Engineering Commons^™

Development Of Economic Water Usage Sensor And Cyber-Physical Systems Co-Simulation Platform For Home Energy Saving, Joe Singer

Mechanical Engineering Master's Theses

In this thesis, two Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS) approaches were considered to reduce residential building energy consumption. First, a flow sensor was developed for residential gas and electric storage water heaters. The sensor utilizes unique temperature changes of tank inlet and outlet pipes upon water draw to provide occupant hot water usage. Post processing of measured pipe temperature data was able to detect water draw events. Conservation of energy was applied to heater pipes to determine relative internal water flow rate based on transient temperature measurements. Correlations between calculated flow and actual flow were significant at a 95% confidence level. Using …

Material Characterization Of Intermetallic Compound Formation With Respect To Thermosonic Bonding Duration, Mahin Khan

Mechanical Engineering Master's Theses

Intermetallic Metallic Compounds (IMCs) formation is a common cause for wire bond failures. This research studied the effect of US vibration duration on IMC formation and growth in Copper-Aluminum (Cu-Al) wire bonded samples. Wire bonded samples, using 2.5 mil (63.5 μm) thick Palladium coated Copper wire, is ultrasonically bonded on a 2 cm thick Aluminum (1”x1”) coupon. Segmented bonding technique using 200 gf force and 220 gf force are applied during segment 1 and segment 2 of the bonding respectively. Ultrasonic (US) vibration frequency of 115-117 khz and a bonding temperature of 175°C is used. A pair of 5 samples …

Evaluation Of Heat Available From Calcium Chloride Desiccant Hydration Reaction For Domestic Heating In San Francisco, Ca, Michael Giglio

Mechanical Engineering Master's Theses

Thermochemical energy storage has the potential to support the use of solar thermal energy collection in ways that traditional thermal energy storage, like sensible and latent heat storage, have fallen short. Thermochemical energy storage has been shown to have higher storage capacities than sensible and latent storage for dehumidifying applications and does not require insulation like sensible and latent heating do. Sensible heating is focused on maintaining an increased temperature of a storage medium while latent heat storage is focused on maintaining a phase of the storage material. Both sensible and latent heat storage have been shown to have lower …

Computerized Heat Transfer Modeling For Solar Powered Water Purification System, Houtan Neynavaee

Mechanical Engineering Master's Theses

Since drinkable water resources are limited, as the human population increases it is predicted that providing pure water is a future human challenge. However, a huge resource of the water exists on the earth surface in seas and oceans, which are not proper for drinking and cultivate. Exploiting of a solar powered water purification system is an economy and environment-friendly solution to this human problem.

In this thesis, we present computerized heat transfer model for solar powered water purification system. This Model can be used for calculating the heat transfer, system temperature, and other variable parameters such as boiler pressure, …

Influence Of Slippery Pacemaker Leads On Lead-Induced Venous Occlusion, Sagar Bhatia

Mechanical Engineering Master's Theses

The use of medical devices such as pacemakers and implantable cardiac defibrillators have become commonplace to treat arrhythmias. Pacing leads with electrodes are used to send electrical pulses to the heart to treat either abnormally slow heart rates, or abnormal rhythms. Lead induced vessel occlusion, which is commonly seen after placement of pacemaker or implantable cardiac defibrillators leads, may result in lead malfunction and/or superior vena cava syndrome, and makes lead extraction difficult. The association between the anatomic locations at risk for thrombosis and regions of venous stasis have been reported previously. The computational studies reveal obvious flow stasis in …

Multi-Robot Cluster Control, Ethan Head, Addison Fattor

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

Robotic systems, when used in real world situations, often have many control modes that need to be switched between in real time. These control modes may be addressing the robots in many different ways and may be executing in different locations. Conventional robot control software platforms do not provide a flexible way of switching between all of the different types of control modes in real time. In this paper, we present a system architecture that seeks to solve this problem of real time controller switching using industry standard software. The architecture implemented is one that allows for robot control regardless …

Machine Learning Offers Predictive Insight Into The Silver Nanomaterial Protein Corona, Matthew Findlay

Bioengineering Senior Theses

The use of engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) in consumer and commercial products is increasing rapidly. The small size and high surface reactivity of ENMs gives them a range of attractive properties, and allows them to be incorporated into various materials. These properties make ENMs very appealing to modern industry, but also make ENMs toxic, causing serious health and environmental concerns. This toxicity is largely driven by the formation of a protein corona on the surface of ENMs. This protein corona is caused by proteins encountered in biological systems that bind to the surface of (ENMs). Despite the importance of the protein …

Low Cost Sms-Enabled Ekg For Use In Developing Countries, Gabriel Christ, Shachi Kakkar, Michael Mcelroy, Augustus Boling

Interdisciplinary Design Senior Theses

According to official estimates, cardiovascular disease will become the leading cause of death in the developing world by 2020 [1]. This makes regular screening and early detection a priority for these regions. At present, such screening relies on stationary electrocardiogram (ECG) machines, but this technology has several drawbacks. Most machines are costly, stationary, and require a physician onsite to collect and interpret the data; as a result many isolated rural communities lack access to basic heart disease screening. In order to better meet the screening needs of these populations, we propose a twopart solution involving a simplified, inexpensive ECG device …

Rf Location Tracking: A Modular Antenna System Implementation, Alan Tao Feng, Razma Mogharrab, Carlos Rivera

Interdisciplinary Design Senior Theses

From the Amazon Prime Air drone delivery service to the usage of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) in military operations, recent years have seen the development of autonomous flight technologies becoming one of the major research topics in the drone industry. Tracking the geographic position of drones is a crucial part of any autonomous flight, but the common methods of drone location tracking either have too large of an error margin or require extensive environmental setup. The aforementioned issues are major roadblocks in the advancement of autonomous flight operations. The proposed solution is a new and improved method to track the …

Multi-Bot Easy Control Hierarchy, Ryan Cooper, Marton Demeter, Jonathan Ho, Alan Nguyen

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

The goal of our project is to create a software architecture that makes it possible to easily control a multi-robot system, as well as seamlessly change control modes during operation. The different control schemes first include the ability to implement on-board and off-board controllers. Second, the commands can specify either actuator level, vehicle level, or fleet level behavior. Finally, motion can be specified by giving a waypoint and time constraint, a velocity and heading, or a throttle and angle. Our code is abstracted so that any type of robot - ranging from ones that use a differential drive set up, …

Scudent Books: A University-Focused Bookselling Platform, Winston Chang, Christina Ciardella, Renee Prescilla

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

As the beginning of each university semester or quarter commences, so does the rush to acquire books for classes. The search for school books is a busy and important task for many students. However, an entire slew of problems and frustrations emerge with this academic race to gather books. To begin, students have to deal with the traditional frustrations of expensive textbooks sold at the university bookstore which is especially troublesome for those on a tight budget. Additionally, required textbooks for classes may not be available at the bookstore or require restocking which can take an unknown amount of time. …

Smartmirror: A Glance Into The Future, Jason Chen, Matthew Koken

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

In todays society, information is available to us at a glance through our phones, our laptops, our desktops, and more. But an extra level of interaction is required in order to access the information. As technology grows, technology should grow further and further away from the traditional style of interaction with devices. In the past, information was relayed through paper, then through computers, and in todays day and age, through our phones and multiple other mediums. Technology should become more integrated into our lives - more seamless and more invisible. We hope to push the envelope further, into the future. …

Human-Powered Concrete Mixer, Connor Mcloughlin, Nathan Metzger, Nicholas Szychowski, Madelyn Bustard-Gustafson

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

There are currently many non-profit organizations and social enterprises working to alleviate the hardships of living in a developing economy, such as lack of proper homes, schooling, and bathrooms. The solutions to these problems rely on concrete, and are currently limited by the mixing time for these batches of concrete in rural and remote areas. Mixing with shovels is inefficient and imprecise, and the possible solution of a portable gas-powered concrete mixer is too expensive and too immobile for remote areas. The Human-Powered Concrete Mixer (HPCM) provides an alternative to these methods that is more efficient and more precise than …

Scu Mini Baja, Christian Ruiz, Mauricio Jimenez, Anmol Josen, Christian Hellmers, Angel Robles, Matthew Nagy, Ruben Contreras, Westley Tusa, Chad Russick

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

Baja SAE (Society of Automotive Engineers) is an intercollegiate competition to design, fabricate, and race a small, single passenger, off-road vehicle powered by a 10 HP Briggs & Stratton 4-Stroke gasoline engine. The purpose of this project was to optimize the design of a baja vehicle appropriate enough to compete in the SAE competition held in California and perform finite element analysis (FEA) for the verification of the frame and overall design of the vehicle. The design of this vehicle was created through outside research of previous baja buggies made for the competition and the group was split into three …

Waterless Light Fountain, Lucas Villalba Eirea

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

The Waterless light fountain is born from the need for art projects for Franklin street in Santa Clara University than is going to be remodeled into an arts and history paseo, one of the ideas discussed was to determine if there may be a way to develop a waterless light fountain that could be displayed either on a temporary or permanent basis. In this paper, we will explain the design process and build of the fountain, using Neopixels (RGB LEDs) to generate the light used as the main art element. An Arduino is used as the control unit, controlling the …

Smart And Sustainable Aquaponics, Ryan Toal, Kevin Claggett, Justin Goh

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

As the global population increases, new ways of sustainable and efficient food production need to be explored in order to meet the growing demand from society. In this paper we explore the methods and functionality of an off-grid, semi-autonomous aquaponics system. This system will serve as a proof of concept for a large scale aquaponics system which can be modelled in other parts of the world where arable land is scarce. It was found that though the initial startup costs are high, it will be able to reduce the cost of food in the long run. The system implements a …

Exosome Membrane Bound Tnf-Receptor For The Treatment Of Rheumatoid Arthritis, Natalie Duong, Kevin Curley

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that causes painful inflammation of the synovium of the patient’s joints. However, current treatments for RA have a variety of drawbacks. They often are ineffective, expensive, invasive, risky, cause an immune response, and/ or only provide short term relief. Thus, we developed a new treatment for preventing inflammation: TNF-receptors anchored onto exosome surfaces. Exosomes are nanovesicles that are naturally secreted by most of the cells in our bodies. The many benefits of using exosomes include non-immunogenicity, natural stability in the body, and non-invasiveness. We have demonstrated that exosome membrane bound TNF-receptors have the …

Hybrid Fuzzy Logic And Extremum Seeking Attitude Control Of Solar Sail Spacecraft, Nikolai Kalnin

Mechanical Engineering Master's Theses

This thesis explores four controllers applied to the attitude control of a solar sail craft with control masses with the goal of showing benefits over more standard control schemes. The controllers examined in this paper are: 1) a PID controller that incorporates a discrete extremum seeking algorithm, 2) a type-1 fuzzy logic controller that incorporates a discrete extremum seeking algorithm, 3) a type-1 fuzzy logic controller, and 4) a type-2 fuzzy logic controller. The first two controllers are examined for their ability to quickly converge to a set of optimal gains over time. The latter two controllers are evaluated for …

John Brown University Disaster Shelter Competition, Julia Anderson, Katie Bipes, Antonio Gonzalez, Danny O’Malley, Colin Skaggs, La’Akea Warren

Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Senior Theses

John Brown University hosted the 6th annual Disaster Shelter Relief Competition in April 2017 for which the team built a prototype shelter and proposed a camp plan. Both the shelter and the camp plan were designed to house refugees coming into Greece from the Middle East. The shelter would accommodate a family of four and the camp plan was designed to hold 1250 shelters, or 5000 people. The shelter was built on site at John Brown University and was required to take less than two hours to fully construct. This report summarizes the work the team did for the competition, …

Artificial Intelligence Hardware Accelerator, Maor Bernstein, Patrick Miller

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

This paper documents the investigation and implementation of the mathematics behind artificial intelligence using a programmable gate array interfaced through a software API. Machine learning is made possible through training on large amounts of information and is often performed across clusters of CPUs in an attempt to minimize runtime. In an attempt to make this process less resource intensive, we are researching how to optimize the most intensive of operations by offloading them to a field of programmable gate array.

Vtol Search And Rescue, Nicholas Keyes, Francesca Caruso, Nick Gagliardi, Joshua Ramayrat, Kia Moazzami

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

This project focuses on the design of a hybrid vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft that, by using separate propulsion systems, transitions from a quadcopter into horizontal flight. It was designed for use in search and rescue (SAR) missions in national parks due to their high costs, long search times, and the volume of these missions. The aircraft can be easily deployed in less than a couple minutes reducing search time, costs only $2000 saving SAR teams money, and allows for camera integration for hiker location. The aircraft used a pre-built airframe with added modifications, and a specifically designed avionic …

The Solar Microgrid Project In Togo, Christian Jason Wintery, Alexander Mayorkis

Electrical and Computer Engineering Senior Theses

Danyi Mempassem, Togo, Africa has villagers in need of electricity, however, they cannot afford to put in the infrastructure and then pay the steep cost of energy from the government. The best option for energy for the village is an affordable and renewable resource but due to limitations of geography the only viable option is a photo-voltaic system. We designed a working solar microgrid tailored for the location and weather of the village which can support all of the lights, cell phone chargers, and televisions that the villagers need/desire while being reliable, sustainable, safe, and affordable. The design and implementation …

Benchtop Centrifuge For Materials Science, Ryan Schulz, Thomas Valentine, Abhay Gupta

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

The Benchtop Centrifuge was designed to serve for research purposes within theMechanical Engineering Department at Santa Clara University. The prototype has been completely assembled and is functioning to the desired specifications of applying up to 1000 g’s of force for over 4 hours. The current uses are anticipated for separation of particles within materials for material processing and testing. The overall systemdesign has been adapted froma legacy project within the University. Various tests were conducted in order to ensure safety and usability of the system. Through Abaqus analysis and drop-test experiments, it was found enclosure itself can withstand an impact …

Portable, Powerless Automation Of Valve Actuation For Microfluidic Large Scale Integration Technology, Andrew Schmidt, Matthew Fitzgerald

Bioengineering Senior Theses

Microfluidic large-scale integration (mLSI) is an emerging field that has the potential to fully automate the biological experimentation and technology development. mLSI offers high-throughput, while maintaining reduced costs and sample size in biochemical tests and experiments. The pneumatic control systems, and the use of solenoid valves that are needed for mLSI make this technology bulky and limits its use to specialized labs. Moreover, since the field is relatively new, few scientists are trained in microfluidic chip design and microfabrication. Eliminating the peripheral equipment from standard testing protocol will allow mLSI to be used in point-of-care settings and more widespread usage …

Point Cloud Framework For Rendering 3d Models Using Google Tango, Maxen Chung, Julian Callin

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

This project seeks to demonstrate the feasibility of point cloud meshing for capturing and modeling three dimensional objects on consumer smart phones and tablets. Traditional methods of capturing objects require hundreds of images, are very slow and consume a large amount of cellular data for the average consumer. Software developers need a starting point for capturing and meshing point clouds to create 3D models as hardware manufacturers provide the tools to capture point cloud data. The project uses Googles Tango computer vision library for Android to capture point clouds on devices with depth-sensing hardware. The point clouds are combined and …

Sclork 2.0, Juan Miguel Baluyut, Jowy Curameng

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

For the past 10 years, the Laptop Orchestra is an emerging interdisciplinary field that involves Computer Science, Engineering, and music. In the past 4 years, Santa Clara University has developed it’s own Laptop Orchestra ensemble called SCLork. For this project, we will be making improvements to the Laptop Orchestra by incorporating a mobile phone element for audience participation. In addition, we will be designing an original composition using computer science sound synthesis techniques. Our mobile element is implemented as a mobile-friendly website that will be accessed by audience members. This website will be used in tandem by both audience and …

Track My Hoist, Brett Harrison, Madison Rubia, Paras Zaveri

Computer Science and Engineering Senior Theses

Construction sites all over the world rely on hoist lifts for transporting material and workers at the job site. Despite being such an integral part of construction projects, there is currently no tool to track the use of this critical and highly necessary piece of equipment at the construction site. The purpose of this project is to design a systemthat would enable the managers and employees of construction companies to efficiently track and manage the hoist lifts at their sites.

Efficient tracking and management of the lifts would result in savings of cost, time, and energy for the construction companies. …

Poly Pelletizer: Recycled Pet Pellets From Water Bottles, Logan Costa-Smith, Ian Maltzer, James Martino

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

Plastic water bottles comprise a large amount of waste worldwide. The goal of the Poly Pelletizer project is to create a system that will turn water bottles into polyethylene terephthalate (PET) pellets compatible with extruders to produce 3-D printer lament, along with other recycling applications.The system promotes a sustainable solution to plastic pollution by giving manufactures, particularly in developing nations, the means to produce their own bulk materials using waste plastic. Shrinking industrial recycling processes to a workbench scale gives individuals the ability to convert excess bottles into seemingly limitless products. The system works by using a dual heating and …

Wear-Resistant Extrusion Auger For The Production Of Charcoal Briquettes From Agricultural Waste, Maureen O’Neill, Aaron Wagner

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

Ugandan social enterprise AEST makes and sells agricultural waste charcoal briquettes. The extrusion auger used wore down quickly, hampering production. The team worked to find a better material or heattreatment process to improve the auger's lifetime. The team built a custom pin-on-disk testing apparatus and used it along with optical microscopy to analyze the wear mechanism. The team then heat-treated and tested additional samples to find the best treatment. The team suggested improving AEST’s current case hardening process by increasing the case depth to 0.04 in (0.1016 cm) and using oil quenching.

Phosphate Contaminant Detection In Water Through A Paper-Based Microfluidic Device, Brandon Miura, Alex Wagner, Philip Wu

Bioengineering Senior Theses

This report describes a project aimed at developing a low-cost, portable, on-site, user-friendly system for detecting different concentrations of phosphate in drinking water. Phosphate is a natural chemical, but toxic in large concentrations; detection is therefore important to avoid drinking contaminated water. Despite this fact, no cheap, and/or nontoxic system for phosphate detection is yet on the market.

The detection system utilizes a paper-based microfluidic device to automate the electrochemical detection process, which normally requires expert use of lab equipment. When combined with a portable potentiostat that works with a mobile app, the device will allow untrained users to determine …