Manufacturing Commons^™

Automation Of Post Fermentation Must Removal, Grace Hurley, Jakob Spink, Ariel Metscher

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The Harvest Haulers project addresses a critical operational inefficiency at Saucelito Canyon Winery, where post-fermentation must removal from wine barrels was labor-intensive and potentially hazardous. This project aimed to develop a custom forklift attachment that could securely handle Bordeaux and Burgundy barrels, streamline the dumping process, and improve worker safety.

The resulting solution is a forklift-compatible fixture designed to lift, secure, and tilt barrels using a robust combination of a modified aluminum pallet, padded hoop, ratchet straps, and a custom hinge mechanism. The design meets all engineering requirements, including a 600 lb. load capacity, 135° tilt, and a single-operator setup …

Comparative Study Of Experimental And Fea Strain Data For Cnt-Coated Fiberglass Sensors, Extensometers, And Metal Foil Strain Gauges, Omar Dwidar

Master's Theses

Material testing is essential across industries such as aerospace, automotive, and construction, playing a critical role in verifying material selection, diagnosing failures, and understanding the development of flaws in structures. These insights are key to designing successful, reliable systems. Conventional metal foil strain gauges are low cost and reliable but provide limited sensitivity with a typical gauge factor around 2. Extensometers provide highly sensitive strain measurements with the disadvantage of a bulky form factor. With advanced materials such as carbon nanotubes, it is possible to manufacture a sensor with the sensitivity closer to that of an extensometer with the small …

Effect Of Manufacturing And Machining Process On Recycled Composite Connecting Rods Under Tension And Compression, Walter W. Oppelt

Master's Theses

Carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) is an engineering material renowned for its high-strength and low-density material properties. Such properties make CFRPs especially useful for applications across many industries, including aerospace, automotive, marine, sporting goods, oil and gas, and more. However, with such favorable material properties comes the cost of high energy usage required to produce raw carbon fiber. Recycled carbon fiber (rCF) has emerged as a promising alternative, offering a significant reduction in energy usage. This research explores the viability of applying recycled CFRPs to internal combustion engines to both reduce energy costs during manufacturing and while in use. Mechanical …

Adjustable Dynamometer Motor Mount, Garrett Carson Ng, Elijah Siegel Reuven, Ethan Fong, Daniel Larimer

Mechanical Engineering

The Cal Poly Electrical Engineering Department and sponsor Dr. Dolan needs a manufacturable motor fixture that securely aligns motors of various sizes with dynamometers. Previous lab motor fixtures could not accommodate motors of different sizes, making precise alignment between motors and dynamometers time-consuming and unreliable. Our team developed a modular, manufacturable fixture capable of aligning various motor sizes quickly, accurately, and securely, enhancing lab consistency and usability.

Baja Sae Brakes, Carson Moore, Jaedyn Michael Imhoff, Will Duncan, Matthew Shaffer

Mechanical Engineering

Historically, the Cal Poly Racing Baja SAE has produced a braking system that has proven unreliable and barely passes competition rules and inspections, leading to ill performing and unsafe brakes. The goal of this project is to produce a system and documentation that meets the requirements provided by Cal Poly Racing Baja SAE. The final design includes a transient braking model of the vehicle to set system requirements, universal custom front and rear calipers modified from “Cal Poly BSAE Custom Brake Caliper Senior Project”, and a revamped hydraulic harness. Leaning on the team’s previous work and modifying the custom calipers …

Development Of Planetary Drive System For Formula Sae Electric Race Car, Brian Wong, Bradley Maruoka, Joshua Charles Fine, Madison Kai

Mechanical Engineering

Hub motors are compact electric motors mounted directly on each outboard wheel hub. Utilized in Formula SAE and Formula Student vehicles, this configuration offers several advantages over traditional drivetrains, including packaging optimization within the chassis, vehicle traction, and improved efficiency. Although hub motors are not yet common in 4WD vehicles, they are being explored for use in EVs and may become more common in the future. Every year, Cal Poly Racing FSAE designs and builds a formula-style race car. To improve drivetrain performance, the team is investigating the achievability of a hub motor 4WD drivetrain, requiring extensive research, development, and …

Hitch Cart “Landing Gear”, Rebekah White, Jose Raygoza, Randy Hernandez, Brandon Leon

Mechanical Engineering

This report aims to allow our sponsor, to review our design process of the Hitch Cart Landing Gear Prototype. In the design overview section of this report, we discuss the primary design modifications we made to the wheel mechanism of the existing hitch cart prototype, including the addition of the ACME screws and the folding brackets. This allows our sponsor to see the intended improvements made to the past prototype and understand the primary goal of our project. Then, in the implementation section, we cover the entire manufacturing process to allow our sponsor to understand what manufacturing steps must be …

Expandable And Retractable Wheel Design, Ethan Fortenberry, Emily Cottrell, Keegan Martin, Benjamin Mcconnell

Mechanical Engineering

Our sponsor, Jeremy Goren, wants to see his patented expandable wheel design come to life. He requires a functional final product actuated by linear actuators and with a continuous, circular outer shell. The overall design can be broken up into 2 parts: the inner hub and outer shell. The wheel's shell will consist of a 12-piece outer shell that guides the 6 inner shell pieces. The outer shell pieces will be connected via a UBracket. The hub will consist of 3 identical parts that will hold 2 linear actuators each. The pieces will be bolted together to create 1 singular …

The Waterbug: Adaptive Paddle Board Frame, Remy James Elio Lacchia, Katie Kellum, Madeline Evenson, Shelbi Sullaway

Mechanical Engineering

People with disabilities, particularly wheelchair users, face limitations in participating in outdoor activities like paddleboarding. Central Cal Adaptive, a nonprofit organization, aims to bridge this gap by offering adapted paddleboarding experiences. However, their current paddleboard presents challenges such as portability, range of motion, stability, and safety. Our team, comprising Madeline Evenson, Remy Lacchia, Katie Kellum, and Shelbi Sullaway, has collaborated with Central Cal Adaptive to refine the existing paddleboard design. The team’s goal is to enhance the paddleboard's functionality to better cater to wheelchair users' needs, ensuring lightweight, portable, and safe features for an improved outdoor experience.

Our paddleboard concept …

Mechanical Properties Of Polymer Matrix Nanocomposites Reinforced With Varying Carbon Nanotube Geometries, Ethan Gaigalas, Zoe Kelemen

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

This study serves as part of an introduction to nanocomposite research at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, and attempts to form an observational comparison between the performance of various CNT-Epoxy nanocomposites under drop weight testing. As a continuation of research on CNT-Epoxy nanocomposites, this study specifies three geometries of Multi-walled carbon nanotubes: straight (MWSCNTs), helical (MWHCNTs), and OH-functionalized straight (FMWSCNTs); and it compares their impact resistances to neat epoxy samples. Based on the total number of failed samples under a normalized impact energy of 0.335J/mm, it is observed that FMWSCNTs increase the impact resistance of Epoxy panels at …

Design Of Ballistics Armor Using Additive Manufacturing Of Kevlar Composites, Jedidiah D. Jimenez, Roha Y. Ali, Jack C. Bride

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

This project evaluates the effectiveness of various geometries created using advanced additive manufacturing (AM) of Kevlar fiber, chopped carbon fiber-reinforced filament for ballistic protection applications. This study expands on sandwich panel designs with woven Kevlar face sheets and investigates an optimal fiber reinforced filament core structure design. A unit cell workflow was developed in nTop to take advantage of its custom cell modeling and FEA capabilities. Unit cell types were simulated and tested from the hexagonal honeycomb, gyroid TPMS, and re-entrant auxetic cell families. Core structure thickness and cell size were additive manufacturing parameters that were varied to assess the …

Modeling, Simulation, And Experimental Testing Of A Single-Legged Hopper, John Anthony Bennett

Master's Theses

Legged robots are well-suited for navigating unstructured terrain due to their ability to perform agile dynamic motions. Building on the efforts of Cal Poly's Legged Robotics Group, this project focuses on achieving stable forward hopping with a single legged robot.

A comprehensive model of leg hopping is formulated, with leg dynamics during flight and stance phases derived using Euler-Lagrange equations. During the stance phase, a spring-mass system models the leg-ground interaction. The touchdown and lift-off conditions are formulated mathematically, and state mappings between phases are determined via momentum conservation. A two-phase hybrid controller is designed, incorporating trajectory planning during flight …

A Screening Life Cycle Analysis Of One-Way And Reusable Crate Designs – Estimating Environmental Impacts Via Lca Software, Nicolas R. Corona

Master's Theses

A comparison analysis conducted via COMPASS life cycle analysis software has indicated that a one-way crate design, rather than a reusable crate design, is in fact the more environmentally friendly packaging system. These results can be interpreted differently, however, as the manufacturer of said crate designs must confirm what impact indicators they would like to reference as environmental goalposts. The conducted analysis provides insight into what the environmental impacts of each packaging system look like as packaging at all three system levels has been identified as a means of reducing environmental impacts globally. As such, the manufacturer of said crate …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Barcode Medication Administration (Bmca): 2023-24, Krishan R. Patel, Carlos E. Sosa, Mary Grace Sy

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

The Barcode Medication Administration is an important system implemented within a hospital. It is the process in which nurses and other healthcare professionals prescribe and distribute medication to the patients. It aids in organizing which patient got prescribed which medication from which doctor and provides records on who was given care by who. The whole BCMA system is a multi-step process from getting the medication prescribed, to the nurses having to pick up the medication from the medication cabinet, and then having to scan the patient and the medication to finally administer medications.

The current BCMA system implemented at the …

Feasibility And Characterization Of Leak-Tight Single-Track Thin Walls Produced By Laser Powder Bed Fusion In 316l Stainless Steel, Peyton J. Archibald

Master's Theses

This thesis explores the optimization of process parameters for producing single-track thin walls using Laser Powder Bed Fusion (LPBF) additive manufacturing. Using two different coupon designs, the study assesses the feasibility of creating the thinnest possible leak-tight structures within LPBF and evaluating their mechanical properties, including burst pressure and modulus of elasticity under pressure loads. A series of experimental iterations were conducted, varying laser power and laser speed to identify optimal conditions. The findings indicate that a narrow range of process parameters can produce consistently leak-tight thin walls. The results contribute to understanding how to achieve high quality, reliable thin …

Cnc Retrofits, Fabian Samano, Murat Askin, Daniel Lonczak, Zane Campise

Mechanical Engineering

The Boxford CNC Lathe is a machine used for educational purposes. The goal of the CNC Retrofits project is to improve the Boxford MT2’s performance and functionality to enable Mr. Lonczak to manufacture customized ballpoint pens. Within this Final Design Review (FDR) document, we present design updates since the CDR and implementation/assembly techniques. This work culminates in a solution to Mr. Lonczak’s needs which is analyzed in three subsystems: main control, spindle position tracking, and user interface. Within this report, we show the results of each subsystem’s verification process. These results prove that the design concept was met by describing …

Tagalong Trail, Sean Wahl, Jason Davis, Quinlan Stephens, Ryan Johnson, Vinh Vo

Mechanical Engineering

The Cal Poly mechanical engineering team working on the Path of Lights and Sounds for the Girl Scouts of California’s Central Coast has now completed their project. In the last quarter of their project, they were able to finalize their tile’s structural design while iterating through several electronics board designs. Through this iteration, they were able to create a final electronics board and designed a water-resistant enclosure to house the board. A new team member was added, allowing them to manufacture 28 tile structures and 30 electronics assemblies over the course of two and a half weeks. This proved to …

Slitter Blade Sharpener, Griffin Buchan, Regan Lane, Kinsale Sproule

Mechanical Engineering

Within this document, our team, “Think Sharpener”, will discuss the following work we have completed since the Critical Design Review: material and part procurement, the manufacturing process for our prototype, and a discussion of our results from testing our final Verification Prototype (VP). To summarize our team’s work during the last portion of this project, our design for the slitter blade sharpening mechanism required us to consult the IME department for materials and manufacturing guidance, order pneumatic components from various online hardware companies, and test our VP to verify we met the engineering design specifications. Our slitter blade sharpening mechanism …

Additive Manufacturing And Characterization Of Auxetic Structures, Jayesh P. Moore, Stephanie R. Ruzicka

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

An auxetic structure is an arrangement of unit cells that under a uniaxial load experiences expansion in both the longitudinal and transverse directions, resulting in a negative Poisson’s ratio (NPR). Research in auxetics has led to new insights into how non-linear mechanical reactions can be applied to various engineering fields. This project utilized stereolithography (SLA) 3D printing to manufacture auxetic test specimens to analyze of geometry-driven NPRs. With the distinctive mechanical properties of auxetic structures and vast applications, the future of product development of these geometries seems promising.

Additive Manufacturing For Medical Education, Michael Noon

College of Engineering Summer Undergraduate Research Program

A growing body of evidence is suggesting that anatomical knowledge, the keystone of many medical specialties, is suffering among new graduates. While a host of reasons are provided, one common thread that many point to is the decline of cadaver dissections in the classroom. Many virtual audio-visual tools are used to address this gap, yet evidence has shown their ineffectiveness. Given this gap, the high degree of flexibility found in additive manufacturing (AM), and the many uses AM has already found in the medical field, we propose its use to fill this gap, allowing for students to learn with touch …

Laboratory Glovebox, Jackson T. Tenne, Noah Fitzgerald, Scott Stirling, Danny Ho

Mechanical Engineering

The Laboratory Glovebox project aimed to create an affordable, functional, ready to use, airtight workstation enabling Dr. Ramanan Sritharan to continue his research of the mechanical properties of nanomaterials. When airborne, nanomaterials are a health risk if inhaled, so the design requires a hermetic seal to protect the user. The design was meant to emulate features of the glovebox used by Dr. Sritharan during his PhD research, but was optimized to meet a budget of $3000, much cheaper than comparable alternatives. Key design features included acrylic panels, a transfer chamber, glove mounts, and a main access door, all sealed to …

Recor-Diy, Maxwell W. Ferrer

Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering

RecorDIY is an affordable alternative to ordering Vinyl Records from a manufacturer in the form of an at-home record-cutting lathe. This report will cover the record cutting process from audio to physical, at home record lathes that are currently available, and the possible improvements that I plan to implement in order to make these devices a more viable alternative for small artists. Current models can only create low fidelity records, specifically they struggle with lots of “noise”, extra sounds such as static that make it harder to hear the actual audio. Another issue is record size, as current models can …

Prove Primary Battery Structure, John D. Burkhart, Andy Mccormick, Ryan Yu, Soren Barclay

Mechanical Engineering

In conjunction with Prototype Vehicle (PROVE) Laboratory, our group designed, manufactured, and tested a prototype structure to house the battery boxes for PROVE’s endurance vehicle. Our structure was designed to support the batteries during normal use, and in the event of a front crash. Our design is comprised of a secondary composite box to house the battery boxes, a bottom plate to affix the secondary box to the chassis floor, a horizontal plate fastened to the chassis, and a brace structure welded to the chassis. From the outset, we chose to use a secondary box, the primary battery boxes must …

Parametric Bicycle Yoke, Colin Reay, Walter Minehart, Robby Harrigan, Jordan Olson

Mechanical Engineering

This report outlines the entire design, fabrication, and validation process of a parametric yoke design that addresses the packaging problem of the bottom-bracket chainstay junction in modern bicycle frames. The goal was to create an elegant, space-efficient solution that is accessible to the Cal Poly Bike Builders Club. The report includes documentation of the three-part fixture system, manufacturing process, and testing results for the yoke.

Our yoke design outperforms traditional round-tube weldments in torsional and vertical stiffness. Additionally, all manufacturing fixtures and machining operations function as intended, resulting in a finished yoke that meets all required tolerances in under an …

3d Printed Aircraft, Matthew Nagy, Charles D'Amico, Alexis Salgado Medina

Mechanical Engineering

This project is to design, build, and test a 3D-printable aircraft. The goal is to create a final design that will be able to fly for the longest duration possible, around 20 seconds. To determine the correct preliminary design and manufacturing process for a 3D printed RC aircraft, an analysis of multiple design options and manufacturing materials was performed. This allowed for a variety of choices for aircraft type, airfoil design, structure, among other topics to be narrowed down to the most promising option. It has been found that the aircraft will follow a design similar to industry motor-gliders, with …

Headlamp/Bike Light Damping System, Ethan Reece Clark, Alec Stonehouse, Omeed Ostry, Mitchel Anderson

Mechanical Engineering

The task for this project is to design a headlamp and/or bike light that absorbs the impact shocks from the user’s actions. The user that the system is being designed for may be riding a bike or running on a trail in the evening or early in the morning where the light needs to be stabilized and their path must be illuminated. This report presents the final design chosen after months of prototyping and design iteration. It encompasses the system design, design verification through testing, implementation, future recommendations, and lessons learned throughout the process. The chosen design utilizes a fully …