Engineering Commons^™

Flexi-Focus Lens: Pdms Variable Focal Length Lens, Patrick Angulo, Alex Doyle, Dylan Mcdaniel, Michael Olivarez

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The design of a variable focal length, or flexi-focus, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) lens incorporating a light emitting diode (LED) source is intended for future use on board commercial aircraft. Specifically, the design is intended for the Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft, serving as a personal reading light for the passengers seated in the cabin. Most current reading lights on board aircraft are rigid, incandescent, and have very limited freedom in terms of adjusting the emitted light. Incandescent lamps are also inefficient with respect to energy consumption and light output as well as a high heat output. In an economy of increasing demand …

Quality Of Life Plus (Ql+) 2011 Rideable Tour, Daniel J. Pelisek

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Quality of Life Plus (QL+) does important work supporting members of the United States armed forces. Without significant funding, it is unlikely they could continue doing that work. Our goal was to hold a charity bike ride, the 2011 QL+ RideABLE Tour, to help them raise the funds they need. We approached the ride from two different perspectives, event planning and project management, with the hope that the two approaches could work in synergy towards a successful event. The project management approach focused on industrial engineering tools like work breakdown structures (WBS), cost analysis, and risk assessment. The goal was …

Continuous Improvement Efforts In J. Carrol's Screen Printing Process, Millan Arellano

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The following report details the analysis and procedure taken not only to determine the issues limiting J. Carroll’s screen printing capacity, but also provides the solutions necessary to address these issues. The report addresses one crucial operation in the screen printing process, changeovers, which contribute to roughly 24% of the screen printing process time and more than any other operation in the screen printing process. Within the changeover operation two specific tasks appear to be plaguing long changeover times: they are test print and design approval. The report elaborates on the Fishbone Diagrams utilized to bring up the potential causes …

Use Of Electroluminescent Wire For Monitoring Fatigue In Manual Materials Handling, Spencer Martinez, Chester Matkey

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

In the field of manual materials handling, millions of dollars are lost each year in accidents caused by physical fatigue. The purpose of this project is to design a device for monitoring fatigue in manual material handling operations. Combining our knowledge of electronics, new product design, ergonomics, and human factors, we were able to design and test a product to meet these specifications in hopes of developing a prototype for marketability. While we have only developed a prototype, the economic justification is performed for mass production of the product. Using statistics gathered on the percentage of injuries caused each year …

Human Resources Recruitment Management Plug-In For Enterprise Resource Planning Systems, Alex Riabov

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Enterprise Resource Planning (or ERP in short) systems today are a backbone of most large United States and international corporations. Around the 1990s these companies transitioned from using different software packages for each business unit to using the modules of Enterprise Resource Planning system for the business unit’s specific needs. Some functionality was lost. Human Resource function of recruitment was one example of large functionality left out of Enterprise Resource Planning systems such as SAP or PeopleSoft. As a result, these large companies turned to 3rd party Applicant Tracking Systems to manage recruitment and subsequently created redundancies in workflow, increased …

Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of Passive Item-Level Rfid Tags Utilized In Inventory Counts, Joshua (Josh) Gilbert

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

In an effort to reduce the amount of manual labor associated with physical inventory counts of large warehouse type environments, a study was performed analyzing the effectiveness of item-level RFID to automate counts. Products were selected based off of certain characteristics and tagged with passive RFID tags. A design of experiment was developed specific to each product that best related to actual in store environments. Experiments were conducted in the Poly GAIT lab. Certain levels of analysis were performed and conclusions made specific to each product under question.

Efficient Operations And Procedures Of Children's Museums, Siobhan Sullivan

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Due to the recent economic downturn, the San Luis Obispo Children’s Museum’s budget has been reduced by half. The entrepreneurial Museum Director is searching for ways to cut costs and increase revenue. This project aimed to apply Lean methodologies, traditionally used in manufacturing organizations, to the Museum, a non-profit service organization.

The project objectives were to have an organized storage area using principles of 5S; determine excess inventory; consolidate available exhibit information; create guidelines for exhibit production to ensure high quality exhibits with sufficient user documentation are created; perform a sampling of exhibit use in order to have a list …

Emergency Response Manufacturing: Lead Time Minimization And Human Factors For Ozone Water Filter Assembly And Kitting Process, Travis Gary

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

In the unfortunate event of a natural disaster affecting San Luis Obispo, response from national entities cannot be relied upon for a timely or efficient response. Local disaster recovery is superior because it minimizes response time, the need for costly stockpiling and creates a solution that is uniquely suited to the community that empowers local people in their most troubled times. Extensive planning is required for local disaster recovery and this project aims to provide the research and recovery system design required to implement an effective recovery plan.

Potable water is the primary need for people in the disaster situations …

Electroluminescent (El) Wire Soldering Solution, Sean Mitchell

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

Electroluminescent (EL) wire is a unique kind of wire because it glows when attached to a power source. EL wire has many applications, both creative and practical. For example: Burning Man enthusiasts like to adorn their clothing with the flexible wire, and emergency responders use it to mark off accidents on the road at night. What makes EL wire glow is the electrical reactions between its copper wires and phosphor coating. The problem with this wire, however, is that it is very difficult to connect it to a battery. This is due to the wire’s structure. Beneath its protective plastic …

Determining A Method For Rendering Low Cost Cdse(Zns) Core(Shell) Quantum Dots Aqueous Soluble Via Amphiphilic Polymer Wrapping, Patrick Mcbride

Materials Engineering

Herein is described the procedure of two amphiphilic polymer wrapping techniques that may be employed for obtaining aqueous soluble quantum dots (QDs) for use in biological fluorescent imaging applications. The advent of QDs has led to new nanoscale fluorescent materials that exhibit unparalleled quantum yields (QYs), high resistance to photobleaching, tunable emissions, and
absorption over a large optical range. However, the QD synthesis employed here at Cal Poly to obtain bright, photostable CdSe(ZnS) core(shell) QDs involves the use of organic solvents and surfactants, leading to hydrophobic QDs. Since all of biology relies on aqueous solubility, this hydrophobicity creates a major …

Artificial Muscle Project: Process Development Of Polydimethyl Siloxane Thin Films For Use In Dielectric Electroactive Polymer Artificial Muscle Actuators, Vincent J. Gayotin, Richard W. Morrison, Paul A. Preisser

Materials Engineering

An artificial muscle design was created founded on the principles of a dielectric electroactive polymer (DEAP), which is fundamentally similar to a capacitor. A polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS)-based elastomer, Sylgard 184 from Dow Corning, was chosen for the design and spun coat onto polystyrene (PS) Petri dishes at varying speeds to create a thin film, using speeds of 2000 rpm, 3000 rpm, 4000 rpm, 5000 rpm, and 6000 rpm. The film thicknesses were measured optically through use of a microscope with coupled computer imaging software to generate a characteristic curve of film thickness to spin speed, achieving a minimum film thickness …

Design And Characterization Of A Process For Bulk Synthesis Of Cadmium Selenide Quantum Dots, Susan Harada

Materials Engineering

The objective of the process is to synthesize quantum dots that will fluoresce over the visible spectrum of 450 to 650nm; then to mix the quantum dots together in a polymer matrix so that when illuminated with a blue LED the mixture yields “white” light. The current quantum dot synthesis is a chemical process that involves adding a room temperature Se-TOP precursor to a 225°C Cd precursor solution to cause nucleation and growth of nanoparticles. This method, however, only yields quantum dots that fluoresce in the 520 to 600nm range. In order to create the “white” light phosphor replacement, red …

Auto Fall Detector, Nhut Thanh Ho

Computer Engineering

This device is named Cardea, the goddess of health in roman Mythology. The Cardea will be attached to the waist of the individual’s body to detect any falls, and will send out alarm signals to people in the surrounding area. The end goal of this project is to provide a helpful and friendly device for the elderly and their families. It is easy to maintain and dependable for long term use.

Cal Poly Wow: Week Of Welcome’S Leader Android Application, Eric Cerney

Computer Engineering

The Week of Welcome Android application aims to improve the efficiency and ease at which Orientation Leaders function during the week long program designed to aid in new student
assimilation to the San Luis Obispo campus and community. It focuses on four utilities combined in
one easy location that Leaders use on a regular basis. They are maps, the online guidebook, budget keeper, and contact list. These four utilities are commonly used by Leaders in their day to day
guidance of new students, making one single application with each tool very desirable to the WOW Program.

Currently there are no …

A Modular Design For Nuclear Battery Technology, Randy Lao

Physics

This paper is an exploration of the physics and technology behind the development and on-going research of nuclear batteries. This includes the topics of isotope radiation suitable for such a device as well as the components necessary to utilize the energy of natural decay, such as solid and liquid semiconductors. Most importantly for public use, the battery requires a safe containment system while allowing convenient modularity. An efficiency and total output comparison will be made with standard button cell and dry cell batteries. Also, a proposal is made for the design of an enclosure to contain radioactive materials. The safe …

Woody: Roborodentia 2011 Robot, Felix Chung, Canh Sy, Hanson Yu

Computer Engineering

Woody is a fully autonomous robot built and designed for the 2011 Cal Poly Roborodentia competition. Woody’s goal is to score the most points in the competition by navigating the competition field, efficiently collecting ping pong balls from the racks, and shooting the balls into the goal accurately. There was no specific budget set for the project, but costs were kept low by using tools from the Computer Engineering Capstone Lab, inexpensive materials such as wood, and reusable parts from robots from previous Roborodentia competitions.

Human Powered Helicopter: Observing The Impacts Of Ground Effect And Intermeshed Rotors, Shane Stowe

Physics

No abstract provided.

Materials Characterization Of Bamboo And Analysis Of Bonding Strength And Internal Strength As A Structural Member In Reinforced Concrete, Nithi Plangsriskul, Nicholas Dorsano

Materials Engineering

This study evaluates the potential to utilize bamboo as reinforcement in concrete structural members.  In this project, the mechanical properties of bamboo were tested, specifically force required to embed a 0.5” diameter ball 0.016” into the bamboo samples and its bonding strength with concrete.  One type of bamboo, Bambusa Oldhamii, was cut into eight sections, approximately 2.54 cm wide, along the length of the culm.  The compression test recorded the bamboo’s strength at eight points along the length of the internode and at three points along the transverse direction of each specimen.  Bambusa Oldhamii’s specimen base 1 data for inner, …

Understanding The Effects Of Temperature Extremes On The Tensile And Short Beam Shear Strength Of Epoxy-Based, Glass-Fiber Reinforced Composites, Jonathan Blake Patterson

Materials Engineering

Aptera (Oceanside, CA) has developed two epoxy-based, silica fiber-reinforced composites to be used on their three-wheeled all-electric vehicle called the 2e.  Aptera’s composites were studied at temperature extremes using a dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA) system and by tensile and short beam shear (SBS) testing using an Instron testing system. These tests were conducted to simulate the loading of the composite in the 2e vehicle.  Tensile and short beam shear samples were machined to 150 mm x 25 mm x 2 mm and 40 mm x 13 mm x 6 mm, respectively.  DMA samples were machined to 30 mm x 5 …

The Design And Manufacture Of A Microfluidic Reactor For Synthesis Of Cadmium Selenide Quantum Dots Using Silicon And Glass Substrates, Peter Gonsalves

Materials Engineering

A microfluidic reactor for synthesizing cadmium selenide (CdSe) quantum dots (QDs) was synthesized out of silicon and Pyrex glass. Microfabrication techniques were used to etch the channels into the silicon wafer. Holes were wet-drilled into Pyrex glass using a diamond-tip drill bit. The Pyrex wafer was aligned to the etched silicon wafer and both were anodically bonded to complete the microfluidic reactor. Conditions for anodic bonding were created by exposing the stacked substrates to 300V at ~350^oC under 5.46N of force.  Bulk CdSe solution was mixed at room temperature and treated as a single injection. The syringe containing …

Olympic Bocce Ballers, Steven Erickson, William Haley, Taylor Vaughan

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Multiple Motors With Single Controller, Jason Eugene Barbeiro, Benjamin Erik Johnson, Abraham Garza

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Blds Heating, Alan Cook, Jon Hsu, Robert Veasey

Mechanical Engineering

Dr. Westphal, a professor at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, created a boundary layer data system (BLDS). This device was designed to measure the boundary layer over a wing of an airplane during flight. A problem with the BLDS is that at flight altitude of 50,000 ft, the BLDS stops functioning due to the extremely low temperatures.

Team IcePick’s objective was to design, build, and test a device which could provide heat to the BLDS so it can function.  Our team decided to continue with where the previous senior project team had left off and build upon their proof of …

Thrust-Vector Control, Dane Larkin, Harsimran Singh

Mechanical Engineering

Mission Statement

The purpose of this project is to design, build, and test a thrust-vectoring rocket nozzle which will aid in controlling the trajectory of a solid-booster rocket. The system prototype must meet the requirements set forth by the sponsoring enterprise.

The Enterprise

Stellar Exploration is a small space systems technology company located in San Luis Obispo, CA. Stellar Exploration is currently seeking a thrust-vectoring system for its Silver Sword rocket.

Project Scope

The design and analysis portion of this project accounted for a system that would be mounted on to a rocket for operational flight. Therefore, this team has …

Piedras Blancas Light Station Vista Point Improvement Plan, Larissa Heeren, Reuben Juster, Annamarie Usher, John Rossi, Nick Mitchell

Mechanical Engineering

Piedras Blancas Light station Improvement Involved the design of two separate parking lot/vista point plans as well as the creation of a concrete Iron Ranger located near the gift shop on site.

Adult Strider, Matthew Browning, Michael Flynn, Douglas Desfor, Mary Gentilucci

Mechanical Engineering

The goal of the Strider project was to create a mobility device that would support a person with weakened leg strength and allow them to push the device around with their legs and build more leg strength. There are many health benefits to standing and the Strider was intended to help a person with a disability experience these benefits. The Strider is a fully independent device that the user can get into and maneuver without assistance. The device is also safe, highly maneuverable, and complies with all ADA standards and requirements.

The design is built around a frame that supports …

Edapts Web Application Redesign With Route Editor And Dynamic Frontend, John O'Connor, Aaron Berk

Computer Engineering

The EDAPTS (Efficient Deployment of Advanced Public Transportation Systems) system is designed to facilitate the public transportation system, making it even easier for San Luis Obispo residents and guests to use. We have upgraded the web component of the system adding a tool that makes it simple for non-programmers to add, edit, and delete routes. Furthermore, we have modified the front end web code to read from a central MySQL database containing all the route information created using the new, user-friendly tool.

Detection Of Breathing And Infant Sleep Apnea, Brian Berg

Computer Engineering

Sleep apnea is a condition where people pause while breathing in their sleep; this can be of great concern for infants and premature babies. Current monitoring systems either require physical attachment to a user or may be unreliable. This project is meant to develop a device that can accurately detect breathing through sound and issue appropriate warnings upon its cessation. The device produced is meant to be a standalone device and thus was developed as an embedded systems project on a Xilinx Spartan 6 FPGA.

Ultra-Short Baseline Acoustic Positioning System, Timothy Joel Soppet

Computer Engineering

This paper explains the design, implementation, and testing of an ultra short baseline (USBL) acoustic positioning system for the Amador Valley High School (AVHS) Robotics Club’s Barracuda Mark-X AUV. The system will be used to locate an underwater transducer beacon representing the final waypoint in an obstacle course designed for the AUVSI/ONR RoboSub international collegiate competition.

Characterization Of A Dual Acoustic Receiver System For Measuring Range And Bearing To Acoustic Tags, Victoria Campana, Justin Knight

Computer Engineering

Experiements were performed to determine the effectiveness of the Lotek RT-A Hydrophone system and if it could provide the data necessary for a particle filter to determine the location of a shark. Over the period of a few months, we tested off the Cal Poly Pier at set GPS coordinates to characterize how accurately the Lotek System can determine range and orientation. Ranges from 0-500 meters were tested with the Lotek system being in a stationary position and Lotek receiver tag being put at specified GPS coordinates. The two hydrophone rigging was then rotated a full 360 degrees to gauge …