Engineering Commons^™

Autonomous Apple Harvester Robot, Jack Ryan Cline, Tyus Green, Devon Woolston

Electrical Engineering

As agricultural demands rise and manual labor costs increase, there has become a dire need to automate apple harvesting. However, the precision and speed necessary for cost-efficient apple harvesting pose a significant challenge for robotic automation. To maintain cost-effective production, a harvester must be able to operate fast enough and long enough to compete with human labor. It must also be able to navigate and traverse apple orchards autonomously and pick apples without damaging the fruit or tree. This project presents an apple harvesting robot that uses a Mask R-CNN vision system with an RGB-D camera to detect the location …

Accessible Real-Time Eye-Gaze Tracking For Neurocognitive Health Assessments, A Multimodal Web-Based Approach, Daniel C. Tisdale

Master's Theses

We introduce a novel integration of real-time, predictive eye-gaze tracking models into a multimodal dialogue system tailored for remote health assessments. This system is designed to be highly accessible requiring only a conventional webcam for video input along with minimal cursor interaction and utilizes engaging gaze-based tasks that can be performed directly in a web browser. We have crafted dynamic subsystems that capture high-quality data efficiently and maintain quality through instances of user attrition and incomplete calls. Additionally, these subsystems are designed with the foresight to allow for future re-analysis using improved predictive models, as well as enable the creation …

Algae: Advanced Lakebed Guardian And Algae Eradicator, Máté Aranyosi, Julien Buist-Thuillier, Victor Calata-Gentil, Elia Döhler, Brian Yeh

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

The Advanced Lakebed Guardian and Algae Eradicator (ALGAE) is a benthic rover designed to mitigate algae blooms in Lake Tahoe and similar freshwater environments. The aim is to eliminate the risks of manual algae removal by scuba divers, which is the current solution employed by the UC Davis Tahoe Environmental Research Center (TERC). Serving as a safer and cost-effective robotic solution for algae mitigation, ALGAE will enhance environmental preservation, marine research, and the tourism industry at Lake Tahoe. For the first year of development, differential drive, sensor data streaming, and remote operation were all achieved using a tethered laptop workstation …

Dolphin: Drone-Based Oceanic Landing Platform With High-Tech Integrated Navigation, Keanu Dayton, Ethan Hang, Jack Hartline, Jordan Puetz, Tomas Ronderos, Zara Shariff

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

The ocean covers 71% of the earth’s surface. With its vast size, it produces almost half of the world’s oxygen, is a source of food, and controls the climate. As humans, it is vital to our way of life. Thus, institutions and organizations have been built in order to study and conserve it; one such organization is the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute (MBARI). A method available to them is the use of drone imaging over the ocean’s surface. However, drones have a limited battery life that restricts the scope of missions they can pursue. A solution that we have …

Autonomous Hydroponic System, Bella Wanebo, Ashley Oh, Jason Slifka

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

Hydroponics is a potentially useful farming technique for growing food in climates where it is difficult to naturally farm. However, hydroponic systems in harsh climates are usually very large and unable to be easily moved around. The design of a portable, enclosed hydroponic garden using the soilless Nutrient Film Technique (NFT) with a vertical configuration that can grow spinach in Antarctica will be discussed. It will have a reversible flow to evenly distribute nutrients to stacked rows of plants. A tradeoff analysis shows that 3D printing a custom T splitter is the best option for controlling the flow within the …

High-Temperature Vacuum Furnace Attachment For A Standard Tensile Tester, Manu Bodagala, Alejandro Mendez-Reynoso, Peter Schumacher, Ben Spielman

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

In this thesis, we outline the development of a low-cost high-temperature vacuum furnace attachment for a standard tensile tester at Santa Clara University. The project aims to expand the material testing capabilities of the university, promoting sustainability and enhancing safety in engineering applications. By focusing on design considerations, manufacturability, and economic viability, the team strives to create an accessible and efficient tool for advancing materials science research.

The initial phase of this multi-year project involves constructing a water-cooled vacuum chamber, which is crucial for the overall furnace system. This phase sets the foundation for subsequent developments, including the integration of …

Aero Avengers: Aiaa Design, Build, And Fly, Andres Alba Burbano, Chris Berardino, Jill Chandler, Patrick Hudson, Andrew Mahler, Nicholas Smith

Mechanical Engineering Senior Theses

This thesis explores the experience of a Santa Clara University senior design team that created an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) intended to compete in the ’Design, Build, Fly!’ competition hosted by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA). The six students worked together to secure funding for the project, formulate a preliminary design, and then manufacture the aircraft. Every step of this process was iterative, allowing the team to learn from their past attempts as the project’s timeline progressed. Upon obtaining competition rules and mission requirements, the team followed a design flow that brought the plane from a sketched …

The Synthesis, Characterization, And Application Of Polysaccharide-Based Additive To Improve Wet And Dry Strength And High-Barrier Properties Of Paper Products, Cornellius Marcello

Dissertations

Paper products play an essential role in our daily lives owing to their low cost, environment-friendly character, renewability, and recyclability. Paper manufacturers have been using petroleum-based strength additives (cPAM, GPAM, PAE) to meet the perceived needs of customers. On the other hand, paper produced from cellulose is hydrophilic and porous, leading to shallow water and grease resistance, causing paper manufacturers to use many kinds of coating materials such as poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and synthetic plastic to improve water resistance, especially for food packaging paper products like cups, plates, food boxes, and packaging. However, PFAS are identified as likely carcinogenic to …

A Model For Spacecraft Relative Motion Using Continuous Periodic Thrust, Philip Alan Hittepole

Dissertations

A model for modifying the relative orbit of a deputy satellite with respect to a chief satellite in a near-circular orbit using continuous periodic thrust is presented. This model is built on the Lovell-Spencer relative orbital elements (ROEs). The four linear ROEs (xr, yr, ar, and Az) can be linearly modified. The two angular ROEs (Er and ) can be set to advance at a desired, constant rate. Each ROE can be modified individually but may cause intra-orbit variations in other ROEs which return to their original values at the end of a thrust cycle. A method to easily calculate …

Enhancing Miter Saw Safety: Challenges And Prospects Of Brake Incorporation With An Automatic Blade Retraction System, Derek Cole

University Honors Theses

Miter saws pose significant safety risks with thousands of injuries reported annually. Despite this risk, they are still used every day as they are a necessity for thousands of workers in the United States and globally. This leaves a demand to make these machines safer to mitigate any potential harm. This research addresses the critical need for an automatic safety system for miter saws, aiming to enhance user safety by retracting and stopping the blade upon skin contact. This analysis identified the primary challenge: The large force generated when braking at high speed on a miter saw blade, translates the …

Automated Expanding Christmas Tree, Ben Mosemann, Zoey Camarillo, Xiomara Medina, Will Tedone

Mechanical Engineering

The Civic Ballet of San Luis Obispo (SLO) needs a new expanding Christmas tree for their 2024 production of The Nutcracker. This Final Design Review Report outlines pertinent information regarding the Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering Senior Project of Team F14 (“D.R.E.I.D.E.L.S.”), who was tasked of designing and building the new expanding Christmas tree frame. Our team’s name, “D.R.E.I.D.E.L.S.,” stands for Design and Research of Expansion Integrated Dramaturgy Ergonomic Leveraging Systems. We thought this would be a fun, creative, and ironic name for our team.

In this report, our team will discuss how we procured the materials required and manufactured and …

The Wildland Firefighter Respiratory Protection Device, Oliver Pilon, Xaviera Pons, Calder Wood, Tommy Ozawa, Jack Adema, Payton Mayer

Biomedical Engineering

This paper presents the development of First Respire and their design of a powered air-purifying respirator (PAPR) specifically curated for wildland firefighter while simultaneously addressing the critical absence of respiratory protection for wildland firefighters operating in the challenging wildland-urban interface (WUI) environments. Current respiratory protection options, such as bandanas and N95 masks, fall short in providing adequate defense against toxic particulate matter and gases, exposing firefighters to increased risks of health complications, including cancers and respiratory diseases. Through collaborative efforts of the Wildfire Conservancy, the WUI Fire Institute at Cal Poly, and CAL FIRE, First Respire aims to create a …

Focused Led Sintering, Dylan Defazio, Nilav Maulik, Branden Majors, Michael Fontillas

Mechanical Engineering

This report provides a detailed overview of the final design of our light-emitting diode (LED) focusing system. Our system incorporates a converging lens and a specially designed "glass funnel," which acts as a thick fiber optic that narrows the light to a fine point through internal reflection. The glass components of our system are precisely housed in a part made using advanced computer-numeric controlled (CNC) Mill and CNC Lathe manufacturing processes. This ensures high precision and durability of the overall system. Our LED focusing system is designed with a 60-watt stage light. The decision to use a glass funnel as …

Port Adapter For Unported Pressure Sensors, Peter Kristjaan Tomson, Yasser Fahad Aldaoud, Terak Benjamin Hornik

Mechanical Engineering

Boundary layer research is an exciting and ever-changing field in fluid mechanics; thus, the need for high-quality empirical data is ever-growing in importance. Dr. Westphal, a professor at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo’s (Cal Poly) Mechanical Engineering Department in conjunction with Northrup Grumman is conducting just such research. Dr. Westphal has elected to make the change to pressure sensors that do not come with a built-in port to connect to pitot-static tubes. This necessitates a solution to adapt an unported pressure sensor to his testing apparatus which requires a tubed connection. This document outlines the Final Design Review …

Cal Poly Battle Bot, Jyotaaver S. Nirula, Johnathan W. Waldmire, Andrew D. Peterson, Nathaniel Ab Davis

Mechanical Engineering

This senior project endeavored to design, construct, and optimize a 120lb robot combatant tailored for the competitive arena of combat robotics. The project is a collaborative effort between mechanical, computer, and electrical engineering students at Cal Poly, combining diverse expertise to achieve a unified goal. Our competition, RoboGames, was in April of this year in Northern California.

The mechanical engineering team assumed primary responsibility for the physical components of the battle bot, focusing on three pivotal components: a robust drivetrain, armor, and a highperformance vertical spinner. These elements constitute the foundation of the battle bot's offensive and defensive capabilities, crucial …

Nsf-Eri Evolution Of Liquid Sheet Edges Project: Soap Film Frame Withdrawal And Positioning Apparatus, Samir S. Patel, Sophia Young, Nicole N. Morgan

Mechanical Engineering

The experimental investigation of instabilities along retracting liquid sheet edges seeks to answer a fundamental fluid mechanics question. We’ve successfully delivered an experimental apparatus to conduct research and answer this question. This document chronicles a design overview of our apparatus, our manufacturing process, our design verification, and recommendations for future steps. The final product is a document outlining our final design (i.e., our ‘Final Design Review’ (FDR)).

Liftwalker, Kai A. De La Cruz, Lexie Caterine, Adam Monroe, Jame Whealan

Mechanical Engineering

The LiftWalker’s purpose is to lift users with degenerative diseases from a seated to standing position and support them as they practice the motion of walking as a form of physical therapy. The current LiftWalker is upward of $5,000 so we redesigned the LiftWalker to be more accessible around the world. This meant using affordable and accessible materials and manufacturing processes. To achieve this, we made our design mostly out of bike parts and off-the-shelf components. When it came to the lift system, we found that to maintain a safe and comfortable design it was best to purchase a trailer …

Solar Farm, Parker Folsom, Jon Copeland, Julia Fay, Aiden Taylor

Mechanical Engineering

This senior project focused on creating a portable single-axis solar follower. The purpose of this solar follower is to allow for single-axis tracking of the sun at various points on our sponsor's property to gather information on solar power production. This data will be utilized to locate future sites for a utility-scale solar farm.

The final design of the solar follower comprises four subsystems: two legs, the frame, and the panel assembly. This modular design allows for portability and adjustability on challenging terrain. Following the design stage, our team purchased and manufactured all of the necessary components. All manufacturing work …

Autolacing The Dml, Harrison Hong, Chanh Tu Derek Lam, Candice Espitia, Paolo Navarro

Mechanical Engineering

The design challenge present is the design of a system to efficiently speed up the lacing of the dry mat loop (DML), part of the GAF production line. For this year, the scope of the project focuses on research and creating a proof of concept for the mechanism responsible for moving the mat within the DML. Compiled research focuses on competitor solutions, material properties, and possible mover mechanisms to be integrated into the major design. Competitor solutions provide an idea of raw material manipulation options. Material properties and possible mover mechanisms provide the foundation for ideation and concept prototyping. The …

2024 Marine Energy Collegiate Competition, Nora Riedinger, Miles Mikkelsen, Brendan Stratford, Derek Tom, Zach Kwast, Harmon Yanikian-Sutton, Kennedy Urcelay, Tori Thomas, Brady Caron

Mechanical Engineering

PolyWave Energy is the second team from California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo to compete in the Marine Energy Collegiate Competition. PolyWave Energy consists of Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, and Business Administration students who have worked together from September 2023 to May 2024 on designing, building, and testing a marine power device to serve a selected market.

In response to the escalating concerns surrounding carbon emissions, climate change, and the depletion of fossil fuels, California Polytechnic State University’s Polywave Energy team has developed a sustainable and reliable energy source for Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) charging. Through extensive research of …

Robot Rodeo, Daniel Rickers, Tyler Vaughn, Vinayak Sharath, Berent Baysal, Promit Das Gupta

Mechanical Engineering

This document outlines the Final Design Review (FDR) for an autonomous robot developed in response to the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) Ship Maintenance Robot Rodeo Challenge. Through extensive analysis, we selected a design concept, built a verification prototype, and tested the prototype in the NSWC Robot Rodeo Competition. The design overview portion of this report will present the details of our design while explaining how it will function. Next, is our implementation section, which provides evidence about our procurement, manufacturing, and assembly of our product. Our design verification follows and explains the tests that we conducted on the robot …

Scitechatorium Exhibit, Adam Khan, Cole Busch, Logan Femling, Alan Onuma

Mechanical Engineering

This document outlines the final stages of development and analysis of our interactive children’s exhibit for the Bellevue-Santa Fe Charter School’s SciTechatorium. We will showcase the final form of our ball and track display, giving a detailed look at each component and subsystem.

To describe how our final prototype will be built we have included a detailed manufacturing summary for our design. Our models have been designed with manufacturability in mind, and we have outlined which processes were used to produce all our parts.

There are also detailed descriptions of testing that were conducted to verify the performance of the …

Modeling The Effectiveness Of Bioremediation On Methyl Tertiary-Butyl Ether In Groundwater, Logan Bundy

Master's Theses

Methyl tertiary-butyl ether (MTBE) and its degraded form tertiary-butyl alcohol (TBA) are both known carcinogens that have contaminated groundwater aquifers across the United States. MTBE is a synthesized compound, once widely used as an additive in gasoline to increase oxygenation. Because of its popularity, MTBE was released into the environment primarily through fuel combustion and leaking underground storage tanks. These two compounds are known to be recalcitrant to most conventional physico-chemical treatment methods. Previous studies have suggested that bioremediation is effective at degrading MTBE and TBA in contaminated groundwater. Bioremediation involves the injection of oxygen, nutrients, and pre-adapted bacterial cultures …

Short Arc Initial Orbit Determination For Leo Objects And The Impact Of Observation Eelevation On Predictive Accuracy, Alexis Digregorio

Master's Theses

The expansion of space activities has led to an increase in congestion. With this increase, there has been a growing emphasis on the importance of space situational awareness. Without it, the space environment can become hazardous, with increasing threats of collision and debris generation. As the utilization of space continues to grow, effective methods for tracking objects to maintain situational awareness must also be considered. One approach to tracking objects in space involves a series of steps, including optical observations and orbit estimations using initial orbit determination methods, followed by additional observations and continuous tracking. However, a challenge with this …

Modeling The Acoustic Transmission Line With Applied Damping, Connor C. Getz

Master's Theses

The transmission line is an underappreciated style of loudspeaker enclosure characterized by an acoustic labyrinth stemming from the rear of the speaker driver. In practice, the transmission line enclosure produces airy sound uncharacteristic of other styles, at the cost of more pronounced resonant peaks. The most important practical drawback of this loudspeaker enclosure design is the difficulty of properly applying damping to these enclosures. Ideally, this difficulty can be mitigated using an analytical model that accurately predicts the SPL frequency response of a transmission line loudspeaker system for a given geometry and mass of damping material.

This research takes the …

Waste Illuminates Worlds: Printed Modular Lamp Design Based On Brick And Clay Tile, Yechen Zhu

Masters Theses

The building industry in the New England area is often in a state of entropy, with abandoned brick buildings contributing to urban decay. The recycling rate of brick and clay tile wastes generated by construction and demolition is only 12.2%, meaning the majority is sent to landfills. The expansion of landfills can lead to significant environmental and community challenges, including increased traffic from waste transport, habitat destruction, ecosystem degradation, and contributions to climate change. Specifically, the Bethlehem landfill in New Hampshire, which is planned to undergo a 5.71-acre lateral expansion through 2026, has already encountered issues such as leachate spills …

Team F16: Autonomous Research Plane, Andrew Sugamele, Andrew Whitacre, Nicholas Toal, Cole Bushur

Mechanical Engineering

The autonomous research plane is a remote-controlled plane used for both in-flight data collection and to explore new manufacturing methods for Design Build Fly, an engineering club on campus. The club does not have the resources or time to implement data collection for their competition plane, so we built a plane in parallel, following similar rules to mimic the work and schedule that the club would use during their season. We first did research and analysis to determine the structure of the plane, geometry of wings, sizing of the tail, and what airfoil to choose. The manufacturing process included making …

Polypropylene As Partial Fine Aggregate Substitute In Concrete, Samuel E. Royston, Chrisitan G. Achkar, Nicholas B. Tabarez

Architectural Engineering

The objective of this project is to discover a structurally effective method in repurposing recyclable plastic waste through its partial substitution for traditional fine aggregate in concrete.

Results obtained from analysis indicate a 25 percent compressive strength reduction with polypropylene at a 10 percent partial substitution for total sand content. This material successfully performed as an alternative, presenting a ductile mode of failure.

Three material alternatives - polypropylene, polyethylene, and rubber - were substituted for a percentage of sand. These materials underwent concrete cylinder crushing tests to determine their ultimate crushing strength, with the intent of identifying the most effective …

Cardboard Concrete Column Formwork, Danny Shrestha, Joelle Schalesky

Architectural Engineering

This project is an exploration of cardboard as a potential material for construction formwork for concrete columns. Multiple material tests were conducted to explore the behavior of cardboard and concrete. Multiple specimens of cardboard were tested for modulus of elasticity, moment of inertia, and tensile strength. Concrete was tested for its apparent lateral fluid pressure under vibration. Cardboard formwork was then designed and constructed based on these tested behaviors. The final design of the formwork consisted of folding cardboard sheets lined with hardboard, supported by wood studs, and tied by plastic banding straps.

Ultimately, two concrete columns―8' and 10' in …

Moment Monument, Brayden Alec Martinez, Carsten Walker Huber, Gaspar Emmanuel Solorio, Jared Thomas Schieferle

Architectural Engineering

We designed our project, dubbed the Moment Monument, in part to live out our dream of applying engineering and design skills towards creating a lasting impression on Cal Poly’s campus, as well as to develop a visual aid for future engineering students in steel design classes. The Moment Monument is in the Experimental Structures Laboratory, which is a space in the university’s ‘Poly Canyon’ that is reserved for students to build and test different applications of architecture, structural engineering, and construction. In recent years, it has been diffi cult to receive approval to build in the canyon due to high …