- surgical rehabilitation and recovery after injury. The current crutch tip design that is used on today’s crutches are often unstable and do not provide quality movement on different terrains, such as snow, ice, mud, and wet surfaces. These problems would be solved with a new tip design that could be attached to existing crutches or manufactured with the crutch itself. The team’s solution to this problem is a crutch tip with modular parts. The tip would attach to the shaft of the crutch like …

Small Spacecraft Thermal Control Louvers, James Anthony Mullen

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

Small satellites missions are becoming increasingly complex and are requiring more power. These demands lead to temperature fluctuations on the satellite due to spacecraft layout, sunlight and shadow in orbit, and high-powered instrumentation. Products which provide necessary thermal stability for components on the satellite are desirable to small satellite manufacturers.

In September of 2015, Dr. Allison Evans of the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center filed a patent for an innovative louver system configured for small satellite applications. The design was sized for satellites with a 1U form factor and utilized bimetallic springs to lift the louver flaps. The design was …

R/C Baja: Suspension And Chassis, Caden Foster

All Undergraduate Projects

Students designed and manufactured an RC Baja truck to compete as a team in the annual ASME RC Baja Competition in various events and obstacles. A chassis and suspension system were required to house and secure each of the RC components to successfully compete and function as intended. The team designed a 1/10^th scale model RC truck through various analysis calculations and model mockup drawings to optimally perform and compete in a competition amongst other teams of designers. The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) competition will include the straight-line dash, slalom, and Baja course time trial. This project …

Design Of Composite Joints Using Machine Learning Approaches, Natalie Richards

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Adhesively bonded joints have an advantage in joining dissimilar engineering materials due to their high structural efficiency and being lightweight. These joints are either between two opposite laminates or between a composite laminate and a metal structure. The aerospace and automotive industries have seen an increase in utilizing these adhesive joints in their engineering applications. Joint strength along with the failure mode (adhesive, delamination, etc.) is the most important parameter to evaluate when understanding the capability of the adhesive joint. In this paper, a regression and a classification machine learning (ML) model are utilized to predict the failure load and …

State-Of-The-Art Of Thermal Control Solutions To Establish A Modular, Multi-Orbit Capable Spacecraft Thermal Management System Design Methodology, Robert C. Consolo Jr

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Today, the exploration and exploitation of space continues to become a more common occurrence. All types of spacecraft (S/C) utilize various types of thermal management solutions to mitigate the effects of thermal loading from the unforgiving vacuum of space. Without an appropriately designed thermal system, components on-board the S/C can experience failure or malfunction due to fluctuations in temperatures either beyond the designed operational parameters or unstable oscillating temperatures. The purpose of this study is to perform a comprehensive review of technologies available today that are being used for thermal management onboard S/C in addition to investigating the means to …

Standardized 1x6u Cubesat Structure Design, Maximilian H. Brummel

Masters Theses

A CubeSat is a small satellite composed of one or more 10cm x 10cm x ~10cm cubes. Sometimes referred to as a “U” as in unit, the cubes can be combined in configurations of 2U, 3U, 6U, and more. CubeSats provide many advantages that larger satellites cannot offer. They are relatively inexpensive and can be fabricated much faster. Small-scale projects that require a fast timeline from conception up to completion are perfect for CubeSats. Furthermore, educational programs use CubeSat projects to teach and prepare students for the satellite industry. Popular configurations for CubeSat are 1U, 3U and 6U where the …

Adaptive Vehicle Control, Brian L. Finger, Maria Vargas, Jacob T. Larson, Christopher J. Villa

Mechanical Engineering

This report presents the final design for our device made for Mrs. Laura Jagels. Mrs. Jagels, who has an above the knee amputation, needed a device that would allow her to operate a manual car in a safe and reliable way that still gives her the traditional driving experience. This report takes into consideration the shortcomings of current market devices that enable amputees to operate vehicles. From this research and through interviews with Mrs. Jagels, we were able to decide on our device specifications, giving us a basis to objectively evaluate designs. Ideation and concept prototype building was performed for …

Unmanned Research Raft, Jacob Davis, Andrew Fleming, Luke Vickerman, Kahye Yu

Mechanical Engineering

This document serves as the Final Design Review report for the design team conducting the research raft design project for Lawrence Livermore National Lab (LLNL). Our team has taken on a project to design a new research raft for LLNL.

The current rafts are suitable, but engineers have modified and altered the rafts to add more features as needed. This has led to a raft that accomplishes mission goals, but still has room for streamlining. The battery technology has also improved. Our goals were to redesign the raft from the ground up, reducing the size and weight. We also wanted …

Design And Fabrication Of Invar Layup Tool Molds Using Additive And Subtractive Manufacturing, Matthew Lamsey

Masters Theses

The development of novel additive manufacturing technologies, such as Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing (WAAM), has opened the door for the fabrication of complex part geometries that could not be achieved with traditional manufacturing methods. Best practices for designing parts for fabrication with WAAM are still in their infancy. This thesis presents a novel design and fabrication framework for parts created using WAAM, which was realized through the fabrication of two demonstration composite layup tool molds. The framework includes design principles for WAAM, finite element simulation of part performance, metrological analysis of printed preforms, and considerations for closely integrating the WAAM …

Senior Design Capstone: Using An Engineering Design Process To Create A Sawzall Wobble Fixture For Milwaukee Tools, Tyler Moore

Honors Theses

The overall objective of this design project was to successfully design a fixture to expedite the repairs of Sawzalls at the Milwaukee Tools repairs facility in Greenwood, Mississippi. This project was executed in accordance with guidelines set forth by the Senior Capstone Design class at the University of Mississippi as well as the quality engineers sponsoring the project at Milwaukee Tools. The fixture was created utilizing an engineering design process with the goal of allowing technicians to press two Sawzall wobbles onto an angled Sawzall wobble shaft using an arbor press with just one press. By beginning with a straightforward …

Parametric Design Of Flywheel For An Electric Punch Press, Prashant Dhakal

Honors Theses

Almost all designs start with a design requirement. These may be weight, volume, clearance, and even custom calculations. Finding a solution that meets these requirements often involves tedious and time-consuming iterations. Once the solution has been found, the design must be optimized to find the best possible solution. Finding the ‘best possible design’ requires substantial time and effort dedicated to iterating and analyzing the potential model solutions. This is where Parametric design comes into play. The Parametric design aids in specifying the key parameters of the design and makes changes interactively, with the model updating automatically. The purpose of this …

Enercon Station Vacuum Pump Replacement, Clint Hembree, Jared D'Amico, Connor Moore, Paul Jeffrey Fontenot, Sydnee Castello, J.J. Clements

Senior Design Project For Engineers

This details the progress of the ENERCON pump replacement project as completed by the Kennesaw State University interdisciplinary senior design group. This project is a two-semester capstone effort for the engineering program at Southern Polytechnic School of Engineering, overseen by Dr. McFall during Fall 2020 and Dr. Khalid during Spring 2021 semesters. The 2020-2021 KSU Interdisciplinary Senior Design team was tasked with completing an Engineering Change Package (ECP) for existing vacuum pumps at ENERCON Station. The mechanical, electrical, and civil students worked together, performing evaluations on existing plant systems to ensure the plant could support the new vacuum pumps. By …

Design, Fabrication, And Testing Of A High-Speed, Low-Cost Atomic Force Microscope Housing And Distance Measurement System, Jonathan Menke

All Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Advances to the state-of-the-art in fields like biology and material science often stand on the foundation of improved imaging. Here a low-cost Atomic Force Microscope (AFM) housing and distance measurement system was designed, fabricated, and tested. The instrument was developed around an Optical Pickup Unit (OPU) and designed for use as part of a high-speed AFM system. A structure to align the OPU with the probe holder was designed to ensure the beam of the OPU is positioned above the probe in addition to accommodating space, manufacturability, and cost constraints by using cost effective components. The designs were fabricated and …

Door Barricade, Alex Cerino

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

My senior capstone project will be a door barricade. The main idea for the use of the door barricade is for schools in the case of an intruder. The barricade that I will be designing is a solution to the inefficient barricades that I saw at my high school. It could also be used at businesses and homes. My design would be easy to use and have a fail-safe option. The two areas of mechanical engineering technology that my capstone project will focus on are stress analysis and electronics. Every part for my door barricade is drawn in SolidWorks. All …

Customizable Armor Set, Olivia Reedy

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

This project is intended to help people who make costume armor by reducing the amount of time and money it takes to create a set of armor. Making armor can take a lot of resources for beginners, and this project is intended to help hobbyists with that process. This customizable armor set goes through the engineering design process, from the initial design of the parts to creating the prototype using vacuum forming. The prototype armor can be painted and adhered to using acrylic paint and contact cement, respectively, and fits three sizes of small, medium, and large.

Formula Sae Design Validation Through Lap Time Simulation, Noah Gresser, Akos Jasper, Michael Metropoulos, Paul Buczynski, James Volcansek

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Lap time simulation is capable of advancing Zips Racing into a new, modern era for future vehicle designs. Through the use of VI-grade simulation software, Zips Racing was able to validate its current combustion and electric vehicle designs in spite of the challenges brought on to the team as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout this project, the design team gained an enhanced understanding of suspension designs and optimizations through the usage of computer simulations. As a result, the teams have a better understanding of the fundamental changes that need to occur to enhance the race team’s final race …

2 Degree Of Freedom Robotic Leg, Oded Tzori, Henry Terrell, Adan Martinez

Mechanical Engineering

Professor Xing, an assistant professor at Cal Poly, proposed the 2 DOF Robotic Leg project for this quarter’s senior project class. The project is to build a robotic leg attached at the hip to a stand, which will be used as a teaching tool and eventually help develop Cal Poly’s very own robotic quadruped. Since this project has multiple uses after its completion, there are multiple customers that it must perform well for: the Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering (ME) Department, the ME Lab instructors, and the students. The Scope of Work (Sections 2 & 3) is composed of 2 main …

Cp Check Valve Design, Alec B. Der Matoian, Jessica M. Dent, Skylar M. Tusting

Mechanical Engineering

This report is to serve as a final design review and update to the project sponsors at Zurn Wilkins for the Check Valve Design Senior Project. The senior project team was tasked with improving upon the design of Zurn Wilkins’ backflow prevention assembly for small diameter pipes by reducing the pressure loss created by the check valves within the double check backflow assembly. The information contained in this report builds off the information contained in the Critical Design Report (CDR), as well as feedback and further investigation suggested during an Intermediary Design Review. Based on conclusions from the CDR, our …

Design Of An Orientation Device For Valve Bodies With Blowout Compatibility For Slug Detection, Annie Richardson

Honors Theses

The Parker Hannifin plant in Batesville, MS, is a manufacturing plant that specializes in A/C and hydraulic tube and hose assemblies that support heavy machinery in the agriculture, logistics and construction industries. Customers place unique orders where the tube size, bending configurations, and adaptors vary widely. Some tubes require valve bodies where the customer can charge the A/C system once it has been assembled. A pierce and press machine is used to pierce the tube and place the valve body in the hole. Many tubes have asymmetric blocks at the end of the tube, with valve bodies placed at customer-requested …