Electro-Mechanical Systems Commons^™

Swing Human Powered Generator: For The Dc House Project, Juan Vicente Avelar, Juan Jose Galindo, Juan Pramyr Ramos

Electrical Engineering

The Play Park Human Powered Generator project addresses various ways of generating power. More specifically, this project entails the design and construction of the Swing Power Generator to provide electrical power from mechanical energy. The swing generator will eventually be used as part of the human-powered generators utilized in the DC House project.

A swing generator prototype was built for this project, which demonstrates the feasibility of its use for electrical power source. Detailed design and construction of the swing generator is presented in this report along with results from hardware testing.

Rebounder Fatigue Test Machine, Caroline Reeves, Will Robertson, Ethan Flory

Mechanical Engineering

JumpSport, a company that designs and sells trampolines and trampoline accessories, has sponsored this senior project team to design, build, and test a trampoline fatigue test machine. The machine must simulate a person jumping on the trampoline to test the life of JumpSport’s fitness trampolines and kids’ trampolines. Partway through the design process, the objectives were altered and this senior project team was tasked with merging with another Cal Poly senior project group to create an all-inclusive test machine to accommodate both full-trampoline testing and individual bungee cord testing.

The final design is centered on a slider crank linkage driven …

Design, Fabrication, And Testing Of An Emr Based Orbital Debris Impact Testing Platform, Jeffrey J. Maniglia Jr.

Master's Theses

This paper describes the changes made from Cal Poly’s initial railgun system, the Mk. 1 railgun, to the Mk. 1.1 system, as well as the design, fabrication, and testing of a newer and larger Mk. 2 railgun system. The Mk. 1.1 system is developed as a more efficient alteration of the original Mk. 1 system, but is found to be defective due to hardware deficiencies and failure, as well as unforeseen efficiency losses. A Mk. 2 system is developed and built around donated hardware from the Naval Postgraduate School. The Mk. 2 system strove to implement an efficient, augmented, electromagnetic …

Micro-Grid Wind Energy System, Aaron Steinkraus, Brian Huntziker, Cesar Hurtado

Mechanical Engineering

With the completion of a 3.5kW wind turbine located on Esculea Ranch, the power generated from the turbine was dissipated through electric resistance heaters. ABC Wind was given the task to design, build, and implement a system what will efficiently use the turbine’s harnessed power. After interviewing with the Beef Operations Manager of Escuela Ranch, it was decided to use the turbine’s power to supply supplementary water to anywhere on the ranch where and when needed by grazing cattle. The purpose of this project was to research, design, build and implement a system that would harness the generated power and …

Formula Sae Turbocharger Engine Development, Eric Griess, Kevin Mccutcheon, Matthew Roberts, William Chan

Mechanical Engineering

This project, Formula SAE Turbocharger System Development, was sponsored by the Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Formula SAE team. The team proposed this project in order to have a powerful yet lightweight engine so they can be extremely competitive at their competition. The baseline output of the single cylinder 450cc engine (2006 Yamaha WR450F) was 46 horsepower and 27 ft-lb of torque. The goal of this project was to increase the output of that engine to 60 horsepower and 35 ft-lb through the use of a turbocharger.

Technology Portal For Energy Efficient Buildings, Larry D. Hermanson, Daniel Studer, Annie Mroz

STAR Program Research Presentations

Project: Technology Portal for Energy Efficient Buildings

Date: August 2, 2012

Author: Larry Hermanson

Mentor: Daniel Studer

Cohort: Annie Mroz

Lab site: National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL)

Buildings account for 71% of the electricity demand and 39% of the primary energy consumption in the United States. The Commercial Buildings Group at NREL provides builders, designers and building owners accurate information to significantly improve the energy efficiency of new and existing buildings. The Technology Portal for Energy Efficient Buildings will increase the accessibility of standardized and credible energy performance data for all building systems, thereby allowing building owners to better evaluate …

Fabrication And Characterization Of Torsional Micro-Hinge Structures, Mike Madrid Marrujo

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

Fabrication and Characterization of Torsional Micro-Hinge Structures

Mike Marrujo

There are many electronic devices that operate on the micrometer-scale such as Digital Micro-Mirror Devices (DMD). Micro actuators are a common type of DMD that employ a diaphragm supported by torsional hinges, which deform during actuation and are critical for the devices to have high stability and reliability. The stress developed within the hinge during actuation controls how the actuator will respond to the actuating force. Electrostatically driven micro actuators observe to have a fully recoverable non-linear viscoelastic response. The device consists of a micro-hinge which is suspended by two …

Robotic Fingerspelling Hand For Deaf-Blind Communication, Brian Fang, Colby Dixon, Trevor Wong

Mechanical Engineering

Robotic fingerspelling hand for the deaf-blind. The hand forms the shapes of the American Manual Alphabet with 11 servos. The project was sponsored by The Smith-Kettlewell Eye Reaserch Institute.

Design, Construction, And Evaluation Of An Automated Chicken Coop Door, Kyle Inks

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This senior project takes a look into the design, construction, and evaluation of an automated chicken coop door. The idea and need for such a door came from my mother Jan Inks. The parameters for the project include, low production cost, easy installation on existing coops, sleek design, automatically open at a set time in the morning, and automatically close at a set time in the evening.

Polygrasp: Reach; Myoelectric Prosthetic Hand Iteration, Devon Patrick Augustus, Mighells Blaed Deuel, Ian Noel Fraser, Nicholas Philip Moesser

Mechanical Engineering

Amputations are a common occurrence in soldiers returning home who have suffered the effects of IED and munitions explosions. For upper limb amputees, trans-radial amputations are the most common. Traditional hook devices do not offer an adequate level of normalcy for users, prompting the use of myoelectric devices. While current myoelectric devices do offer a more natural experience, they come with a host of other problems that makes their adoption by service personnel not desirable or not permitted by the VA. PolyGrasp Reach seeks to reduce weight and cost and improve performance. This addresses several of the issues with devices …

California Olive Ranch Hedger, Tyler Enos, Seth Abbott, David Gamba

Mechanical Engineering

The purpose of this project is to evaluate the problems of the current KCI (Kingsburg Cultivator Incorporated) olive tree hedger in use at California Olive Ranch (COR) in Artois, CA, and then correct these problems which should yield a better performing, more efficient, and reliable machine. These problems include: the hydraulic oil temperature getting too high, the saw blades not having enough horsepower, and poor cutting performance due to operator error as well as terrain variations.

Formula Hybrid Drivetrain Design, Zachary (Zak) Mcfarland, Alex Pruitt, William Domhart

Mechanical Engineering

The Formula Hybrid senior project group was tasked with designing and building a drivetrain system for the Cal Poly Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) Formula Hybrid (FHSAE) team. FHSAE gave customer requirements for performance and geometry for the drivetrain and the FHSAE rulebook has guidelines regarding safety requirements. The team chose to compete in the electric category of the 2012 FHSAE competition. After getting feedback from previous car performance and researching different powertrain options, the senior project team arrived at three conceptual ideas. Using a quality function deployment method, the senior project team chose the concept where two motors independently …

A Model Predictive Control Approach To Roll Stability Of A Scaled Crash Avoidance Vehicle, Nikola John Linn Noxon

Master's Theses

In this paper, a roll stability controller (RSC) is presented based on an eight degree of freedom dynamic vehicle model. The controller is designed for and tested on a scaled vehicle performing obstacle avoidance maneuvers on a populated test track. A rapidly-exploring random tree (RRT) algorithm is used for the vehicle to execute a trajectory around an obstacle, and examines the geographic, non-homonymic, and dynamic constraints to maneuver around the obstacle. A model predictive controller (MPC) uses information about the vehicle state and, based on a weighted performance measure, generates an optimal trajectory around the obstacle. The RSC uses the …

Sole Power: Pedal Phone Charger Final Report, Nicole Hensley, Anthony Ruh, Krista Schmidt, Joseph Garcia

Mechanical Engineering

The device design was conceived to meet the energy needs of rural populations in India. These communities have cell phones but lack access to reliable grid power, especially during monsoon season. The charger is designed to be affordable, durable, and easily repairable for each owner family. It uses off-the-shelf components and is intended to be replicated by backyard manufacturing startups in developing countries.

Its purpose is to efficiently transfer human foot motion via a treadle, four-bar-linkage, and sprocket-chain step-up to drive a rotor & stator generator from a common gas scooter. The single-phase alternating current from the generator is passed …

Pedaling And Braking Forces And Their Effect On Suspension Performance, Kathleen Kramer, Nik Goodell, Cesar Giron

Mechanical Engineering

The goal of this project is to produce a quantifiable relationship between pedaling and braking forces and suspension behavior. The test results will serve as a benchmark, against which other suspension designs can be compared in an objective, numerical manner. This report details the work completed towards determining this relationship and is primarily focused on design development of the data acquisition system and analysis of braking forces, pedaling forces and suspension response. A 2011 Specialized Stumpjumper FSR Expert Evo was used as the development platform. The system will be used to measure various rear suspension designs for comparison.

Robotic Turret, Daniel Romero, Matthew (Matt) Martelle, Scott Mullens, Rachel Diamant

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Floating Tube Heat Exchangers, Patrick Harris, Christina Gedeon, Leonel Medrano, George Milam

Mechanical Engineering

With the slowly diminishing supply of fossil fuels across the world and the heightened risk of carbon dioxide pollution leading to global warming, a shift towards renewable energy is gaining momentum. Recent advances in wind and solar power technology have increased the power density of alternative sources while decreasing the cost per kilowatt-hour, but the technology has not become advanced enough yet for large scale deployment. Combined Power Cooperative has developed a revolutionary design for a concentrated solar power plant that utilizes Fresnel reflectors and a large body of water in which to install them. In addition to being low-cost, …

Vibration-Based Health Monitoring Of Multiple-Stage Gear Train And Differential Planetary Transmission Involving Teeth Damage And Backlash Nonlinearity, Andrew Patrick Sommer

Master's Theses

The objective of this thesis is to develop vibration-based fault detection strategies for on-line condition monitoring of gear transmission systems. The study divides the thesis into three sections. First of all, the local stresses created by a root fatigue crack on a pinion spur gear are analyzed using a quasi-static finite element model and non-linear contact mechanics simulation. Backlash between gear teeth which is essential to provide better lubrication on tooth surfaces and to eliminate interference is included as a defect and a necessary part of transmission design. The second section is dedicated to fixed axis power trains. Torsional vibration …

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 …

Structure Climbing Monkey Robot, Paul Bessent

Master's Theses

This report describes the design, building, and testing of the Structure Climbing Monkey Robot (SCMR). It is composed of seven successive joints and linkages with two grippers at the two ends. Each gripper can act as the base or the end of the robot. The SCMR has the ability to climb any structure. The gripper plates can be changed to grab different kinds of structures, but this one is made to grab 2x4‘s. A program was written to assist the user to grab four non-coplanar, non-orthogonal points.

The SCMR is actuated by a total of nine motors: two to open …

Power Steering Concept, Anthony N. Escobedo, William Ryan Flores, Russell Haverstock

Mechanical Engineering

This senior project was created in conjunction with Edwards Lifesciences. This project was created under an non-disclosure agreement and will not be submitted to any outside sources. The submitted title page will act as proof of completion.

Development Of A Cubesat Instrument For Microgravity Particle Damper Performance Analysis, John Trevor Abel

Master's Theses

Spacecraft pointing accuracy and structural longevity requirements often necessitate auxiliary vibration dissipation mechanisms.  However, temperature sensitivity and material degradation limit the effectiveness of traditional damping techniques in space.  Robust particle damping technology offers a potential solution, driving the need for microgravity characterization.   A 1U cubesat satellite presents a low cost, low risk platform for the acquisition of data needed for this evaluation, but severely restricts available mass, volume, power and bandwidth resources.  This paper details the development of an instrument subject to these constraints that is capable of capturing high resolution frequency response measurements of highly nonlinear particle damper dynamics.

Rapid Animatronic Target System, Brandon Keith Bray, Matt Gerhardt Guise, Martin Thomas Quinn

Mechanical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Geomagnetic Compensation For Low-Cost Crash Avoidance Project, John C. Torres

Master's Theses

The goal of this work was to compensate for the effects of the Earth’s magnetic field in a vector field magnetic sensor.  The magnetic sensor is a part of a low-cost crash avoidance system by Stephane Roussel where the magnetic sensor was used to detect cars passing when it was mounted to a test vehicle.  However, the magnetic sensor’s output voltage varied when it changed orientation with respect to the Earth’s magnetic field.  This limited the previous work to only analyze detection rates when the test vehicle travelled a single heading.  Since one of the goals of this system is …

High-Resolution, Non-Contact Angular Measurement System For Psa/Rsa, Ronald D. Sloat

Master's Theses

A non-contact angular measurement system for Pitch Static Attitude (PSA) and Roll Static Attitude (RSA) of hard disk drive sliders is designed and built. Real-time sampling at over 15 KHz is achieved with accuracy of +/- 0.05 degrees over a range of approximately 2-3 degrees. Measuring the PSA and RSA is critical for hard drive manufacturers to control and improve the quality and reliability of hard drives. Although the hard drive industry is able to measure the PSA and RSA at the subassembly level at this time, there is no system available that is able to measure PSA/RSA at the …

Cal Poly Rose Float Electric Vehicle, Jennifer Slone, Jason Sherrett, Dionysios Pettas, Timothy Baldwin

Mechanical Engineering

(1) Background:

The Cal Poly Rose Float is currently powered by a pair of V-8 internal combustion engines. This is the second project in a three phase effort to replace the existing drive engine with an electric motor powered by a DC bus. The main goal of this phase of the project is to get the motor selected in phase one spinning.

(2) Results:

Originally, the project involved programming a microcontroller to achieve motor control. The decision was made, early on, to approach this task in a different manner due to the team’s minimal background in programming and mechatronics. The …

Mobility Aid: A Dual Purpose Walker And Scooter, Zack Blois, Robia Choi, Kristin Dills

Mechanical Engineering

The Mobility Aid project was proposed by Theresa Mortilla and Idee Shapiro. The goal of the project was to design and build a device that can quickly and easily transform between a mobility walker and an electric scooter to allow for more freedom of mobility. The inspiration for this project arose from the fact that Theresa suffers from multiple sclerosis in her legs and can only walk for about thirty minutes at a time until she gets too fatigued and must sit down and rest. This device would provide her with the ability to continue moving while giving her legs …

Artificial Skin Tactile Sensor For Prosthetic And Robotic Applications, Ross James Miller

Master's Theses

To solve the problem of limited tactile sensing in humanoid robotics as well as provide for future planned mechanical prostheses, an innovative tactile sensor system was created and embedded into two realistic-looking artificial skin gloves. These artificial skin tactile sensors used small piezoelectric ceramic disks to measure applied force at multiple points on each glove. The gloves were created using silicone rubber to simulate both the texture and look of human skin, while maintaining both flexibility and durability. The sensor outputs were buffered by high-impedance voltage-following operational amplifiers, and then read sequentially using a multiplexing scheme by a microcontroller. Sensor …

Motorcycle Data Acquisition System, Jonathan Luke Harmse

Biomedical Engineering

No abstract provided.

Implementation Of A Conrad Probe On A Boundary Layer Measurement System, Charles Rocky Ulk

Master's Theses

This thesis presents the design, calibration, and performance evaluation of a type of two-hole pressure probe anemometer known as a Conrad probe, as well as its subsequent implementation on an autonomous, compact boundary layer measurement device and its first application for subsonic in-flight measurements of a swept wing boundary layer. Calibration of the Conrad probe was accomplished using two calibration functions and a non-nulling method for resolving in-plane flow velocity direction and magnitude over a range of ±30 degrees. This approach to calibration and application offered the advantages of rapid data acquisition with lower energy consumption than alternative methods for …