Engineering Commons^™

Economic Assessment Of Factors Affecting The Decision Of Households To Engage In Non-Farm Activities, Sh.A. Muratov

Irrigation and Melioration

In this study, non-farm activities and their importance were studied, and it is analysed the influence of push and pull factors on the decision of family heads to engage in non-farm activities by Probit model regression. Furthermore, it is determined their elastic coefficients. The analysed data are collected by conducting an online survey from 134 respondents. The results are showed that the decision of family heads to engage in non-farm activities was greatly influenced by their gender, education, and number of family members, electricity supply, transport services, and size of their land. Namely, the decision of the head of the …

Identifying The Determinants And Extent Of Crop Diversification At Farm Level: A Case Study Of Uzbekistan, A.Э. Primov, M.H. Saidov, I. B. Rustamova, A.A. Abduvasikov

Irrigation and Melioration

Since independence, the government of Uzbekistan has implemented the number of agricultural policies such as making some crucial structural reforms at the farms, comprising different institutions and enhancing diversification of agricultural production in order to stabilize the agricultural sector of the country. Therefore, crop diversity has an important role in sustainable agriculture. We calculated the diversification index based on the Simpson Diversity Index method while ordinary least square (OLS) regression analysis was employed to assess the association of crop diversification on farm income using cross-sectional data from 381 farmers of Uzbekistan. The study revealed the mean computed Simpson Index values …

Control Of Change Of Phase Through Physical Surface Shaping, Troy Anderson, Sidy Ndao, Craig Zuhlke, Dennis Alexander, George Gogos

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

A system embodiment includes , but is not limited to , a solid structure configure to contact each of a material in a liquid phase and a material in a vapor phase , the solid structure including a plurality of microstructures protruding at angles relative to a horizontal plane ; and a layer of nanoparticles positioned on the plurality of microstructures , the layer of nanoparticles having a composition that is at least one of a same material as the plurality of microstructures and an oxide of the same material as the plurality of microstructures , the plurality of microstructures …

Developing Algorithms For Automating The Processes Of Forming The Optimal Structural Composition Of Production - Technological Modules, Alisher Mamajanov, Sarvar Botir Ugli Nabiyev

Chemical Technology, Control and Management

In this research, we developed appropriate algorithms for the formation of the optimal structural composition of production - technological modules (PTM) based on the automation of the processes of determining and ensuring the functional-parametric compatibility (FPC) of their components. These algorithms are based on the developed mathematical models on the basis of the use of analytical methods for implementing the interconnection between the main components of the PTM.

Minimally Invasive Delivery Of 3d Shape Recoverable Constructs With Ordered Structures For Tissue Repair, Shixuan Chen, Mark Alan Carlson, Xiaowei Li, Aleem Siddique, Wuqiang Zhu, Jingwei Xie

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Minimally invasive procedures are becoming increasingly more common in surgery. However, the biomaterials capable of delivering biomimetic, three-dimensional (3D) functional tissues in a minimally invasive manner and exhibiting ordered structures after delivery are lacking. Herein, we reported the fabrication of gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA)-coated, 3D expanded nanofiber scaffolds and their potential applications in minimally invasive delivery of 3D functional tissue constructs with ordered structures and clinically appropriate sizes (4 cm × 2 cm × 1.5 mm). GelMA-coated, expanded 3D nanofiber scaffolds produced by combining electrospinning, gas-foaming expansion, hydrogel coating, and crosslinking are extremely shape recoverable after release of compressive strain, displaying …

A Consumer-Based Aquatic Trash Collecting Drone: A Engineering Design Case Study, Andrew C. Josselyn

Honors Projects

Trash is polluting our world’s oceans and water sources rapidly. Studies estimate about 8 million metric tons of plastic enter the oceans each year with 0.8 to 2.7 million metric tons entering through rivers. ARTEMIS is designed to help mitigate the influx of trash into the ocean by cleaning up trash in our local waterways. ARTEMIS is for drone enthusiasts, hobbyists, and those who are passionate about ocean cleanup. The purpose of designing a consumer-based device is to engage a wide range of people. Through the fun activity of collecting trash using ARTEMIS, we hope to spark people’s interest to …

Nasa Micro-G Next Challenge: Sample Container Dispensing Device, Kristin G. Kraybill-Voth, Kelsey L. Mickelson, Oscar D. Popravka

Mechanical Engineering

This Final Design Review (FDR) report outlines a Cal Poly San Luis Obispo senior design project developing a sample container dispensing device for NASA Johnson Space Center’s Micro-g NExT design challenge, a competition for university students. NASA aims to bring the first woman and next man to the moon through the Artemis missions beginning in 2024. The Micro-g NExT 2021 challenges focus on developing equipment which will support the Artemis mission, where Astronauts will conduct extensive geological sampling to further the scientific understanding of the moon. Our team designed, built, and tested a device that holds sample bags as they …

Adapted Tricycle 2021, Carolyn Graven, Daniel Coleman, Sebin Cho, Farhan Khan

Mechanical Engineering

This document describes and outlines the details of the senior project completed by a team of four mechanical engineering students in their final year at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The team worked with Linda Wolff at California Children’s Services to reach their main goal: to create an exercise tricycle that can be used by Savannah. Savannah is a young adult, and she needs to be able to steer, brake, and power the tricycle using almost entirely her core muscles. Over the course of the project, the team worked to design and build a safe and functional tricycle …

F34 Beekeeper Assist, Kyle Ladtkow, Javier Guerra, Jose Velazquez, Ryan Heryford

Mechanical Engineering

Alejandro Jauregui is a veteran who now works as a commercial beekeeper. He lost both of his legs during his service. While his current prostheses allow him to fully complete his work, he has found that inspection of the bee boxes causes him severe hip and back pain. Bee box inspection is a critical task for beekeeping, especially since he maintains about 200 hives every day. Our senior project team was tasked with designing and building a device that would help him move the top bee box out of the way to allow for inspection. We performed preliminary research into …

Design And Implementation Of A Modular Human-Robot Interaction Framework, Michael J. Juri

Master's Theses

With the increasing longevity that accompanies advances in medical technology comes a host of other age-related disabilities. Among these are neuro-degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and stroke, which significantly reduce the motor and cognitive ability of affected individuals. As these diseases become more prevalent, there is a need for further research and innovation in the field of motor rehabilitation therapy to accommodate these individuals in a cost-effective manner. In recent years, the implementation of social agents has been proposed to alleviate the burden on in-home human caregivers. Socially assistive robotics (SAR) is a new subfield of research …

Monte Carlo Stack-Up Tolerance Analysis Of The Hybrid Rf/Optical Antenna Edge Sensors, Kara Hewson

Master's Theses

The Deep Space Network (DSN), located at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), is developing an RF/Optical Hybrid Antenna. This antenna concept will support the reception of high-bandwidth optical deep-space communications with simultaneous support of conventional RF uplink and downlink. The optical system on the antenna consists of sixty-four hexagonal mirrors positioned to form a spherical aperture. To align the mirrors, a Position Opto-Electronic Metrology Sensor (POEMS) system is used to measure the position of each mirror relative to one another. The POEMS system consists of a sender called a collimator, which sends collimated light to the receiving component, called a …

Adjustable Head Tube Angle Headset, Glenn Petersen, Ben Harper, Josh Martin, Dylan Prins

Mechanical Engineering

This final design review report describes the design, manufacture, and test process of a bicycle headset capable of quickly and easily adjusting the effective head tube angle. The evolution of mountain bike geometry has forced bike designers to compromise between climbing and descending performance when choosing a head tube angle. A headset capable of quickly adjusting the effective head tube angle would allow riders to optimize their bike’s geometry for different stages of riding. This report details the research, idea generation, concept development and selection, design, manufacturing, and testing of our adjustable head tube angle headset.

Bicycle Headset With Adjustable Spring Rate, Andrew W. Drees, Jonah Masumoto, Camden R.S. Boshart, Matthew B. Mounteer

Mechanical Engineering

Fork flop can play an important role in the performance of a mountain bike. This phenomenon of fork flop is known as the tendency that the front wheel of a bike wants to flop over to one side when moving slowly. The fork flop experienced on a bicycle changes with the geometry of the bike, but our team sought to change the fork flop experienced through an adjustable internal spring design that attaches to the bicycle instead. From our research, we decided to utilize torsion springs as the method for mitigating fork flop. We also decided to use load cells …

3-Axis Reaction Wheel System For Cubesats, Alexandra Mae Lee, Daniel Leon, Christopher Pablo Casillas, Rose Mccarver

Mechanical Engineering

Reaction wheels are a common, but expensive, component used in CubeSats, that can accurately position a satellite using an imparted momentum (or impulse) from a rotating flywheel to adjust a satellite’s attitude. This document serves as the final design review and report for the 3-Axis Reaction Wheel Senior Design Project in the Mechanical Engineering Department of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo. The goal of this project is to produce a functional, low-cost 3-axis reaction wheel system based on previous research done by a master’s student at Cal Poly to be implemented in future CubeSats in the Cal Poly …

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 …

Scitechatorium, Esther Hurst, Emma Salam, Nejad Harara, Felipe Dejesus

Mechanical Engineering

The Bellevue-Santa Fe Charter School SciTechatorium needs a new educational exhibit for its K-6th grade students. The exhibit must be safe, engaging, and exciting for the students to use, and will ideally introduce students to the topics of Science, Mathematics, Engineering, Art, and Technology (STEAM) concepts. The team has investigated some of the most popular science museums from around the nation, as well as several popular children’s educational toys. This research revealed a need for hands on, focused exhibits to provide an effective educational experience. Many of our favorite existing exhibits give students an opportunity to fail in a safe …

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 …

Maize Tassel Detection From Uav Imagery Using Deep Learning, Aziza Alzadjali, Mohammed H. Alali, Arun Narenthiran Weeranampalayam Sivakumar, Jitender S. Deogun, Stephen Scott, James C. Schnable, Yeyin Shi

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The timing of flowering plays a critical role in determining the productivity of agricultural crops. If the crops flower too early, the crop would mature before the end of the growing season, losing the opportunity to capture and use large amounts of light energy. If the crops flower too late, the crop may be killed by the change of seasons before it is ready to harvest. Maize flowering is one of the most important periods where even small amounts of stress can significantly alter yield. In this work, we developed and compared two methods for automatic tassel detection based on …

Prosthetic Foot Shell, Christopher Menke, Colton Arbuckle, Jacob Rodriguez

Mechanical Engineering

Prosthetic foot shells are designed to fit around lower limb prosthetics to be able to fit shoes and several types of footwear. They are currently designed in a way that they wear through very quickly if used in an active lifestyle. The current designs on the market are designed for geriatric use. The sponsor for this project Mr. Dana Cummings, would like for the team to produce a product that extends current foot shell’s life. This document explains includes the team’s research process, the design process, and the main functions of what the team designed for. It will also show …

Transportable, Jung Sub Kim, Ellie Kitabjian, David Yang, Christopher Macias

Mechanical Engineering

This document is a Final Design Review (FDR) report for team TransporTable, a quartet of mechanical engineers at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly). It chronicles our design and validation process through final design phase. Our project: to design and test concepts for a stackable table that streamlines group work. After conducting user/sponsor interviews and background research, we found that many products already exist, but none meet the specific blend of requirements set out by our sponsor. They include fast deploying/stowing times, durability, stiffness, and manufacturability. We ideated on the table’s functions, distilling many ideas into three …

Space Suit Attachment Quick Release System, Elyse C. Gillis-Smith, Andres I. Elzaurdia, Cole H. Stanton, Michael T. Roth

Mechanical Engineering

NASA plans to make it back to the Moon by 2024 with their Artemis Program, and stay there for a longer period of time to conduct research which will support the future of space exploration. While on the lunar surface, astronauts need to maximize their efficiency by carrying tools on their Exploration Extravehicular Mobility Unit (xEMU), and to accommodate this need, the Extravehicular Activity (EVA) Tools Team is pursuing a utility belt concept. The objective of this project is to develop a system capable of interfacing between the utility belt and any given tool, while also accommodating numerous restrictions and …

Analytical, Numerical, And Computational Methods To Analyze The Time To Empty Open, Closed, And Variable-Topped Inverted Bottles, Callen Schwefler

Master's Theses

Recent unexpected experimental observations of the emptying of inverted bottles with perforations has generated interest in modeling and simulation of this phenomenon. It was observed that as a perforation, i.e., a small hole at the "top" of the inverted bottle, is added and enlarged, the overall emptying time first increases to a maximum value and then decreases until it reaches a lower limit. The change in emptying time is associated with a transition from jetting, where only water exits the neck, to glugging, a competition between air and water flows at the neck of the bottle.

This paper develops analytical …

Investigation Of Two-Phase Flow Phenomena In Rotating Paper Dryer To Achieve Effective Heat Transfer With Low Energy Consumption, Hamed Abdul Majeed

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The paper industry provides important consumer products comprised of paper, tissue, paper board, and pulping. The papermaking process requires a lot of energy, in the form of steam, to dry the paper web in rotating dryers. As steam condenses inside the dryers by releasing heat to the dryer walls, the condensate is removed using either stationary or rotary siphons. Since the condensate is usually at a saturated state, part of the condensate flashes into vapor during the extraction process and becomes difficult to extract. Thus, additional blow-through steam is used to push the condensate out. Since this blow-through steam is …

Numerical Study On Oscillating Flow Over A Flat Plate Using Pseudo-Compressibility In Intermittent Turbulent Regime, Shivank Srivastava Mr.

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

A Computational Fluid Dynamic (CFD) in-house code is developed to study unsteady characteristics of incompressible oscillating boundary layer flow over a flat plate under laminar and intermittently turbulent condition using pseudo-compressible unsteady Reynolds Averaged Navier- Stokes (RANS) model. In the in-house code, the two-dimensional, unsteady conservation of mass and momentum equations are discretized using finite difference techniques which employs second order accurate (based on Taylor series) central differencing for spatial derivatives and second order Runge-Kutta accurate differencing for temporal derivatives. The in-house code employs Fully Explicit-Finite Difference technique (FEFD) to solve the governing differential equations of the mathematical model. In …

Uavs For Vegetation Monitoring: Overview And Recent Scientific Contributions, Ana I. De Castro, Yeyin Shi, Joe Mari Maja, Jose M. Pena

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

This paper reviewed a set of twenty-one original and innovative papers included in a special issue on UAVs for vegetation monitoring, which proposed new methods and techniques applied to diverse agricultural and forestry scenarios. Three general categories were considered: (1) sensors and vegetation indices used, (2) technological goals pursued, and (3) agroforestry applications. Some investigations focused on issues related to UAV flight operations, spatial resolution requirements, and computation and data analytics, while others studied the ability of UAVs for characterizing relevant vegetation features (mainly canopy cover and crop height) or for detecting different plant/crop stressors, such as nutrient content/deficiencies, water …

Three-Dimensional Shape Analysis Of Peripapillary Retinal Pigment Epithelium-Basement Membrane Layer Based On Oct Radial Images, Junfei Tong, Pengfei Dong, Sachin Kedar, Deepta Ghate, Linxia Gu

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

The peripapillary retinal pigment epithelium-basement membrane (ppRPE/BM) layer angle was recently proposed as a potential index for estimating intracranial pressure noninvasively. However, the ppRPE/BM layer angle, measured from the optical coherence tomography (OCT) scans, varied across the radial directions of the optic disc. This made the ppRPE/BM layer angle difficult to be utilized in its full potential. In this study, we developed a mathematical model to quantify the ppRPE/BM layer angles across radial scans in relation to the ppRPE/BM 3D morphology in terms of its 3D angle and scanning tilt angles. Results showed that the variations of the ppRPE/BM layer …

On The Comparison Of Flow Physics Between Minimal And Extended Flow Units In Turbulent Channels, Ethan A. Davis, Siamak Mirfendereski, Jae Sung Park

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Faculty Publications

Direct numerical simulations were performed to study the effects of the domain size of a minimal flow unit (MFU) and its inherent periodic boundary conditions on flow physics of a turbulent channel flow in a range of 200 ≤ Re_τ ≤ 1000. This was accomplished by comparing turbulent statistics with those computed in sub-domains (SD) of extended domain simulations. The dimensions of the MFU and SD were matched, and SD dynamics were set to minimize artificial periodicities. Streamwise and spanwise dimensions of healthy MFUs were found to increase linearly with Reynolds number. It was also found that both MFU …

A Bibliometric Analysis Of Variable Displacement Pump For Optimal Control Of Operating Parameters, Anurag Ashokkumar Nema, Nagraj R. Gandhe

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

A centralized lubrication system or automatic lubrication system (ALS) is a system that delivers controlled amounts of lubricant to multiple locations on a machine while the machine is operating as per machine requirement. Lubrication occurs while the machinery is in operation, causing the lubricant to be equally distributed within the bearing and increasing the machine’s availability. Proper lubrication of critical components ensures the safe operation of the machinery. Less wear on the elements results in extension of component life, lower breakdowns, reduced downtime, reduced replacement costs, and reduced maintenance costs. If we can measure lubrication amounts, we can control the …

Desalination For Sustainable Water Production With An Emphasis On Low Pressure Distillation, Jessica Vivian Savage

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Freshwater resources depletion is a growing concern. This freshwater scarcity motivates research into seawater desalination as a means for alleviating the stresses on water demands. The primary methods of desalination include filtration and distillation. This paper explores the potential energy savings of vacuum distillation for seawater desalination to reduce the amount of energy needed to achieve phase change.

Depending on the vacuum boiler design, the vaporization mechanism may be boiling, evaporation, or cavitation. There is very little literature on cavitation that involves mass transfer, so cavitation is not developed here. This thesis focuses on standard models for boiling and evaporation …

Automated Bottling Station - Packaging System, Lauren Nicole Zinzilieta

Honors College Theses

This report focuses on the packaging system used at the end of the FESTO bottling station that is located in EP 2355. The system will be made up of an x-y 300 mm x 300 mm gantry system, an Arduino, two micro-stepping stepper drivers, and two 152.4 mm (6 in) single acting cylinders with a 3D printed bracket attached to both. The gantry system will be located at the end of the conveyor belt and will be programmed to pick up three bottles at a time and then will move a specified number of steps in both the x and …