Engineering Commons^™

Geared Wheelchair, Shawn Jafari, Kyle Sitton, Mitch Wickline

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Blds Articulated Mounting Feet, Mitchell D. Conn, Chris Mazzucco

Mechanical Engineering

This final report summarizes all of the efforts of the Senior Project aimed at creating Articulating Mounting Feet for the BLDS. The project focuses on improving the design of the mounting feet for the current Boundary Layer Data System at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Dr. Russ Westphal, the project’s sponsor, wishes that our team focus primarily on a reliable and lightweight mount design for a curved wing, with only transverse curvature. Dr. Westphal is currently researching the boundary layer effects on airplane wings at Cal Poly, and the ability to mount to a multitude of surface contours would increase …

Science Of Water Table, Tim Haigh, Kris Francis, Nick Schlemmer

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Peek Wear Test System, Michael Brown, Mason Chellemi, Allian Roman

Mechanical Engineering

The wear characteristics of PEEK carbon fiber composites are not well understood in comparison to high strength materials in common use such as steel, aluminum, and carbon fiber epoxy. This lack of understanding limits the applications in which the superior strength to weight ratio and stiffness of PEEK carbon fiber composites may be utilized with confidence to situations in which there are no significant bearing surface interactions between nearby components. The objective of this project was to design, build, and test a machine that is capable of evaluating the behavior of PEEK carbon fiber composites in a long term, high …

Redesign And Evaluation Of The Irrigation System For The Cal Poly Radio Hill Avocado Grove, Rob Hillebrecht

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Design, Construction And Analysis Of An Ag Equipment Trailer, Connor Mckean

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Crop Dryer Recirculation And Heat Recuperation, Ross Ribeiro

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Evaluation, Installation, And Documentation Of Adcon Telemetry Stations Connected At Cal Poly, Shelsie Kloepper

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Design And Fabrication Of An Electric Aircraft Dolly, Kyler Zike

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Flap Gate Design And Implementations For Water Delivery Systems In California And Nevada, Kerilyn Ambrosini

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Green Synthesis Of A New Gelatin-Based Antimicrobial Scaffold For Tissue Engineering, Mostafa Yazdimamaghani, Daryoosh Vashaee, Senait Assefa, Mitra Shabrangharehdasht, Armin Tahmasbi Rad, Margaret A. Eastman, Kenneth J. Walker, Sundar V. Madihally, Gerwald A. Köhler, Lobat Tayebi

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

With the aim of developing appropriate scaffolds for tissue engineering to suppress the formation of biofilms, an effective one-pot process was applied in this study to produce scaffolds with inherent antibacterial activity. A new method to synthesize genipin-crosslinked gelatin/nano silver scaffolds with "green" in situ formation of silver nanoparticles by heat treatment is presented in this paper. In this procedure, toxic solvents, reducing agents, and stabilizing agents are avoided. UV-visible absorption spectra of the synthesized gelatin/nano silver solutions were obtained immediately and three months after the synthesis revealing the presence and high stability of the silver nanoparticles. The TEM of …

A Study On The Vibrational Performance Characteristics Of An E22 Isolator After Outgassing And Bake-Out, Alma Melendez

Master's Theses

The launch environment experiences many vibration, shock, and acoustic loads. A great concern is the high random vibration levels that can damage components and spacecraft structures, which can cause a mission failure. An effective method of reducing high frequency energy is using isolators. Overall, the need for vibration isolation has been increasing because there has been an increase in the use of mechanisms in which vibrations are prevalent. In addition, there has not been extensive research on the effects of isolators that are outgassed and cured. Therefore, it is important to investigate and understand the vibrational effects on isolators. It …

Smart Wall Outlet Design And Implementation For The Dc House Project, Kevin Roy Mendoza

Master's Theses

Most everyday AC appliances are designed to operate off of 120V coming from the wall outlet in our homes. This voltage is a standard set from our established infrastructure. Unlike AC devices, DC devices do not have any set standard of voltage they all will run off of. This presents a problem for the DC house as the various loads that will be used will have different required input voltages. One set voltage for a wall outlet will not suffice for the DC House. This Smart Wall Outlet is designed with a DC-DC converter that will have its output voltage …

A Frequency-Domain Method For Active Acoustic Cancellation Of Known Audio Sources, Ryan D. Rocha

Master's Theses

Active noise control (ANC) is a real-time process in which a system measures an external, unwanted sound source and produces a canceling waveform. The cancellation is due to destructive interference by a perfect copy of the received signal phase-shifted by 180 degrees. Existing active noise control systems process the incoming and outgoing audio on a sample-by-sample basis, requiring a high-speed digital signal processor (DSP) and analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) with strict timing requirements on the order of tens of microseconds. These timing requirements determine the maximum sample rate and bit size as well as the maximum attenuation that the system can …

Water And Nutrient Recycling In High Rate Algae Ponds Fed In Primary Treated Municipal Wastewater, Michael Field Chang

Master's Theses

Algal biofuels present a promising future alternative to petroleum based fuels. Water nutrient recycling is a key step to increase the sustainability of algae biofuel production facilities. This thesis discusses the process of nutrient and water recycling in high rate algae raceway ponds (HRAP) fed primary treated municipal wastewater. Research was conducted primarily at the San Luis Obispo Water Resource Reclamation Facility (SLOWRRF). Nine 30 m², 0.3 m deep HRAP’s were operated continuously from June 1, 2013 to April 17, 2014. The ponds were arranged in three sets of triplicate ponds, with two pond sets run on 3-day …

Pump Station Calculations And Irrigation System Evaluation For Trestle Vineyard, Linda Bushey

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Design, Testing, And Development Of An Internal Combustion Engine Throttle Controller, Michael Burlingame

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

No abstract provided.

Creating A Seamless Pipeline Into Undergraduate Programs In Stem Fields Through Region-Wide Articulation Agreements, Immanuel Edinbarough, Mikhail M. Bouniaev, Bill W. Elliott

Manufacturing & Industrial Engineering Faculty Publications

Underrepresented minority students pursue science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) related degrees at much lower rates compared to other segments of the population. To attract minority students, schools with STEM programs have resorted to myriad strategies such as cohorts, scholarships, mentoring, summer bridges, etc. Some schools have also sought innovative ways to develop a pipeline for graduates of two-year technical degree programs to matriculate into their four-year STEM programs and complete the remaining coursework leading to a BAT or BS degree. The University of Texas at Brownsville (UTB) has adopted this latter innovative approach to increasing student enrollment in STEM …

Crotale Sample Library, Ryan Waczek

Music

This report will discuss the process of creating a digital sample based library for musical applications. Topics such as recording, microphone placement, and mixing will be addressed; as well as elements of design in Adobe Photoshop, and computer scripting in the language of the computer program Komplete 5 by Native Instruments. The instrument sampled is the crotales, an orchestral, melodic percussion instrument.

Smooth Muscle Cell Organization In The Stem Region Of The Gracilis Collateral Circulation, Amanda Krall

Biomedical Engineering

Many patients who suffer from the ischemic Peripheral Arterial Occlusive Disease (PAOD) experience intermittent claudication, which can be attributed to impaired vasodilation. Collateral vessels are the primary site of resistance to blood flow downstream; therefore maximizing vasodilation in collaterals is crucial for efficient circulation. Collaterals function as natural bypasses around the occluded arteries and the increase in flow into these vessels causes them to outwardly remodel into conduit vessels. However, functional vasodilation in the stem region of collateral vessels is impaired at day 7 following femoral ligation, which can be attributed to smooth muscle cell malfunction. However, the increase in …

Real-Time Hybrid Simulation With Online Model Updating, Adam Mueller

Masters Theses

Hybrid simulations have shown great potential for economic and reliable assessment of structural seismic performance through a combination of physically tested components, called the experimental substructure, and numerically simulated components, called the numerical substructure. Current hybrid simulation practices often use a fixed numerical model without considering the possible availability of a more accurate model obtained during hybrid simulation through an online model updating technique. To address this limitation and improve the reliability of numerical models in hybrid simulations, this study describes the implementation of an online model updating method in real-time hybrid simulation (RTHS). The Unscented Kalman Filter (UKF) was …

Coordinating The Use And Location Of Weigh-In-Motion Technology For Kentucky, Andrew Martin, Valerie J. Keathley, Jerry Kissick, Jennifer R. Walton

Kentucky Transportation Center Research Report

Several agencies in the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet make use of data collected by weigh-in-motion (WIM) scales throughout the state. These scales are used to collect traffic counts, weigh vehicles, weigh individual axles, determine vehicle length, classify vehicles, and determine speed. The data is primarily used for planning, law enforcement related to commercial vehicles, and pavement design. This study details the applications of WIM data, and reviews existing literature on how WIM data is used and shared. The study provides survey feedback from other states, specifically about how they use WIM data. It details competing WIM technologies currently on the market, …

Robotic Book Scanner, Tobias Samuel Elder, Cynthia Marie Wong

Computer Engineering

Digitizing books has been an issue tackled by companies to allow people to read off Kindles and iPads rather than the traditional paperback. Companies like Google have spent more than $1000 on machines to convert books into electronic copies readable on devices. Yet, not much effort has been made into the invention of an automatic book scanner for consumers. This project seeks to determine a cost-effective approach to robotic book scanning to create PDFs from physical books. This project serves as a proof of concept for a reasonably priced automatic book scanner accessible to consumers. Potentially, the device may be …

Chromium Os On Freescale I.Mx6q, Pushpal Sidhu

Computer Engineering

This projects intention is to get Chromium OS running on a Freescale i.MX6q processor, a processor based on the ARM® Cortex™-A9 architecture. The development board I used is the Ventana GW5400 by Gateworks. This project inherently meant using Chromium OS's development system which meant I created a board specific package for the Ventana single board computer. This project is a proof of concept that can mean extending Chromium OS to various implementations of the ARM® Cortex™-A9 architecture.

Nondestructive Evaluation Of Mechanically Stabilized Earth Walls With Frequency-Modulated Continuous Wave (Fm-Cw) Radar, Mohammad Tayeb Ahmad Ghasr, Yi Bao, Kuang Ying, K. M. Combs, R. Zoughi, Genda Chen

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Effective techniques for a nondestructive evaluation of mechanically stabilized earth (MSE) walls during normal operation or immediately after an earthquake event are yet to be developed. MSE walls often have a rough surface finishing for the purpose of decoration and are reinforced with both horizontal and vertical steel bars. Two wide-band microwave inspection approaches were investigated for detecting and evaluating characteristics of materials behind an MSE wall section. The first approach used spot measurements with a wide-band frequency-modulated continuous wave (FM-CW) radar system. While effective to penetrate through mortar blocks in the laboratory, the radar system was found to have …

An Integral Framework For Sustainable Building Design, Bushra Asfari

Masters Theses

Selection of materials for building design is a delicate process hinged of a number of factors which can be cost or environmental related, depending on the objectives of the design. This process becomes more difficult when designers are faced with several material options for each building component. This thesis presents the design and development of a framework that enables designers understand the trade-off between cost and environmental related factors when selecting materials for building design. The framework is based on the integration of Autodesk Revit, Microsoft access, and modeling modified Harmony search multi-objective optimization tool adapted to account for material …

Development Of Safety Performance Functions For Non-Motorized Traffic Safety, Hamidreza Ahady Dolatsara

Masters Theses

This study investigates the factors which affect the safety of non-motorized transportation within the influence area of intersections to enhance development of safety performance functions (SPFs). The scope of this study is limited to the four Michigan cities of Ann Arbor, East Lansing, Flint and Grand Rapids. Due to the current lack of research regarding the appropriate size of the influence area, this study investigates the distance of crashes relative to the center of 148 intersections to identify the most probable area of influence for different crash types. For motorized and non-motorized crashes, 240 ft. and 137 ft. are proposed, …

Localization And System Identification Of A Quadcopter Uav, Kenneth Befus

Masters Theses

The research conducted explores the comparison of several trilateration algorithms as they apply to the localization of a quadcopter micro air vehicle (MAV). A localization system is developed employing a network of combined ultrasonic/radio frequency sensors used to wirelessly provide range (distance) measurements defining the location of the quadcopter in 3-dimensional space. A Monte Carlo simulation is conducted using the extrinsic parameters of the localization system to evaluate the adequacy of each trilateration method as it applies to this specific quadcopter application. The optimal position calculation method is determined.

Furthermore, flight testing is performed in which real range measurement data …

Electroencephalogram Coherence In Children With And Without Autism Spectrum Disorders: Decreased Interhemispheric Connectivity In Autism, Audrey Meyer Carson, Nicole M.G. Salowitz, Robert A. Scheidt, Bridget K. Dolan, Amy V. Van Hecke

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Electroencephalogram coherence was measured in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and control children at baseline and while watching videos of a familiar and unfamiliar person reading a story. Coherence was measured between the left and right hemispheres of the frontal, parietal, and temporal-parietal lobes (interhemispheric) and between the frontal and parietal lobes in each hemisphere (intrahemispheric). A data-reduction technique was employed to identify the frequency (alpha) that yielded significant differences in video conditions. Children with ASD displayed reduced coherence at the alpha frequency between the left and right temporal-parietal lobes in all conditions and reduced coherence at the alpha …

Durability Assessment Of Recycled Concrete Aggregates For Use In New Concrete Phase Ii, Jason H. Ideker, Matthew P. Adams, Jennifer Tanner, Angela Jones

TREC Final Reports

This Phase II investigation into the durability of new concrete incorporating recycled concrete aggregates (RCA) focused on several goals: 1) Provide corroboration of results obtained in Phase I for a multi-laboratory study related to assessing alkali-silica reactivity (ASR) of RCA in accelerated laboratory tests; 2) Investigate the efficacy of mitigation methods to control ASR in concrete containing potentially reactive RCA; 3) Establish long-term data through placement of concrete blocks containing RCA in an outdoor exposure site in Laramie, WY; and 4) Survey state DOTs and other transportation agencies about their perceptions and usage of RCA ASR in concrete within their …