ME 2008-09 Capstone

2008-09 ME Senior Capstone Projects

Rotating Child Car Seat (Advisors: Dr. Shen, Dr. Yoder)

The goal of this project is design and construct a rotating child car seat base that is adaptable to most child car seats. This base will be capable of rotating towards the door of the car to make it easier for parents/guardians to put their children into the car seat or for the children to climb into the car seat. All government and industry safety specifications will be followed in the design of the car seat base.

Autonomous Radio Controlled Aircraft (Advisors: Dr. Marquart, Dr. Vemuru)

The goal of this project is to design and build an affordable and autonomous radio controlled model airplane capable of sending live video feed to a ground station. The first stage of the project is to design and construct a stable model airplane platform capable of carrying the required payload. The second stage is then to make an affordable autopilot for the airplane that can be engaged in the air, track fixed GPS waypoints on a pre-programmed course, and follow a glide slope and perform a landing or at minimum a missed approach above the specified landing field. Live video will be downlinked via a wireless transmitter during the flight.

Underwater Robot (Advisor: Dr. Yoder)

This project is working toward the goal of developing a prototype of a controllable underwater robot. The primary purpose for the robot will be to descend and locate submerged objects in ponds and lakes. Additionally, the robot will be entered in the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) competition in the summer of 2009.

ONU Wind Power Generation (Advisor: Dr. Sawyers)

The objective of this project is to promote the commercial use of wind power at Ohio Northern University. The engineers will evaluate the technical feasibility of such a venture and will design and evaluate wind power solutions that involve the construction of wind turbines of various sizes near campus, as well as two baseline options that do not involve construction. The final deliverable will be an economically viable plan including the evaluation of the implementation of a wind power solution.

Active Tags for Tracking Whales (Advisor: Dr. Baumgartner, Dr. Shen)

The goal of this project is to design an active suction tag for marine mammals. This device will be used to study the behavior or the North Atlantic Right Whale, currently an endangered species. It will consist of a vacuum cup and vacuum pump, powered by on-board batteries. This system will maintain the suction of the device, allowing it to stay attached to the whale for up to 72 hours. This will give marine biologists the ability to observe whale behavior in a manner that has not been possible previously.

Mechanical Components Demonstrator (Advisor: Dr. Rider)

The objective of this project is to design and build a demonstration unit that will be used to visually illustrate the operation of gears, pulleys, sprockets, chains, and cams. The unit will be used in mechanical design courses in which the design of such mechanisms is studied. The types of gears to be included in the unit are spur gears, miter or bevel gears, herringbone gears, and internal and external gears. Another requirement is that timing pulleys, v-belts, and flat belts must be used. This unit will also show the effect and interaction of the different sizes of gears, pulleys, and sprockets/chains have in terms of speed ratios.

ASME Design Competition (Advisor: Dr. Rider)

The ASME student design competition for 2008-2009 is the ‘Mars Rocks!' competition. The goal of this competition is to design and build a small vehicle (within the dimensions of 370x165x165 mm) that is able to retrieve and deposit rocks. In the competition there will be seven rocks to be collected, and they must be deposited into a target area consisting of three concentric circles. Each circle has a different diameter and corresponding point multiplier. The vehicle must either be radio controlled or controlled with an umbilical cord. Once the vehicle is placed in the parking area, no outside forces can act on it, meaning the vehicle can only move via the remote controller. The team points will be based on the weight of the vehicle, the time to complete the task, the number of times the vehicle touches the course border, and the milliamp-hours available to the device according to battery labels. Time is started when the vehicle leaves the parking area, and is stopped when the vehicle returns to the parking area.

Translating Lawnmower Deck (Advisor: Dr. Mikesell)

A local homeowner became frustrated with his garden tractor's inability to cut grass when approaching low lying branches and overhangs. Therefore, the goal of this project is to design a lawnmower deck capable of translating to one side to provide clearance for mowing under such objects as evergreen trees, fences, etc. The deck must be able to translate outward while the blades are still engaged and then revert to its original position. This would permit the mower to trim closer to overhanging obstacles. Normal operations of the mower should not be affected by the modification, and the design should be adaptable to a wide variety of existing garden tractors and riding mowers.

Analysis and Design of a Roof-Mounted Wind Turbine (Advisor: Dr. Sawyers)

The purpose of this project is to design a rooftop-mounted, wind-driven power generator for supplying power to a sloped-roof building. This design must be aesthetically pleasing, lightweight, low maintenance, and produce minimal vibration and noise. The wind turbine design should also be large enough to provide a useful amount of electrical power. Computational fluid dynamics and wind tunnel testing will be used to optimize the design of the blades, and to determine the optimal placement of the turbine on the roof.

Design of Exercise Equipment for Electrical Power Generation (Advisor: Dr. Marquart)

The goal of this project is to develop an exercise machine that will generate electricity. Marketability, sustainability, and feasibility are the driving constraints in this project. It is also important that the quality of the exercise is maintained with the power-generating device, and the hope is that producing electricity will be fun for the user. Currently, the "elliptical" is the exercise device of choice for its popularity, its duration of use, and its easily extracted rotational energy. Once a prototype is developed, testing will be performed to calculate the amount of power various people can generate through exercise. This will be very important for calculating the payback period of the electricity produced. The target market of this project is fitness gyms, where many people can power aerobic machines over the course of a day, increasing the total electricity produced through human exercise.

Electrical Transmission Line Inspection System (Advisors: Dr. Yoder, Dr. Mikesell, Dr. Khorbotly)

The goal of this project is to design a robotic "inchworm" to be used for inspection of electrical wires. The robot must be able to function on a range of wire diameters (0.8"-1.4"). The robot must also be able to travel around obstacles that are most commonly found on wires. The robot will take picture of the wire and store them in on-board memory that can later be viewed by technicians to determine the integrity of the wire. While trying to make the device as functional as possible, environmental, ethical, and economic impacts also have a role in the design and implementation of the robot. The device will be implemented as a cheap, safe, and efficient method of power line inspection.