Mechanical Engineering
All-In-One Guitar
Backstopping Clutch
Biometric Handgun Safe
Quality Assessment of Catalytic Converter Acoustic Performance
Folding Deer Stand
Delphi Medical Incubator Project
2007 Formula SAE
2007 Baja SAE
2007 SAE Aero Design
High Performance Go-Kart
Revolutionary Receptacle Team
Solar Cooler
Solar Decathlon Hot Water System
Wheelchair Propulsion System
All-In-One Guitar
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Project Description
The All-In-One Guitar was designed to fit the budget of the average guitar player. Created with adaptability in mind, the guitar features several interchangeable components while maintaining a traditional guitar’s playability. The body is fully removable, and the guitar can be changed from an electric to an acoustic in a matter of seconds. The electronic pickups can also be swapped in and out of the guitar to allow musicians to entirely transform their sound. The All-In-One Guitar is the only guitar of its kind.
Backstopping Clutch
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Project Description
Backstopping clutches are used everywhere from amusement park rides to automotive transmissions. They stop machines when equipment or power failures occur, such as the northeast blackout of 2003. Backstopping clutches deny feedback torque or motion when primary torque or motion ceases to exist. They are, however, expensive to produce. The student team designed a backstopping clutch that costs considerably less than the clutches offered by leading manufacturers. Their innovative design drastically reduces the number of internal working parts and thus cuts machining costs.
Biometric Handgun Safe
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Project Description
The Biometric Handgun Safe houses a handgun and allows only authorized users to have access to the firearm. This product utilizes biometric fingerprint technology to identify the proper users. The safe opens so quickly that the gun can be completely removed within two seconds. The handgun handle is partially exposed to allow the user to grip it before it is removed from the safe. A steel cradle is provided so that the handgun safe can be mounted anywhere. Kevlar sleeves prevent the gun from getting scratched inside the safe.
Quality Assessment of Catalytic Converter Acoustic Performance
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Project Description
This goal of this project, sponsored by Emitec Inc., was to assess the acoustic performance of uncoated catalytic converters and determine whether they can match or exceed the acoustic performance of resonators (mufflers).
In a catalytic converter, combustion product gases move across thin webs or small pallets of substrate material covered with platinum salts in order to decrease the formation of, or remove pollutants from, the combustion cycle. The catalytic converter also absorbs the sound of the engine during the combustion cycle. This research measured the material and acoustic properties of various converters. Bruel and Kjaer equipment was used to test the converters’ transmission loss and absorption coefficient. The equipment included PULSE Lab Shop software, a Data Acquisition signal generator, a Sound Source Generator speaker, four microphones, five microphone dummies, and transmission/impedance tubes.
In order to compare the performances of converters and resonators, the team needed to find the acoustic properties of resonators. The team used G&M Equipment, a series of adapters and tubes that allows for multiple resonators to be tested with the Bruel and Kjaer equipment. Matlab and Excel were then used to thoroughly analyze the data. The team found three converters that have better acoustic performance than the resonators when the data is normalized with respect to length, volume, and weight. One of the converters had more than double the transmission loss of the resonator when normalized with respect to volume. Another converter showed to be more than 12 times more efficient than the resonator when it came to weight and volume.
In conclusion, the benefits of switching from a resonator to a converter are more than substantial. Since a converter requires less material and effort to manufacture, it may save cost. In addition, converters use space more efficiently than resonators and that could lead to other improvements (such as larger gas tanks or more cargo space). Moreover, converters last longer than resonators and in most cases may even last the life of the automobile.
Folding Deer Stand
| Members Tim Dewar Sean McMacken |
Faculty Advisor Lewis Frasch |
Project Description
This folding deer stand is a collapsible 16-foot-high ladder with an attached platform. It is made of 1620 aluminum except for the hinges, which are a nickel-based alloy. The hinges allow the ladder to collapse for greater maneuverability in densely wooded areas. The latches that hold the ladder sections together are barrel-type sliders, which are quiet and easy to lock into place. The platform of the stand is boxed in with a rail for safety and comfort. Swiveling feet at the ladder’s base provide balance and stability. The stand weighs about 25 pounds, which is substantially less than other ladder stands on the market.
2007 Formula SAE
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| Undergraduate Advisor Ken Buttery |
Graduate Advisors Vince Cavallaro Elie Chedid Jeremey Dunion Megan Howard |
Faculty Advisors Badih Jawad Christopher Riedel |
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| Sponsors Arias Forged Racing Pistons BatteriesPlus Behr America Inc. Bosch Kelly and Gar Atkins Dona M. Browne Dadco Davies Craig Denso Detroit Diesel Corporation Eaton Federal Mogal Vernon Fernandez Ford Motor Company General Motors Corporation Badiah Jawad |
Jeff’s Bronco GraveYard Joslin Foundation Kalabat Construction Kart to Kart LLC Sebastian Karwaczynski Lee Keshishian Bahram Khalighi Abolhassan K. Khosrovaneh Killer Paintball Master Pneumatic Detroit Inc. MTU Ron and Jen Muccioli Nissan Technical Center Numatics Margie H. Ogorchock Page Toyota/Scion Carl F. Parr |
Roger Pawlowski Performance Mfg. Preece Randy & Bob’s Auto Body, Inc. RM Cook Mark Schmidt Deborah Smith Shirley Smith TI Automotive Tico Titanium Toyota Technical Center Visteon Vladimir Vantsevich Lisa Wallen Welty Precision Inc. Yazaki |
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Project Description
In the Formula SAE® competition, student members conceive, design, fabricate, and race a small formula-style racing car. Design restrictions regarding the frame and engine challenge the team’s knowledge, creativity, and imagination. The car, built over a one-year period, is taken to the annual competition where the team competes against approximately 120 other college and university teams from all over the world. Cars are judged on the performance characteristics of acceleration, braking, and
handling qualities as well as such factors as innovation, serviceability, aesthetics, comfort, and the use of common parts.
Teams are required to document all aspects of the design and fabrication, including providing a cost analysis. Each prototype must undergo a technical inspection and solo performance and endurance track trials.
2007 Baja SAE
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Project Description
The objective of the 2007 Baja SAE® competition is to design and manufacture a fully functional off-road vehicle to compete in various static and dynamic events. The dynamic events include acceleration, maneuverability, hill climb, chain pull, and a four-hour endurance event. Static judging is based on safety, design, and the cost of manufacturing based on vehicle production of 4,000 units a year, appearance, comfort, ease of mass production, originality, serviceability, and structure. This year’s team focused on reducing the vehicle’s weight and improving its powertrain design. Computer modeling and stress analysis were used to create all the part and sub-assembly components, as well as a complete vehicle design.
2007 SAE Aero Design
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Project Description
The purpose of this project is to design, build, and test a radio-controlled heavy lift cargo plane that will compete in the SAE® Aero Design East Competition in Fort Worth, Texas. The goal is to airlift the most weight possible while conforming to the competition’s design constraints. The plane must have a maximum lifting area of 1,000 square inches, an unmodified OS 0.61 FX engine, must take off within 200 feet and land within 400 feet, and have a cargo bay area of at least 3 inches by 5 inches by 16 inches. The plane is a half-fuselage design with a carbon-fiber boom supporting the tail. The wing uses a Selig S1210 airfoil with a 90-inch span and a slight taper to reduce drag. The plane weighs less than seven pounds empty, but can airlift more than 20 pounds of cargo.
High Performance Go-Kart
| Members Chad Dammar Josh King |
Faculty Advisor Badih Jawad |
Project Description
The team illustrated the benefits of using a well-engineered design along with less expensive materials to produce a go-kart that is easier to manufacture and more cost effective than the current competition. The team focused on the go-kart’s chassis by conducting a finite element analysis of competitor go-karts. The information obtained served as a base model for the design project. After comparing different possible materials and creating a CAD model, the team chose a 1018 cold-rolled, wire weld, mild steel for the go-kart and 1.25-inch outer diameter tubing to meet requirements set forth by the World Karting Association. The team used finite element analysis to determine a wall thickness of 0.125 inch. The team estimates the projected cost savings on the go-kart to be more than $1,300. Expected power to weight ratio (hp:lbs) is 0.116, greater than that of a Lotus Elise.
Revolutionary Receptacle Team
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Project Description
Created by students in the entrepreneurial program, the Revolutionary Receptacle utilizes a special trash bag with a zip tie instead of a conventional drawstring. With the touch of a button, two wheels pull the zip tie to seal the bag. While intended to
simplify an everyday task, this product can be particularly useful to people who suffer from an arthritic condition and may find it difficult to tie a bag. It is also ideal for such facilities as hospitals, where trash is sometimes hazardous to the disposer.
Solar Cooler
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Project Description
The team, Solar Cooling 2k6, created a cooler that uses a solar panel to power thermoelectric units that keep the cooler’s contents cool. Customers can take their coolers to the beach or camping without worrying about running out of ice or having to shoulder the extra weight of the ice and water that a regular cooler entails. Because ice is not needed, the cooler also provides more room for food and drinks.
Solar Decathalon Hot Water System
| Members Kerri Sakai Elliott Schmitt Stephen Tominac Chris Trunick |
Faculty Advisors Robert Fletcher Andrew Gerhart |
Project Description
The Solar Decathlon Hot Water System team designed, tested, and implemented a hot water system for the 2007 Lawrence Tech Solar Decathlon home. Solar Decathlon is an international competition in which schools from around the world compete in constructing an 800-square-foot energy-efficient, completely solarpowered home. The competition is held in Washington, D.C., where the teams will assemble their homes in a “Solar Village” on the National Mall. The teams compete in 10 areas of sustainable design, and the hot water system figures in several of these. As a result, the hot water system has to meet various requirements in order for Lawrence Tech’s team, ALOeTERRA, to perform well in the competition. The hot water system also has to abide by the many rules and regulations set by the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the organizer of the competition.
Wheelchair Propulsion System
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Faculty Advisor |
Project Description
The Wheelchair Propulsion System gives users who cannot push a wheelchair wheel forward the ability to use a pulling motion to propel the chair. This pulling motion uses shoulder and bicep muscles, giving the users more exercise and freedom of movement. The customized Wheelchair Propulsion System will be constructed of a combination of steel, titanium, and aluminum. For prototyping purposes, the system was made of less expensive and readily available steel.