Mechanical Engineering Commons^™

Controlled Drug Delivery And Cellular Activities From Electrospun Fibers, Diala Bani Mustafa

Mechanical Engineering Theses

Electrospun drug-eluting fibers have demonstrated potential applications in topical drug delivery, where modulations of drug releases were achieved through polymer fiber compositions. In this study, blend fibers of polycaprolactone (PCL) and polyethylene oxide (PEO) at various compositions were electrospun from 10 wt% of polymer solutions to encapsulate a model drug of ibuprofen (IBP). Results showed that average polymer solution viscosities determined the electrospinning parameters and the resulting average fiber diameters. In vitro release of IBP suggested a transition from a gradual release to a fast release when increasing PEO contents in the PCL/PEO blend fibers up to 120 minutes. In …

Impact Force Helmet Device For Concussion Monitoring, Patrice Mulligan, Karina Mealey, Zack Borthwick, Benjamin Fick

General Engineering

To track head trauma in football, our device is placed inside a football helmet to measure both linear and gyroscopic (rotational) accelerations. These measurements are taken using an ADXL375 linear accelerometer and an LSM6DSOX accelerometer and gyroscope. The data from these sensors is processed and transmitted wirelessly by a SparkFun Thing Plus microcontroller to another SparkFun Thing Plus microcontroller connected to a laptop on the sidelines. Our program on the laptop stores the acceleration impact data into a .csv file for each player. If a likely concussive impact is detected, the program displays a popup warning. Testing results were promising …

Smart Manufacturing For Cal Poly's Ime Curriculum, Grace L. Guarraia, Eric F. Ledesma

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo (Cal Poly) takes pride of supporting one of the nation’s strongest undergraduate Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering programs. However, as industry evolves to accommodate advancing computing power, improved manufacturing algorithms, and improved robotics, it is imperative that Cal Poly’s curriculum evolves in parallel. Smart manufacturing is the future of the manufacturing industry, and Cal Poly is searching for the ideal method to teach and integrate Smart Manufacturing into its classes. With its upcoming switch to the semester system, coupled with its “Learn by Doing” motto, the department is at an ideal period for the …

3d-Printed Remote Controlled Aircraft, Sebastian Bessoudo, Jose Ramirez, Manny Ruiz, Andrew Edwards

Mechanical Engineering

The Senior Project for the 3D Printed Aircraft presents a compelling challenge to the team: design and fabricate an aircraft for the Cal State LA 3D-Printed Fixed-Wing Aircraft Competition, comprising three distinct events: Flight, Design, and Simulation. The objective of the flight competition is to achieve the longest flight duration, while the design event emphasizes innovation and originality. In the Simulation contest, our aircraft's CAD model undergoes Computational Fluid Dynamics analysis to assess its aerodynamic performance. These competitions are slated for May 2024.

While building the aircraft has its limitations due to the source of our construction being only 3D …

Snap It & Send It, Samantha Gonzales, Brienne Berger, Kelsea Clays, Jessica Schmok

Mechanical Engineering

This report details the final design, manufacturing and assembly, testing procedures and results, as well as future design recommendations of a device aimed at enhancing the mountain biking experience for individuals with limited thumb strength. This project particularly focused on the experience of our sponsor, Cal Poly Mechanical Engineering Professor Andrew Kean. Our team's objective was to create a secure, ergonomic handlebar grip system that does not require thumb strength and is adaptable to various mountain bike models. The final design utilizes a rigid hook that snaps onto mountain bike handlebars with a long, flat piece that slides into a …

Automated Expanding Fireplace, Fermin Moreno, Eduardo Hernandez, Wilbert Quiterio, Ben Hoefer

Mechanical Engineering

The Final Design Review (FDR) encompasses information regarding the final design verification prototype (FVP), manufacturing, testing, and future recommendations for the Expanding Fireplace Senior Project sponsored by the SLO Civic Ballet. The project aims to create the frame of an expanding fireplace set piece for The Nutcracker production at the Cal Poly Performing Arts Center in December 2024. The current set piece being used has unfavorable features that will be addressed with the new design. The current set piece being used has unfavorable features that have been addressed with the new design we have developed. Our sponsors have proposed several …

Miniature Train Engine, Jason Patrick Lacson Del Castillo, Renato Andrew Dilauro, Sophia Theresa Tiu, Robert John Pallares Iii

Mechanical Engineering

This report details the redesign of the Mini Train Prop for the SLO Civic Ballet’s The Nutcracker, aiming to create a lighter, more user-friendly, and easily maneuverable train. The Final Design Review (FDR) includes the design process, manufacturing plan, and justifications for decisions made. Key improvements are reducing the train's weight, automating the fake wheels, and enhancing maneuverability with a neutral pin and lever system. In this report we detail the significant changes since the Critical Design Review (CDR). The implementation covers procurement, manufacturing, and assembly, while design verification ensures compliance with cost, weight, turn radius, and structural integrity specifications. …

Facility Thermal Balance And Transport, Giovanni V. Minnite, Silas O R Goldfarb, Cole J. Houston, Dominique Aguilera, Cole M. Silva

Mechanical Engineering

This Final Design Review (FDR) report outlines the senior design project completed by a team of five mechanical engineering students at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo for Senior Industrial Engineer, Mr. Tom Bass, of Entegris, Inc. The team developed an innovative system to address the issue of ice accumulation on cryogenic vaporizers at the Entegris facility. Ice buildup, caused by the extremely low temperatures of the cryogenic fluid, reduces the efficiency of vaporizers and places additional stress on the system. To combat this, the team designed and constructed a prototype that utilizes a thermal transport loop to transfer …

F21 - Variable Damper, Harrison Pomerantz, Anthony Mendoza, Owen Wilks

Mechanical Engineering

This document outlines the final design phase for the Solar Turbines Variable Damper project, aiming to enhance the safety and serviceability of gas turbines enclosure ventilation system. The primary focus of this project is to address the challenge of maintaining optimal internal pressure within the gas generator enclosures while enabling remote control of the damper position.

In this report, the full system design is described in detail. Then, the part procurement, manufacturing, and assembly of the variable damper and test stand is provided to outline the steps and processes taken to complete the final prototype. After discussing the final prototype, …

Ross Dam Micro Hydro Project, Marirose Evenden, Tyler Reents, Elena Ryan, Tevan Kim

Mechanical Engineering

The Ross Dam and reservoir in Angels Camp needs a reliable power source for powering its SCADA system which monitors its water level and flow rate. Currently, the existing hydro power supply is very unreliable and needs to be replaced with a micro hydro generator system that can consistently produce power to charge the onsite batteries. This paper details the design and implementation of a micro hydro Pelton wheel replacement system designed by our senior project team.

Outlined in this report is our design overview of the system and how our project will redesign and optimize the use of the …

Prosthetic Aid For Lifting (Pal), Emma Caringella, Cameron Yartz, Dawn Veditz

Biomedical Engineering

Approximately 1.7 million people in the United States use a limb prosthetic [1]. For these individuals, their prosthetic often enables them to engage in their choice of physical activities. Many prosthetic companies design prosthetic limbs for use in specific athletic activities such as weightlifting. These devices are not designed for everyday wear or a large variety of tasks but enable the person to interact with free weights and workout machines. According to an email conversation between the team and Bob Radocy, Founder of Therapeutic Recreational Services (TRS Inc.) and upper limb amputee, while he could not reveal how many people …

Designing Hybrid Aerogel-3d Printed Absorbers For Simultaneous Low Frequency And Broadband Noise Control, Yutong Xue, L. Paige Nobles, Bhisham Sharma, J. Stuart Bolton

Michigan Tech Publications

Recent studies have demonstrated that granular aerogels with sub-50 μm particles surpass conventional acoustic materials like glass fibers and polyurethane foams in low-frequency sound absorption. However, incorporating such granular materials within practical structural solutions remains a challenge. In this study, we use additive manufacturing to overcome this challenge by designing a modular geometry that allows us to encapsulate such granular materials within a 3D printed scaffold. Using the 3D printed porous scaffold provides the added benefits of tunability and durability. Further, we introduce a design methodology and software tool to facilitate the efficient design of such hybrid sound absorbers. The …

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 …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Mechanical Environment Influences Muscle Activity During Infant Rolling, Danielle N. Siegel, Safeer F. Siddicky, Wyatt D. Davis, Erin M. Mannen

Mechanical and Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

An infant's musculoskeletal and motor development is largely affected by their environment. Understanding how different mechanical environments affect an infant's movements and muscle use is necessary to inform the juvenile products industry and reduce incidents involving inclined nursery products each year. The purpose of this study was to determine how the coordinated movements and corresponding muscle activation patterns are affected by different mechanical environments, specifically the back incline angle. Thirty-eight healthy infants (age: 6.5 ± 0.7 months; 23 M/15 F) were enrolled in this IRB-approved in-vivo biomechanics study. Surface electromyography sensors recorded muscle activity of the erector spinae, abdominal muscles, …