Engineering Commons^™

The Zephyr Charge: A Wind-Powered Usb Charger, James Dean Carson, John Pina Lopez Iii

Electrical Engineering

The Zephyr Charge project is to design and build a cell phone charger using a small wind turbine generator that can be useful to the fishermen community, namely fishermen of third world countries. The generator will output to USB for ease of charging capability. The size of the whole system should be light enough to move around, and the turbine itself will be mountable onto an edge of a wall. The goal of this project is to design and build a compact and easy to use cell phone charger, which is also efficient.

In order to be a practical product, …

Audio Dsp Amplifier, William Saba, Nicholas Barany

Electrical Engineering

The key concept of this project is to create a microcontroller system that serves as an interface between a DSP board and a total of 4 amplifier channels. The fully integrated system will provide a fully inclusive audio DSP amplifier for use in 2.1 or bi-amplified stereo speaker setups. The project will focus on developing an intuitive interface that is operable from the device or a computer that programs the DSP board for various speaker applications. The finished design will provide a custom computer sound amplifier in one package, eliminating the need for multiple components by interfacing two stereo amplifiers, …

Design Of A Multiple Input Single Output Dc-Dc Converter For The Dc House Project, Chad Santos, Siby James

Electrical Engineering

This senior project report describes the design and further development of the MISO (multiple input, single output) circuit. The MISO circuit harnesses power from four separate renewable energy sources (hydro, solar, wind and man) and converts it into a single DC output voltage. Though this circuit has been initially designed and tested in previous years, it was only developed enough to use as a test circuit. Further implementation will allow for the MISO to be available in a more practical setting. Professor Taufik will then take the newly designed MISO circuit to implement in a house in Indonesia.

Dual Channel Matrix Switch Audio Receiver, Austin Fox

Electrical Engineering

The Dual Channel Matrix Switch Audio Receiver controls 2 separate audio output channels. Each channel plays any of the system's 3 inputs. This controller enables a user to play two separate audio signals through two separate speaker channels. The system design allows audio input from 2 RCA sources or 1 RCA source and a phono source. The system outputs an audio signal for each output simultaneously at up to 36W on each channel for an 8Ω load. The device allows a user to control the audio input and the volume of each output channel. An Arduino Uno R3 microcontroller interfaced …

Fluid Midi Ribbon Guitar, Noah Baker

Electrical Engineering

This project was developed to create a new electronic instrument based off of a guitar. The design will give the user more chord combinations than are available on a typical guitar, the ability to retune each “string”, and customizable MIDI controller outputs, while trying to retain a similar playing style. The initial design for this project included implementing an onboard synthesizer (analog or digital). This idea was scrapped for time and cost considerations and replaced with MIDI output which will yield user customizable sound through virtual instruments, such as Massive.

Cal Poly Application Parking Feature Integration, Ryan Lin

Electrical Engineering

The Cal Poly mobile app provides students, faculty, staff, and visitors of Cal Poly with information pertaining to the campus (such as information about admissions, campus life, campus news, etc.) This project extends the functionality of the Cal Poly app to provide information regarding campus transportation. In particular, this project provides 1. a live twitter feed with announcements about events that may affect the roads and parking spaces on campus 2. an ‘alternative transportation’ points of interest map illustrating the locations of zipcars and electric vehicles charging stations on campus and 3. an easy to use interface to reserve an …

Investigating The Cause Of Unique Mechanical Behavior In Platinum Alloy Guidewire Tips, Evan Borgeson, Alfred Rosen

Materials Engineering

The platinum alloy used by Abbott Vascular in guidewire tips exhibits a yielding behavior characterized by an abrupt transition from elastic to plastic zones and high ductility. This yielding behavior was hypothesized to be a result of one of three structural phenomena: ordering, solute strain aging, or interstitial strain aging. To test for these strengthening mechanisms in the wire, X-ray diffraction analysis, heat treatments, and tensile testing were completed. The wire has a diameter of 0.0025 inches and was supplied in two forms, the final stress relieved state, and as-drawn from the production line. Heat treatments were performed at 130 …

The Lecturescribe Platform, Kevin Backers, Kevin Feutz, Erik Owen

Computer Science and Software Engineering

The LectureScribe platform is a free classroom transcription service that is deployed as a website. The platform allows professors to talk into a microphone, and deaf or hard of hearing students have the ability to see what the professor is saying in real time on their personal device. LectureScribe was created by three Cal Poly Software Engineering students. This document details the platform itself, as well as the developers’ process of creating this software system over the span of two academic quarters.

Lessons Learned From A Simulation Project In Construction Education, Saeed Rokooei, James D. Goedert

Department of Construction Engineering and Management: Faculty Publications

Virtual Interactive Construction Education (VICE) is a simulation designed for construction education. The purpose was to provide the traditional lecture-based construction contents along with supplementary instructions in a project-based learning environment. Six modules were proposed as a curriculum delivery guideline including: single span bridge, residential building, light commercial, heavy commercial, highway, and segmental bridge. The single span bridge was the first module used for prototype development providing an opportunity to design, analyze, implement, and test for effectiveness. This paper describes the design steps and results of this three-year research project. VICE-Bridge required participants to sequentially order the construction activities and …

G Boots: A Real-Time 3d Puzzle Video Game Graphics Senior Project, Zachary Glazer

Computer Science and Software Engineering

G Boots is a real-time 3D puzzle video game. It uses OpenGL, using GLSL for shaders, in order to implement cross platform support of advanced rendering and shading techniques. A level editing system was implemented so that anyone can make or edit levels that can then be played in the game. At the end of two quarters of development by a single developer, one polished proof of concept level was created using the level editing system in order to show the feasibility of the project.

Notes On The Potential For The Concentration Of Rare Earth Elements And Yttrium In Coal Combustion Fly Ash, James C. Hower, John G. Groppo Jr., Kevin R. Henke, Madison M. Hood, Courtland F. Eble, Rick Q. Honaker, Wencai Zhang, Dali Qian

Center for Applied Energy Research Faculty and Staff Publications

Certain Central Appalachian coals, most notably the Fire Clay coal with a REY-enriched volcanic ash fall tonstein, are known to be enriched in rare earth elements. The Fire Clay tonstein has a greater contribution to the total coal + parting REY than would be inferred from its thickness, accounting for about 20%–35% of the REY in the coal + parting sequence. Underground mining, in particular, might include roof and floor rock and the within-seam partings in the mined product. Beneficiation, necessary to meet utility specifications, will remove some of the REY from the delivered product. In at least one previously …

A More Superior Preformed Particle Gel With Potential Application For Conformance Control In Mature Oilfields, Paul Tongwa, Baojun Bai

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

The present work presents a nanocomposite preformed particle gel for conformance control in mature oilfields. This product was observed to have a better performance than conventional hydrogels without nanomaterials. Preformed particle hydrogel was designed by the reaction of monomer, initiator, crosslinker, additives, and calcium montmorillonite nanomaterial, whereas conventional hydrogel is designed from just monomer, initiator, crosslinker and additives. The presence of nanomaterial in hydrogel design affords it tremendous improvement in nanocomposite gel properties and behavior compared to conventional hydrogels without any nanomaterial. Additionally, swelling performance, post-degraded gel viscosity, and long-term thermal resistance of nanocomposite gel increased by several orders of …

Recent Advances In Indoor Chemistry, Glenn Morrison

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Just as the chemistry creates urban smog and aerosols that influence climate change, chemistry in building air can alter the indoor environment for better or worse. This review focuses on chemical pathways initiated by oxidants that infiltrate from outdoor air and other indoor-sourced reactants and surfaces that make these environments unique chemical reactors. Ozone reacts with fragrance molecules, tobacco smoke residues, and even human skin oils to generate a host of oxidized organic compounds, secondary organic aerosols, and irritants. Nitrous acid is formed on indoor surfaces and is subsequently cleaved by even the relatively dim light indoor. This raises the …

Forest Sign Maker, Victor Espinosa Iii, Kevin Ly, Lisa Yip

Mechanical Engineering

Executive Summary:

The Inyo National Forest is arguably one of the most beautiful locations in California, containing natural masterpieces such as Mount Whitney and the Ancient Bristlecone Pine Forest. Despite its magnificence, the Inyo National Forest can be a treacherous region. The Friends of the Inyo take pride in being able to facilitate the viewing experience for all outdoorsmen by maintaining the mountain trails, which includes providing adequate trail signage.

Unfortunately, there is a fundamental issue with the recent state of trail signage in the Inyo National Forest: the rate at which signs are being vandalized or naturally destroyed is …

Tadpole Tandem Electrically Assisted Tricycle, Austin Frederickson, Anthony Jacques, Kris Lawrence, Preston Mcelroy

Mechanical Engineering

The purpose of this senior project was to investigate the possibility of making bikes (as a regular mode of transportation) look much more appealing to the general public. To that end, an electric motor assist system was added to make it easier for the operators of the vehicle. A fairing was added to protect the rider from wind and rain, and an electrical subsystem consisting of a microcontroller and many other components was also added. The electrical subsystem was meant to store the information of different riders, calculate calories burned using a heart beat sensor, and increase visibility using strategically-placed …

Compact Tire Tester, Jess Mccafferty, Daniel Rodman, Michael Schuster, Connor West

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Freedom Ski, Toby A. Goldsteinholm, Ashley Scharff, Justin Satnick, Markus Rutner

Mechanical Engineering

The current availability of water skis for people who are paraplegic or quadriplegic is very limited. The aim of our project is to design a system that improves upon the current models of specialized water skis. Our intent is to create a waterski system that is structurally stable and handles responsively, in order to ensure that anyone is capable of effectively using our system to waterski.

The main client of our project is Quality of Life Plus, an organization that aims to aid veterans of the armed forces who have physical disabilities to still enjoy a good quality of life. …

Mechanical Prosthetic Hand For Navy Seal, Ryan Burke, Michael Friedman, Jose Lemus, Heather Martin

Mechanical Engineering

Quality of Life Plus has been improving the lives of many wounded servicemen and first responders around the country. Its mission is to foster and generate innovations to aid and improve the quality of life for those injured in the line of duty. This project is the fifth iteration of designing a prosthetic hand for an active duty Navy SEAL. The first iterations have been myoelectric systems where sensors are attached to the user’s muscles to actuate the prosthetic. However, the most recent has been a purely mechanical system, and was shoulder actuated. The design was more robust, it was …

Jonathan’S Natural Juices Mechanical Juice Dispenser, Andrew Meyer, Jesus Gutierrez, Danielle Lauinger

Mechanical Engineering

Team AJD was tasked with trying to create a juice dispenser that did not utilize pumps, but rather explore the venturi effect to see if it could be a suitable substitute. The venturi effect is when a fluid in a pipe goes through a gradual reduction in diameter in a pipe to increase the velocity and lower the pressure of a fluid. Utilizing this principle the team constructed a testing device to be able to run tests and verify the theory. The team was able to verify that the venturi effect was able to make juice at the correct mix …

'Fo Fighter: 2d Real-Time Game, Cary Dobeck

Computer Engineering

‘FO Fighter is a 2D real-time game for Android and iOS mobile devices. The game utilizes the motion sensors and touch screens built within these devices to give the player a great amount of control over their character’s position and firing direction. This control allows for a reactive environment set in outer space, where gravity is determined by the device’s orientation, while the player must dodge, fight and destroy multiple enemy fighters on each planet in the solar system. ‘FO Fighter has been tested throughout its development cycle on numerous devices on both the Android and iOS platforms, with testers …

Mobile Ftp Client: An Android Application, Eric Sobel

Computer Engineering

This project sets out to design and implement a mobile FTP client application for Android OS that accompanies a home media server using the Nas4Free operating system. The application utilizes Apache Commons’ .net Java library to perform three functions: connect remotely to an FTP server, browse through directory listings, and download single files or entire directories to the Android device. This senior project encompasses multiple concepts including the configuration of a network to allow external access to a server behind a firewall, understanding of SSL/TLS security including private key encryption and self-signed certificates, the FTP protocol and its associated commands, …

Seizure Tracker, Zachary Reardon

Computer Engineering

The goal of this project is to make a Module that enables anyone watching a person with disabilities to record any seizure that this person has under their care. Then when the Doctor/parent receives their patient/kid they are able to download all the seizures that their patient/kid had while they were away. The Doctor/parent then has the exact time, the duration of the seizure, and the type of seizure for all the seizures that have occurred while they were away from their patient/kid. From this data it is possible that the Doctor may see some sort of patterns that enables …

Wau: Location-Based Photo-Sharing And Friend-Finding Android Application, Tam P. Nguyen

Computer Engineering

Wau (Where are u?) is a location-based photo-sharing and friend-finding Android application. The basic concept of my app is to help people avoid the hassle of having to call/text their friends in order to know where they are. The ability to simply tap on a name and visually see their location in reference to your own would be a huge convenience. Another neat feature is that it allows users to take and upload pictures wherever they are, and the only way for anyone to see the picture is to be within the same vicinity that it was taken. I imagine …

Efficacy Of Replacing Ti Launchpad With Pyboard In Cpe 329 Curriculum, Anthony Miller, Dominic Romualdo

Computer Engineering

The goal of the current project was to determine if the PyBoard microcontroller is a suitable replacement for the Texas Instruments MSP-430 Launchpad in the Computer Engineering 329 Microcontrollers class at Cal Poly. The major projects from CPE 329 where attempted using the PyBoard in place of the MSP-430. The PyBoard was found to be a powerful and fairly capable platform for learning to develop embedded systems. Some of the benefits of the PyBoard were found to be it's ease of rapid prototyping, a fairly large collection of libraries with useful tools for microcontrollers, and many powerful abstractions that take …

Oversubscribing Inotify On Embedded Platforms, Donald Percivalle, Scott Vanderlind

Computer Engineering

For most computers running the popular Linux operating system, the inte- grated kernel component inotify provides adequate functionality for monitor- ing changes to files present on the filesystem. However, for certain embedded platforms where resources are very limited and filesystems are very populated (like network attached storage (NAS) devices), inotify may not have enough resources to provide watchers for every file. This results in applications missing change notifications for files they have watched. This paper explores methods for using inotify most effectively on embedded systems by leveraging more la- tent storage. Benefits of this include a reduction in dropped notifications …

Programmable Coffee Roaster, Steven Jack

Computer Engineering

The rise of the third wave coffee movement has led to the desire for fine-tuned control over the quality of roasted coffee. This project explores modifying a toaster oven into a personal home coffee roaster for hobbyist use.

Power Supply For Driving High Power Leds With Wireless Control, Joshua C. Avery

Computer Engineering

This project is the design of a power supply for driving high power light emitting diodes (LEDs) with wireless control. The project is divided into two sections, the power supply for driving the LED lights, and the wireless control and fan power supply.

Team Solar Sip, Patrick Fillingham, Wesley Goodson, Kenneth Li

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Solar Decathlon Instrumentation And Controls, Timothy Ambrose, Mateo Begue, Andrew Elliott

Mechanical Engineering

The Instrumentation and Controls team has designed a control and instrumentation system for the 2015 Cal Poly Solar Decathlon house that will monitor temperature, humidity, and energy usage throughout the house and control the phase change material duct. It will relay information to the user through a tablet application developed by the Computer Science team. The team has also designed a lighting control scheme for use with Lutron’s HomeWorks QS lighting control system.

Smart Water Meter, Jeff Hufford, Eric Adler, Garrett Hall

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.