Lightweight Swing Gate
Team Members
Thomas Schmidt, Eric Lindholm, Katherine Schattl, Caleb Carlson, and Andy Wybo, Mechanical Engineering
Advisor
Charles Van Karsen
Sponsor
Chrysler
Project Overview
Students must design, engineer, build, and test a new lightweight swing gate for 25 percent mass reduction and insertion into the current Jeep Wrangler. The new design has to uphold standard structural and durability requirements while being able to be manufactured.
Caterpillar Extendable Boom
Team Members
Andrea Klumpp, Gareth Tomlinson, Robert Jane, Andrew Kremkow, and Luka Stupar, Mechanical Engineering
Advisor
Gordon Parker
Sponsor
Caterpillar, Kent Smith
Project Overview
Our team is developing a variable-length boom for a Caterpillar Pipelayer. This boom will have the ability to extend from 24 to 28 feet. The transition from the 24- to the 28-foot length position is performed through the rotation of extension bars that are attached to the boom end. These extension bars are attached to a cross beam while at the 24-foot position and are detached from the cross beam to extend to the 28-foot position.
Jaipur Foot Improvements
Team Members
Miriam Paquet and Reid Barber, Mechanical Engineering; Stephanie Boomgaard, Ben Cottrill, and Kevin Peterson, Biomedical Engineering
Advisor
Dr. Nina Mahmoudian
Sponsor
Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering
Mechanics
Project Overview
The Jaipur foot was developed to provide an amputee in India with a simple, practical, and low-cost prosthetic that is compatible with an active and culturally appropriate lifestyle. In 2011, a design team successfully made improvements to the Jaipur foot to reduce its weight. The new objective was to improve compatibility of materials with the manufacturing process, while maintaining the affordability and functionality of the foot. The project culminated with a trip to India to meet with Dr. Anil Jain and observe patient use of the prosthetic.
Rail Car Coupler
Team Members
Alyssa Sahr, Materials Science and Engineering; Francis Bremmer, Yidan Lou, and Justin Tumberg, Mechanical Engineering; Kyle Pepin, Civil Engineering
Advisor
Paul van Susante
Sponsor
NuRail Center and Michigan Tech Rail Transportation Program
Project Overview
The mechanism used to link rail cars in the heavy freight rail industry is known as a coupler. The coupler has not been significantly redesigned since the original patent in 1873. The current coupler can have mechanical failure during use. The knuckle of the coupler fractures, causing costly delays when the cars detach. The team has studied coupler performance, and designed and tested a prototype to increase the fatigue life of the knuckle.
Hand-Crank Cycle Integration
Team Members
Bethany Aebli, Greg DeVillers, Jacqueline Kukulsi, Elizabeth Reinke, and Alicia Walby, Mechanical Engineering
Advisor
Paul van Susante
Sponsor
General Motors
Project Overview
Hand cycles for disabled athletes are currently unreliable and require designs that meet their needs while remaining competitive. The need for a newly designed hand cycle was voiced by Achilles Freedom Team members and heard by GM. Four Senior Design teams began designing two different alpha prototypes in January 2012, and they were completed in December 2012. Our team has taken the best designs from the two alpha prototypes and integrated them into a single beta prototype with further optimization and new design.
Low-Cost Prosthetic Knee
Team Members
Robert Pizzey, David Weyland, and Ruth Eischer, Biomedical Engineering; James Hartel, Mechanical Engineering
Advisor
Nina Mahmoudian
Sponsor
Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
Project Overview
Our team is redesigning and evaluating a costoptimized prosthetic knee joint created by a previous Senior Design team. The joint must be manufactured in India with local materials and be affordable for the hospital and patients. We have settled on a four-bar linkage design with a variable friction element to provide adjustable resistance to the user.
Automated Sealant System
Team Members
Brian Dvorak, Peter Denney, Joseph Trapp, Carl Drache, Paul Zimmerman, and Brian Boyce, Mechanical Engineering
Advisor
Charles Margraves
Sponsor
HGS Aerospace
Project Overview
Aircraft wing spars (structural members) are currently sealed using a manual process that is very time consuming. HGS Aerospace is seeking an automated solution that would allow this process to be completed much faster. The team must design a nozzle that can apply the sealant to an aircraft wing spar according to industry specifications. To validate that the nozzle is accurate, a test system must also be designed to simulate an actual application process.
Hatchback Rear Header
Team Members
Scott Thompson, Daniel Polovich, Benjamin Kloster, Jacob Bruggink, and Clayton Brown, Mechanical Engineering
Advisor
Charles Van Karsen
Sponsor
Chrysler
Project Overview
Our goal is to design, engineer, and build a rear header/liftgate hinge system on a compact vehicle.
Helical Gear Differential Test Rig
Team Members
Team Members David Couillard, Brandon Hein, Zachary Hersch, and Keegan Post, Mechanical Engineering
Advisor
Bill Endres
Sponsor
American Axle and Manufacturing/p>
Project Overview
American Axle and Manufacturing (AAM) requested a test rig be built to evaluate surface treatments of their differential housings. This rig should test different surface treatments applied to differential housing to determine the best for wear prevention. Currently, AAM uses a full axle and differential, which is both costly and time consuming in addition to the catastrophic failures that compromise their results. This is a continuation of past Senior Design teams who were unable to achieve repeatable accuracy in their testing, as required by AAM.
Tyco Foam Proportioner
Team Members
Andrew Schrader, Andrew Nienow, Liz Nunn, Jacob Budnick, David Flint, and Kevin Hency, Mechanical Engineering
Advisor
Charles Margraves and William Endres
Sponsor
Tyco Fire Suppression
Project Overview
Our team is trying to develop a unique foam concentrate proportioner to be used in an industrial setting for Tyco. The current proportioning system distributes the foam concentrate into water at correct proportions, but this is accomplished by various designs, each with limited abilities. Tyco is looking for a design that can encompass all advantages and minimize the disadvantages. This will be accomplished by challenging fresh minds to develop a new, innovative design.
Meritor Axle Carrier Weight Reduction
Team Members
Nick Harris, Michael Ponte, Le Lin, and Michael Hubble, Mechanical Engineering
Advisor
Michael LaCourt
Sponsor
Meritor
Project Overview
Our goal is to decrease the dry weight of a current axle by 100 pounds or 25 percent. Due to a decreased input load to the new systems, major components have been scaled down in order to decrease the weight. A new carrier housing has been developed that is cast of aluminum rather than gray iron. In order to verify the scaling and geometric changes, shafts have been tested based on maximum input torque.ications. To validate that the nozzle is accurate, a test system must also be designed to simulate an actual application process.
Portable Assisted Mobility Device
Team Members
Dominic Augustine, Beau Byers, John Zarafonitis, Xiaoyu Song, and Craig Watson, Mechanical Engineering; Lloyd Tubbs, Electrical Engineering; Dayna Pomeroy, Accounting; Jiang Qiu and Chad Pietila, Marketing
Advisor
William Endres and Roger Woods
Sponsor
Department of Mechanical Engineering-Engineering Mechanics
Project Overview
Heavily populated cities are facing problems with congestion; the purpose of the PAMD is to alleviate these problems by bridging the gap between the public transit station and the end destination. The PAMD is a personal transportation device to replace road vehicles or walking in congested urban areas. The criteria defining the device are: a singleuser system, powered by electric motor, which transports the rider to or from public transportation stations. This PAMD must incorporate a level of portability allowing users to move or carry it throughout crowded cities and transit systems.
Nexteer Rack Bearing Improvement
Team Members
Stewart Eddy, Chadwick Kern, Shawn Lesko, and Matthew Verbiscus, Mechanical Engineering
Advisor
Charles Van Karsen and Gordon Parker
Sponsor
Nexteer Automotive
Project Overview
The specific causes of a steering column rattle are unknown, so Nexteer needs an inexpensive way to locate and eliminate any rattle within the system. We have been tasked to create an analytical model and design a prototype of a conventional rack-and-pinion power-steering system. We will construct a computer model to locate the rattle and then validate the results of the model by constructing a prototype.
Extension Ladder
Team Members
Kyle Kovacs, Aaron Lilly, John Sand, and Huajun Ni, Mechanical Engineering
Advisor
Bill Endres
Sponsor
Jershon Inc.
Project Overview
We are designing an extension ladder with an automatic leveling system integrated into the design. We are completing the extension ladder project for Butch Kurzer of Jershon Inc., working with a second Senior Design team, which has designed the ladder-leveling system. The most important constraint for the system integration project is that the ladder is 29 feet in length when fully extended. Also, the ladder system should meet a 30 percent weight reduction from the target ladder. All design aspects must meet all ANSI standards that apply.
Tactical Traverse Apparatus
Team Members
Karl Gubert, Mary Gardner, Ben Daavettila, Cole Hume, Chelsea Ruff, Nathan Saliga, and Benjamin Kalis, Mechanical Engineering
Advisor
Jeff Allen
Sponsor
Air Force Research Lab
Project Overview
The Air Force Research Lab has organized a design competition between universities across the country: develop a tactical traversing apparatus for use by airmen on the ground during missions. Current solutions include avoiding the obstacles, crossing without a tool, or bringing a bulky and cumbersome aluminum ladder. The apparatus will be judged at the competition by criteria such as spanning length, weight, carrying capacity, compacted volume, additional functions, etc.