Wind Tunnel Instrumentation and Data Analysis
Jack Ropelewski, Maria Lebron, Essam Alzahrani, Britta Hagood, Nolan BehringerAdvisor: Dr. Diego Turo
Wind tunnels are structures in which a fan draws air through a nozzle to create high moving air which allows the user to study the aerodynamic and fluid properties of a test subject. The goal of this project is to instrument an existing wind tunnel structure, connect a data acquisition system, and write a computer program to create a system to collect and analyze data for the user. The instruments added include pitot tubes to measure the velocity profile in the front and back of the test subject and a load cell to measure the lift generated by the test subject. A LabVIEW program collects the data while a MATLAB program analyzes it and presents it in graphs to use in future calculations. With these additions, the wind tunnel will be a teaching tool for future students in a variety of engineering classes.
Poster→ Presentation→ Final Report→
SAE Aero Design Project
Virginia (Grace) Boras, Mary Cain, Kayla Gumina, Shannon Harrington, Ryan KennedyAdvisor: Dr. Diego Turo
The purpose of this project was to design a completely electric, remote-controlled, fixed-wing aircraft that can take off on a 100-ft runway and land on a 400-ft runway while carrying outsized payloads. The RC plane is limited to a 120 in-wingspan and must carry both boxed and spherical cargo while weighing less than 55 lb. The boxed cargo must be steel plates, and the spherical cargo must be at least one soccer ball. The plane must be in balance both when it is loaded and unloaded. In order to design this airplane, the critical systems and analysis were divided into five categories: wing planform design; stability, control, and vehicle design; electronics; drag analysis; and thrust and propulsion. Each group member took the lead on one of these categories in collaboration with all of the other group members.
Poster→ Presentation→ Final Report→
Efficient Buoyancy Engine for Ocean Operation
Alexander Caporale, Joseph Patrick Kane, John Kenny, Brennan Woo, Omar BayazeidAdvisor: Dr. Jandro Abot
The goal of this project is to design a buoyancy engine with low power consumption used to ascend and descend in ocean operation through seawater displacement. This buoyancy engine will operate inside autonomous underwater vehicles. With support from Phoenix International Holdings, Inc., the buoyancy engine is expected to provide innovative, cutting-edge performance to be integrated into modern systems. It will be able to operate at 100 meters of depth, however, the goal for the design is to be scalable to 6000 meters depth. This device must be compact so that when scaled, it fits inside the constructs of current commercial equipment and is more energy-efficient than the current means of ascent and descent in ocean vehicles.
Poster→ Presentation→ Final Report→
Autonomous Scuttling Buoy
Ben Higgins, Cid Porter, Will Pyne, Christopher Hurlbut, Connor GutherieAdvisor: Dr. Jandro Abot
Oceanographic buoys are used extensively in government and private research. These oceanographic devices are capable of sinking and resurfacing, while collecting a data profile of the aquatic environment they are exposed to. This project sponsored by Areté Associates requires the development of an autonomous scuttling buoy, capable of sinking and resurfacing, while collecting data on a limited power supply. The Buoy will use a plastic hollow cylindrical tube to house the internal electrical and mechanical components. The buoy will be controlled by a microcontroller/microprocessor, which will manage data along with power regulations and system operations. The controller will use solar panels as a power generation system, coupled with high-rated batteries to store and supply adequate resources to each system. In order to make the buoy sink and resurface, the buoy will have a water-bladder mechanism, which requires the intake and expulsion of water to balance the buoyancy and weight of the buoy. The Scuttling buoy will also have temperature and pressure sensors that will store data into the system controller. With the solar panels regenerating enough power to the system researchers are able to deploy and later retrieve the buoy to obtain the collected data.
Poster→ Presentation→ Final Report→
Health Monitoring Steering Wheel
Ahmed Fenais, Riyadh Alghuraybi, Abdullah Aldhafeeri, Mauro Quercia, Saeed AlghamdiAdvisor: Dr. Jandro Abot
This project aims to increase safety in automobile industry by detecting drivers’ health status. Heart rate is a one significant way to keep up with human health and awareness. Furthermore, in this project we focus in analyzing heart rate by using CNT yearns which is piezoresistive and very sensitive element that its change in electrical resistances can be turned to measurement of a heart rate. CNT yarns are very delicate element but also it is so sensitive which make it able to acquire data in real time. As well as installing a display that is connected to the system where the driver can know the status of his own health to avoid any irregularities that can lead to any risk.
Poster→ Presentation→ Final Report→
Remotely Controlled Corrosion Removal Device
Abdullah Altassan, Musaad Aloraini, Fahad Alsowayigh, Abdulrahman AlshammariAdvisor: Dr. Jandro Abot, Dr. Robert Latorre
Remotely controlled corrosion removal device that can remove corrosion inside ship tanks beams. The device will have two brushes underneath it to remove corrosion, each brush will have its own DC motor with the speed of 6000 rpm. The device motion will be via two tires for better stability and will be connected to a DC motor with a speed of 5 rpm. The device will have a vacuum pump and vacuum bag to suck the dust caused by the process of removing corrosion. The device is going to be assembled in parts that are cut from aluminum sheet. The thickness of the sheet is about 0.04 in which is appropriate for our design based on the calculations performed.
Poster→ Presentation→ Final Report→
Significantly Improving the Insulation in Saudi Arabian Homes using Concrete Paneling Technologies
Megan Maley, Yasser Almutairi, Mohammed Alomair, Sean Coughlan, Ahmed AlnaifAdvisor: Dr. Jandro Abot, Dr. Robert Latorre
Saudi Arabia is facing a massive energy crisis due to the lack of insulation in residential homes. With temperatures reaching 140 ℉, the lack of insulation causes people to keep their air conditioning units running constantly to try and keep cool. The average home in Saudi Arabia could spend 70% of their monthly electric bill to cool their home. The addition of insulation to the concrete panels already in use can have a massive impact. We are proposing the design of a concrete panel that will be easily manufactured in a Saudi Arabian market that will resolve this issue. With the addition of a layer of insulation in between two concrete layers, we plan to make the heating and cooling of residential homes 40% more efficient and decrease the heat loss by about 30%. This work will end up saving the user an average of 31,824.06 Saudi Riyal or 8,483 USD.
Poster→ Presentation→ Final Report→