Engineering Commons^™

Investigation Of Parameters Influencing Reverse Fault Rupture Propagation To The Ground Surface, Kevin V. Stanton

Master's Theses

Surface fault rupture poses a serious threat to infrastructure in many seismically active regions, but knowledge about the factors which control the likelihood of surface displacement is limited. Current probabilistic frameworks rely only on fault mechanism and moment magnitude to predict the probability of rupture to the ground surface. However, recent work has shown that there may be other parameters which also deserve consideration. For example, statistical analyses have demonstrated that variation in near surface material stiffness may significantly affect the probability of surface rupture over reverse faults. In addition, numerical investigations indicate that the rupture history of native soil …

Measuring The Counter/Assumption Model's Effect On Argumentation Quality, Evan D G Ovadia

Master's Theses

This thesis presents a new platform called See the Reason, built upon a tree- structured argumentation model called the Counter/Assumption model. In the Counter/Assumption model, a topic is posted first, then under that topic, reasons for and against, and for each reason, counterarguments, and for any counterargu- ment, more counterarguments. The model enables us to systematically determine whether a claim is “tentatively true” or “tentatively false,” in an effort to motivate people to make their side’s claims tentatively true and the opposing side’s claims tentatively false, thus encouraging conflict. Research suggests that debates with more conflict are better, so this …

The Collapsible Trailer: Design And Manufacture, Robert Hobson

Biomedical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Laminar Flow Hood System Design, Sophie Schneider

Electrical Engineering

In 2011 health care costs for transplants were over 12 billion dollars in the United States for evaluation, procurement, facilities use, physicians, and post-transplant check-ups. In 2012 burns hospitalized 40,000 people and over 17,000 people received organ transplants. Sadly, the number of organ donors greatly lags the number of people on the transplant waiting list and the gap has widened over the decades. While preventative health care is extremely important, researching tissue engineering (TE) to treat patients in fatal condition provides alternatives for replacing or repairing a variety of damaged tissue. These alternative treatments can considerably reduce the supply-demand gap …

Portable Nano-Hydro Power Generator For The Dc House Project, Andrew Aw, James Biggs

Electrical Engineering

This senior project report explains the construction and design of a small, portable water generator that converts kinetic energy flowing in small creeks to electrical energy as a renewable source of energy for the DC House. The DC House, in short, is a project to build a self-sustainable house for Third World countries that utilizes only DC electricity. The system consists of two converters and a charge controller for a 12V lead-acid battery. The first converter converts the hydro generator voltage output to 15 Volts for safe and proper charging of the lead-acid battery by the charge controller. The second …

In-Bottle Wine Aerator, Kevin Kesler, Patrick Lowry, Paul Woolworth

Mechanical Engineering

The proposal for Capitol Cultivators discusses and evaluates the development of an in-bottle wine aerator. It defines the problem and need for an aerator located inside the wine bottle. Additionally, it outlines requirements essential for an effective design and describes the engineering process that will be followed.

Design Of An Automatic Wood Trimming Machine, Van Ho, Nicholas Maskal, Andrew Rutland

Mechanical Engineering

This final design report, prepared for Sunrise Arts by the Cal Poly design team Mahogany Automation, details the year-long process in which the team of three engineering students designed and built an automated wooden -plank edge trimming machine that incorporates anti-jamming and continuous loading features. The team has examined current woodworking machines and features available on the industrial and commercial market, and used these as guides along with device requirements set by the project sponsor, Bruce Palmer. The focus has been on designing the simplest and most cost effective device that allows operators to make production runs of wooden slats …

Peripheral Artery Catheter Tracking System, Chris Blecher, Michael Lashore, Nhan Le

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Rifle And Shotgun Recoil Test System, Benjamin Canfield-Hershkowitz, Trevor Foster, William Meijer

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Trampoline And Bungee Fatigue-Test Machine, Andy Brock, Christopher D'Elia, Ryan Murphy

Mechanical Engineering

JumpSport, a Saratoga based recreational and fitness trampoline company, sponsored this senior project team towards the development of a fatigue-testing machine. The goal of this project was to iterate the previous machine JumpSport used for bungee cord, spring, and trampoline fatigue testing. Since minimal study had been conducted on these specific bungee cords, the fixture was designed to confirm the theoretical correlations for rubber and perform the final tests according to a strict protocol. Operating with a specific test protocol in mind will allow the data from multiple tests to be combined and analyzed statistically. With a design concept in …

Sodhana Environmental - Final Design Report, Eric Taylor, Corissa Bellis, Cody Perez, Cameron Zeller

Mechanical Engineering

A fully designed cost-effective, sustainable, toilet for the developing world.

Otto - The Wall Driving Platform, Cameron Venancio, Eric Mar, Kelvin Lei

Mechanical Engineering

A robotic wall-climbing robot.

Automated Foosball Table Year 1: Final Project Report, Juan David Gutierrez-Franco, John Inlow, Jesse Graham, Larry Huang

Mechanical Engineering

This project is a first iteration of an automated foosball table designed and created using servomotors provided by Yaskawa to create an interactive tradeshow display where guests can play against the algorithms developed in the PLC (programmable logic controller) controlling the servomotors. There will be a second iteration of the project done by a different team directly following this one. The motion components were selected with the intent to be able to surpass the reaction times and speeds of expert human players. There are a total of eight servomotors, four controlling linear actuators for translation of rods, and four controlling …

Prototype Device For The Detection Of Subsurface Peach Pit Fragments, Colby Lippincott, Hamilton Little, Rick Hayes, Elliot Wenzel

Mechanical Engineering

Peach pits can break during processing into several small fragments and are difficult to see and remove from the peach. Wawona Frozen Foods is asking for a fully designed, built and tested prototype that can detect these pit fragments with ease and speed. Our design uses an array of needles that puncture into a peach half. A pressure sensor measures the force on the needles and determines whether or not each needle hit the peach flesh or a pit fragment. The array of needles consists of 313 needles each with a diameter of 0.6 mm with a total array diameter …

Thermodynamic Efficiency Evaluation For Distillation Of Ethanol, Joe A. Cavaletto

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Energy will always be a consideration when distilling any product. Fog’s End Distillery in Gonzales, CA is a small scale micro distillery for ethanol. For Fog’s End, efficiency is key to staying competitive. In this project the efficiency of energy in vs product out will be calculated. While collecting this data the price/bottle for energy will be determined and used for an assembly cost. To determine the efficiency the fuel usage will be recorded for several distillation trials. The mash contents and product contents will all be measured and calculations will be performed to find the theoretical amount of energy …

Microcontroller Design: Control Electronics For Rantec's 28vdc Input 3-U Power Supply, Leo Hernandez

Electrical Engineering

The Control Electronics is a real-time data acquisition and control system based on Atmel’s AVR microcontroller. The Control Electronics will be embedded into Rantec’s 3U power supply to monitor and report power supply data [1]. The power supply data monitored includes power supply output voltages, input voltage, DC bus voltage, and temperature.

The microcontroller continuously monitors DC voltages through seven I²C compatible analog-to-digital converters via a custom Two-Wire interface. An analog temperature sensor measures power supply data and feeds it as an analog voltage to the microcontroller’s built-in analog to digital interface. The microcontroller stores the acquired power …

Analysis Of An Inflatable Gossamer Device To Efficiently De-Orbit Cubesats, Robert A. Hawkins Jr.

Master's Theses

There is an increased need for spacecraft to quickly and efficiently de-orbit themselves as the amount of debris in orbit around Earth grows. Defunct spacecraft pose a significant threat to the LEO environment due to their risk of fragmentation. If these spacecraft are de-orbited at the end of their useful life their risk to future spacecraft is greatly lessened. A proposed method of efficiently de-orbiting spacecraft is to use an inflatable thin-film envelope to increase the body's area to mass ratio and thusly shortening its orbital lifetime. The system and analysis presented in this project is sized for use on …

A Software Development Kit For Camera-Based Gesture Interaction, Devlin Cronin

Master's Theses

Human-Computer Interaction is a rapidly expanding field, in which new implementations of ideas are consistently being released. In recent years, much of the concentration in this field has been on gesture-based control, either touch-based or camera-based. Even though camera-based gesture recognition was previously seen more in science fiction than in reality, this method of interaction is rising in popularity. There are a number of devices readily available to the average consumer that are designed to support this type of input, including the popular Microsoft Kinect and Leap Motion devices.

Despite this rise in availability and popularity, development for these devices …

Remote/Autonomous Sentry Gun Platform, Angelo Gagliardi, Dante Gagliardi

Electrical Engineering

This senior project involves the complete system design and construction of a "Nerf" sentry gun to replace an armed guard. We aimed to develop a compact and highly mobile defense system that allows operational flexibility. The sentry gun can autonomously track and shoot at moving targets, while also allowing a user to remotely access and control the gun via computer. The mobility, hardiness, and functionality of this system allows a reliable replacement for human beings in harsh and hostile environments; ultimately sparing a life.

Heat Transfer Experiment: Energy Conservation, Ben Ward, Brett Wallace, Ryan Waltman

Mechanical Engineering

This proposal, prepared for the Mechanical Engineering Department by the HTEC design team will redesign and replace the current energy conversion lab that is inaccurate and out of date. The team will evaluate methods of energy conversion, specifically using braking systems, as well as existing labs in order to design an accurate and relatable experiment for this lab. The project team will work with Professor Kim Shollenberger in order to design an experiment that demonstrates energy conversion through the first law of thermodynamics while utilizing a common device that is practical in student’s lives. The final result of this project …

Low-Cost Scheffler Solar Concentrator For The Developing World, Darren Sholes, Jason Morgan, Nicholas Fuller

Mechanical Engineering

This report will outline an approach to design, test, and build a low-cost Scheffler solar concentrator to be used for safer, sustainable and cost effective cooking in the developing world. The function of Scheffler concentrators and a proposed method to create one in an economic, environmentally conscious manner is summarized. If successful, the design will be presented in a way that is readily and freely available to anyone in the world. The authors have examined existing technology and researched the availability and cost of different materials. Analysis was performed in order to verify the feasibility of the different design ideas …

The Effects Of Football Helmet Pressure On The Shock Taken During A Controlled Impact, Sullivan Grosz

Industrial Technology and Packaging

College and NFL football teams are focusing their efforts on protecting players more than ever before. With the recent attention on concussions and the troubling long-term effects of head injuries, more research is needed to find ways to ensure players have the adequate protection. The helmets being used have a hard polycarbonate shell with four inner pads that fit tight to the player’s head. These pads are filled with air.

The purpose of the testing and project is to find an ideal air pressure that helmets need to maintain in order to protect the player to the best of its …

Exploring Human-Computer Interaction Through Bluetooth Low Energy Enabled Human Interface Devices, Tyler Durkin

Liberal Arts and Engineering Studies

No abstract provided.

Constant Voltage Hot-Wire Anemometry For The Boundary Layer Data System, Hon Yee Li

Master's Theses

To continue the development of the Boundary Layer Data System (BLDS), a constant voltage hot-wire anemometer (CVA) is implemented into the BLDS for flight-testing. The hot-wire anemometer was chosen as an alternative to the traditional pressure probe because of the ability to measure both average velocity and fluctuating velocity within the boundary layer. Previous work done on the benchtop has led to the design of miniaturization, flight-capable hardware for the BLDS. The next step in the development of the BLDS – CVA calls for quantifying the accuracy of the boundary layer measurements measured by the CVA system. To do this, …

Adaptive Control Techniques For Transition-To-Hover Flight Of Fixed-Wing Uavs, Brian Decimo Marchini

Master's Theses

Fixed-wing unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with the ability to hover combine the speed and endurance of traditional fixed-wing fight with the stable hovering and vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) capabilities of helicopters and quadrotors. This combination of abilities can provide strategic advantages for UAV operators, especially when operating in urban environments where the airspace may be crowded with obstacles. Traditionally, fixed-wing UAVs with hovering capabilities had to be custom designed for specific payloads and missions, often requiring custom autopilots and unconventional airframe configurations. With recent government spending cuts, UAV operators like the military and law enforcement agencies have been urging …

Reassessment Of Biowish Activation Procedure For Denitrification, William Wah Yee

Master's Theses

BiOWiSH^TM – Aqua is a blend of preserved multi-bacteria culture with the capability of denitrification. If an anaerobic nitrate rich activation procedure is used instead of the standard aerobic activation procedure, the denitrification rate is increased by 28 percent under the conditions of 30°C, 1C:1N, 200mg/L of carbon, and 200mg/L nitrogen.

High Voltage Pulse Measurement System, Angelo J. Ballungay

Master's Theses

Using isolation and noise immunity techniques, this thesis designs and constructs a low cost measurement system to safely and accurately measure high voltage, high frequency pulses in harsh EM environments. High voltage pulses apply to medical, plasma, and food industries. The difficulty of accurately measuring high voltage pulses continues to pose an issue. Measuring high voltage systems can cause damage to the system, the measurement system, and the user. High voltage and high frequency pulses create a harsh environment of electromagnetic fields that can disrupt the circuitry of the measurement system and harm the user. Implementing isolation from the high …

Enhancing Gan Led Efficiency Through Nano-Gratings And Standing Wave Analysis, Gabriel M. Halpin

Master's Theses

Improving energy efficient lighting is a necessary step in reducing energy consumption.Lighting currently consumes 17% of all U.S. residential and commercial electricity, but a report from the U.S. Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy projects that switching to LED lighting over the next 20 years will save 46% of electricity used in lighting.GaN LEDs are used for their efficient conversion of electricity to light, but improving GaN efficiency requires optically engineering the chip to extract more light.Total internal reflection limits GaN LED performance since light must approach the chip surface within 23.6° of normal to escape into air.This thesis …

Lipid Production By Microalgae Treating Municipal Wastewater, James Edward Kelley

Master's Theses

Microalgae hold much promise as a feedstock in liquid biofuel production. Lipid content of microalgae cells range from 30-80% dry weight of biomass. It is projected that microalgae can produce between 1,000-6,500 gallons/acre/year of oil. Currently, production of industrial algae operates in open raceway ponds that use minimal capital and energy inputs to culture algae. Raceway ponds can also be used to grow microalgae from municipal waste streams. Although high biomass productivity can be achieved in these systems, there remains a large production gap between large volumes of biomass cultivation and high lipid content from microalgae cells. Low lipid content …

Large-Displacement Lightweight Armor, Eric C. Clough

Master's Theses

Randomly entangled fibers forming loosely bound nonwoven structures are evaluated for use in lightweight armor applications. These materials sacrifice volumetric efficiency in order to realize a reduction in mass versus traditional armor materials, while maintaining equivalent ballistic performance. The primary material characterized, polyester fiberfill, is shown to have improved ballistic performance over control samples of monolithic polyester as well as 1095 steel sheets. The response of fiberfill is investigated at a variety of strain rates, from quasistatic to ballistic, under compression, tension, and shear deformation to elucidate mechanisms at work during ballistic defeat. Fiberfill’s primary mechanisms during loading are fiber …