MAE

Background

The goal of UCI Solar Car is to build a solar car to compete in the Formula Sun Grand Prix (FSGP) to qualify for the American Solar Challenge (ASC). This will be our first time competing in the competition, and we plan to do so with a 3-wheel car. Our role in the brakes team is to complete the human interface components of the car which includes: parking brake, brake light switch indicator, dashboard, brake lines, and driver equipment

About ASC/FSGP

The solar car race has an emphasis on reliability and endurance over speed. The FSGP is a three day track event held annually, where qualification is determined by the number of laps. The ASC which is held every other year, is also multi-day, taking place on the public road on a route that is about 1,500-2,000 miles, which exposes the car to various driving and weather conditions.

Goal...

Background

The 2025 Baja SAE Arizona competition is an off-road automotive event in which collegiate teams compete to design, build, and test a mini ATV style vehicle. The vehicles must pass a technical inspection to make sure they are adherent to the rules and regulations set out by SAE, and are then allowed to compete in dynamic events that test the vehicle's acceleration, maneuverability, off-road capabilities, and strength. We will be designing and manufacturing a rolling chassis, which includes the frame of the vehicle along with the suspension and brakes, that is to be entered into the Baja SAE competition next year after powertrain integration. Our design will focus on having a frame that is rules compliant and having a suspension and braking system that is lightweight and handles well in order to pass technical inspection and perform strongly at the competition.

Goals and Objectives

The team's...

• Background
  • In the development of a Formula Society of Automotive Engineers (FSAE) racecar, for Anteater electric racing the design of the steering and suspension systems is critical to achieving optimal vehicle performance, handling, and driver feedback. The current challenge lies in creating a steering system that provides precise control and responsive handling, while minimizing weight and maintaining structural integrity. Additionally, the suspension system must effectively absorb road irregularities, maintain tire contact with the track, and ensure stability during high-speed maneuver.
• Goals and Objectives
  • ​Determine ways to select and geometrically configure suspension and steering components within the preexisting vehicle architecture.
  • Steering System: To provide precise control and feedback to driver while ensuring quick response time and stability.
  • Shock Absorption System: To optimize tire contact with the road surface, enhancing handling, stability, and ride comfort while absorbing shocks from uneven terrain.
• Milestones
  • ​CAD model
...

The UCI RoboSub team designs an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV). Our AUV features autonomous localization, ultrasound detection, and a magnetically actuated appendage for the retrieval of debris off of the seabed. This project fosters innovation in underwater robotics, emphasizing autonomy, precision, and teamwork while addressing real-world maritime and environmental challenges.

Background:

Our multidisciplinary team is working to design and fabricate a semiconductor chip through the use of a cleanroom and the equipment within it. In addition to development, the team aims to create educational content on semiconductor manufacturing to share knowledge and promote understanding. By combining the expertise of multiple engineering fields, in mechanical, electrical, and computer, we are working together to understand the processes and theories behind devices smaller than a millimeter.

Goal and Objectives:

• design electrical components including resistor, capacitors, inductors and transistors with a tolerance of 25 um
•  fabricate a semiconductor chip on a wafer
• comprehensive documentation for each stage of the design and fabrication process
• comprehensive guide to using KLayout CAD software for chip design
• standard operating procedure for cleanroom environment

Team Members:

Mufan Zhang, mufanz@uci.edu

Simon Chang, simonc7@uci.edu

Raghav Gate

Kenny...

Background:

In high-risk environments, wildfires can occur quickly and without warning. There is a need to monitor these areas, but many are difficult to access and traverse, and there is a limited amount of personnel capable of repeatedly surveying these areas. Therefore, we plan to design a UAV system capable of monitoring and navigating these high-risk locales. In the case of a fire, the UAV will be able to recognize it and take mitigating action, as well as interface with other systems with the data it has received.

Mission Statement:

We plan to demonstrate a prototype drone to show the capabilities of this system. The demo will take place over a 50x50 feet area on a field with a red square, representing a fire. On the sheet, a small lit candle will be placed randomly. The drone, from a designated starting point, will be tasked to fly to the sheet,...

EV Drivetrain is a senior design project dedicated to designing subsystems within the 2025 Anteater Electric Racing vehicle, such as the accumulator (lithium-ion battery) and motor mount. The goal of this project is to construct an optimized system for the accumulator and motor mount. This is done by producing prototypes and performing FEA to ensure proper function during static and high-performance events at the FSAE competition. Failure to properly design these systems can result in disqualification or driver injury.

HPVC@UCI is a multidisciplinary team of undergraduate engineers at the University of California, Irvine competing in the ASME Human Powered Vehicle Challenge (HPVC). Our mission is to design, build, and race a human-powered vehicle that pushes the limits of sustainability, safety, and performance. HPVC fosters real-world application of mechanical and structural design, aerodynamics, and human-centered engineering. Our team is committed to innovation, teamwork, and hands-on learning beyond the classroom. The team is split into four subteams, Statics, Dynamics, Electrical, and Operations. Currently, our goals are to improve on last year’s design by reducing weight by 25%, incorporating a suspension system onto the vehicle, and ensuring safe operation with an emergency stop should damage to the battery or motor occur.

Background:

   Keeping public areas such as parking lots clean is a pressing challenge due to their large size and frequent activity. With small items like empty soda or water bottles, it especially can be tedious, since traditional manual trash collection is labor-intensive, costly, time-consuming, and requires constant human involvement. Therefore, this project is offering an alternative solution that will streamline, and automate litter and trash collection. By utilizing advanced robotic and camera detection concepts paired with mechanical design, an Unmanned Ground Vehicle (UGV) will efficiently and independently locate, retrieve, and return empty soda cans or water bottles in public parking lots. 

Goals and Objectives: 

• A goal is to reduce the constant human involvement that is often in litter collection. 
  • Promote cleanliness in public spaces, and reduce manual labor. 
• The objective is to design and build a UGV that autonomously locates, retrieves, and returns an
...

Existing finger rehabilitation devices typically use exoskeletons to facilitate movement in disabled fingers. However, these devices are often large and costly, limiting their use to fixed locations, which restricts patients from using them in home environments. In this project, we aim to design a compact, portable robotic device specifically for home-based, thumb rehabilitation, addressing the need for a more accessible solution. This device is intended for stroke patients, helping them rehabilitate their affected thumbs through interactive exercises and simple games, enhancing mobility and engagement in their therapy.

Pulse Protectors:

Dr. Tang MicroBiomechanics Lab

Introduction:

There has been an increase in the use of pacemakers—devices used to regulate irregular heartbeats through electrical stimulation— with implantation rates from 55.3 to 72.6 per 100,000 from 2008 to 2017 [1]. Conventionally, these demands would be met with a leaded pacemaker, which is implanted within the left pectoral region with a lead running through the veins into the heart. However, recently there has been a shift in the market towards leadless pacemakers. One such device, the Medtronic Micra, is placed within the right ventricle such that the device is able to directly stimulate the heart without having the more traditional design of leads from the pacemaker to the ventricle. The wires flowing through the heart are one of the major causes of failures in pacemakers traditionally with Dr. Udo’s ~6 year follow up study citing 5.54% of the population having lead...

This is Project Dyno, a senior design project with the objective of designing, building, and prototyping a quadruped robot dog capable of serving as a disaster search and rescue aid in a low-cost package. We were inspired to make a search and rescue robot in response to the recent hurricanes on the East Coast. The needs of a would-be disaster relief robot drive our major objectives: traverse adverse terrain, overcome small obstacles, and support integration with a claw. We were also inspired by Boston Dynamic’s SPOT robot, a quadruped robot that is extremely capable, but also extremely expensive, making it less accessible to local authorities. Dyno will be scaled down in size and capability but still be able to serve in search and rescue operations.

Our purpose: 

The purpose of Unmanned Autonomous Submarine team is to create a device that can perform underwater tasks in place of humans. Surveying, exploration, and underwater repair are a only few of many necessary jobs that ensure safe sea travel and to protect marine life. However, extreme ocean conditions and the risk of malfunctioning equipment make these jobs dangerous for humans.

The Unmanned Autonomous Submarine team works to prove that a submarine can be a viable alternative to human labor for underwater work roles. Our team conducts research on simple yet energy-efficient submarine designs and tracking systems to develop a fully autonomous submarine. 

By the end of Winter 2024, the project team will have fabricated a submarine that can navigate freely underwater and autonomously track and follow a moving tennis ball. Our goal is to create a device that demonstrates functionality and efficiency so that future iterations may be used to improve underwater safety.

Objectives:

Quarter...

Background 

Thrust Vector Control (TVC) is the manipulation of the direction of a vehicles thrust to provide steering control throughout flight, improve stability, and allow for precision maneuvers. The lander challenge is a competition that motivates collegiate groups to develop self landing rockets. One challenge they offer is a $15,000 prize for a TVC static hot fire. For the competition, an engine above 500 lbf must be fired for at least 10 seconds as the TVC manipulates the thrust vector a minimum of 7 degrees in all directions. Build a TVC system for a 100 lbf engine that could be scaled up in the future to compete in the Lander Challenge.

Goal and Objectives 

1. System is able to withstand 100 lbf of thrust through the burn time of the engine
2. Engine mount designed needs to securely hold a ~3in diameter engine
3. System needs to
...

Current gel imagers on the market are expensive and not customizable leading to increased lab expenses. To address this we will design a gel imager that allows for customizable filter swapping and standard smartphone image capture, saving the sponsor’s lab space and funding. The gel imager will be adjustable to various transilluminator models and smartphones. Additionally, the filter exchanger will be utilize user controlled tuning to swap and stack optical filters for gel electrophoresis analysis.

We are the UCI Solar Car Project (ZotSun), a student-run interdisciplinary team of 60 undergraduates from the University of California, Irvine with a passion for innovative engineering and sustainability. Our mission is to revolutionize zero-emission transportation. Currently, we are building a solar car to compete in the Formula Sun Grand Prix of 2025, a race designed to determine the most efficient and aerodynamic solar-powered vehicles.

AQUASOL is a project that studies the use of solar energy and other clean energy sources to purify seawater and produce freshwater. This project aims to restore more drinkable and clean freshwater in the future of the Earth. The solar energy supply system and reverse osmosis membrane system will form the main components of the system, and the reverse osmosis purification of seawater will be achieved through pressure difference.

The HyperXite team needs a new way to transport their 250 kg hyperloop pod from location to location for demonstrations and a mobile workstation to repair and maintain the pod outside of the lab space. This iteration of the transport vehicle is dubbed the “Pod Maintenance and Transport Vehicle” which is a redesign of the original “Pod Transport Vehicle” made the previous year. The team will utilize feedback from the HyperXite team to build off of the old design to tackle issues such as difficulties maneuvering the vehicle, injuries resulting from blunt extrusions and sharp corners on the vehicle, and no ease of maintenance of the pod. This project will help to ensure the team and pod both arrive safely and swiftly to any event they find themselves at and present their technological findings to the world.

Project Background:

There is a technology gap concerning the additive manufacturing of magnetic materials on the nanometer scale. Current solutions are limited by their material strength and modulus, or by the precision in their technology. We aim to develop a 3D (SLS) printer for magnets under the sponsorship of Professor Camilo Cuervo and the U.S. Army Research Laboratory (ARL). Our final design will integrate the motion system of a selective laser sintering (SLS) printer with a magnetization head. These two components will work congruently to sinter and magnetize the ferromagnetic polymeric material simultaneously. The rotation gantry will provide the means to attach the magnetization head to the motion system and allow for unique pole pattering capabilities within the desired printing shape.

Preliminary Design

Review: https://drive.google.com/file/d/12YOxWRrPmDaRGGw6MzYn569Ja5SJpyZo/view?usp=drive_link

Goals:

• Design, Order, and Assemble Magnetization Head

• Optimize coil size for magnetization head

• Integrate laser engraver with magnetic head gantry

• Configure electronics and design user interface for printer operation

...

In many coastal regions around the world, communities without reliable access to electricity face significant barriers to economic development, education, healthcare, and overall quality of life. Traditional energy solutions, such as diesel generators or extensive power grid infrastructure, are often inaccessible or unsustainable for small, remote communities, particularly due to high costs, logistical challenges, and environmental impacts. This project aims to design a compact, affordable, and user-friendly wave energy converter for personal use, empowering individuals and households in underserved coastal areas to harness wave energy as a clean, renewable source of power. The device will provide a sustainable electricity solution that is adaptable to varied coastal conditions, enhancing energy independence and resilience while minimizing ecological impacts.

Current fire sprinkler systems often fall short in effectiveness, adaptability, and efficiency, particularly in modern building designs. These systems occupy considerable space, can cause significant water damage, and typically respond too slowly in the event of a fire. Our project focuses on designing an innovative fire extinguishing system for residential areas that overcomes these challenges. The new system is compact, highly responsive, and utilizes advanced technology to suppress fires before they spread. It integrates seamlessly with mobile devices, allowing users to receive real-time updates and control the system remotely. By prioritizing safety, minimizing property damage, and offering a faster response time, this system aims to revolutionize fire protection in residential settings, ensuring both peace of mind and effective fire suppression.

We are designing an autonomous glider to compete with the UCI DBF team for the 2024 AIAA Design Build Fly competition. The glider we build will deployed from the main RC plane DBF builds at altitudes between 200-400 feet above sea level and must independently execute a controlled 180-degree turn, achieve stable flight, have a light blinking upon release, and land precisely within a designated 200x200 foot target area, while weighing less than 0.55 pounds. The glider will have an autonomous flight controller in order to direct flight and allow the glider to land in the box without damage or outside assistance.

The NFPA Fluid Power Vehicle Challenge is an engineering competition where teams design a human-input vehicle that makes use of hydraulics and pneumatics as a means of propulsion. This competition is an opportunity for students to sharpen their understanding of the fluid power industry, cultivate team-based engineering skills, and network with industry professionals.

Our project, Zotdraulics, marks UCI's first ever entry into that competition. We have united mechanical, electrical, and hydraulic subsystems with the vision of building a vehicle that can contend for high placement in the competition's sprint and endurance races. We hope to cultivate a deeper understanding of fluid power, make a strong impression for UCI's debut entry, and establish a strong foundation for our future teams to advance.

Our purpose:

The purpose of the UCI Solar Airplane project is to prove the viability of solar energy as a substitute for nonrenewable fuel and to provide aid in search and rescue missions during natural disasters where drones and other methods would not be effective. Climate change has progressed at an alarming rate, especially in recent years, making it evident that a drastic change in energy use is necessary. Even so, today’s most commonly used energy source globally is still fossil fuels. While the renewable energy market continues to expand, it is vital to concentrate efforts into promoting applications of clean energy.

The Solar Airplane team works to prove that solar energy is a viable alternative to fossil fuels in aviation in hopes that it will spur an increase in solar energy applications for other energy needs as well. Our project will conducts extensive research into solar panels and aviation to...

Summary: 

In partnership with Saratech and the UCI Battery Lab, our project focuses on optimizing E-Bike batteries. We've selected lithium-ion batteries for their high energy density, long cycle life, and lightweight nature, ideal for electric bike applications. Specifically, we are opting for cylindrical battery types over prismatic and pouch cell types in order to prioritize airflow optimization for efficient cooling.

Recognizing overheating as a significant concern impacting battery performance, we're integrating a cooling system. This system includes a fan for air intake and strategically positioned vents for efficient outflow, ensuring optimal thermal regulation and prolonging battery life. Additionally, we employ simulation and CAD software like NX, SolidWorks, and StarCCM to analyze fluid dynamics, enhancing the effectiveness of our cooling design.

Background:

As electric bikes gain popularity for their efficient transportation, optimizing battery performance becomes essential. E-Bike Batteries serve as the power source. These batteries typically feature a block design, securely...

Robot arms rely on end of arm tooling (EOAT), such as grippers and cameras, to automate various tasks. The compatibility and swift swapping of EOATs are crucial for efficiency. Archytas' current EOAT interface requires a complicated series of steps in order to swap EOAT and lacks compatibility for EOATs with various ecosystems. Our project aims to lower the amount of parts and time needed to swap EOAT, create an interface that has compatibility with Universal Robot’s Robotic Arm, the UR3e, EOAT, update the assembly to include a larger motor, and ensure EOAT attached to our interface can function with a 1 kg payload. A significant aspect of this upgrade was designing a robust locking mechanism capable of withstanding 3D printing imperfections, offering user convenience, and providing secure support for the payload. The external lock and channel design successfully met these requirements, enhancing the overall functionality of the EOAT interface.

Background: 

Working with industrial robotic arm manufacturer, Archytas Automation, this project aims to provide the last two joints on a robotic arm with unlimited degrees of freedom for unrestricted movement. The mostly 3D printed robot employs a system of base-mounted motors, and a pulley and belts system to translate movement to its 5 joints. The last two joints are responsible for the rotational and swivel motion of attachments placed at the end of the arm. Previously, non-continuous belts utilized tensioners to connect their ends. This led to restriction of movement as these could not pass through the pulley gears. By redesigning the gear housings to a more open design and implementing a new tensioning system, we can integrate continuous belts and provide unrestricted movement on joints 4 and 5.

Goal and Objectives:

The objective of the project is to alter the design of the Archytas robotic arm to allow for...

Coastal areas in California attract millions of tourists a year and the more crowded these areas become, the more they are prone to pollution and trash build up. There are a few solutions when it comes to debris collection from bodies of water. We propose an underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) capable of maneuvering and object retrieval. Our ROV is nicknamed Archelon and it features applications of modern technology derived from underwater ROV research.

Our team's senior design project is a design of a 6-axis wind tunnel force sensor developed for use in the University of California, Irvine's (UCI) wind tunnel facilities. The sensor is engineered to measure forces and moments exerted by the wind in six degrees of freedom: three linear forces (surge, sway, and heave) and three rotational forces (roll, pitch, and yaw). Its design and implementation are critical for accurately assessing the aerodynamic properties of various objects, ranging from aerospace components to automotive parts and even sports equipment. The sensor is a vital tool for UCI laboratory classes, as it allows students to observe interactions in real time.

Utilizing advanced materials and sensor technology, the project aims to design a reliable and affordable device for wind tunnel testing at UCI. By providing detailed data on how objects interact with wind currents under various conditions, the sensor will enable researchers and engineers to optimize designs for improved performance and efficiency. This project not only represents a significant technological advancement in aerodynamic testing but also the interdisciplinary requirement of complex engineering design.

Background

By orienting air foils in a unique manner, downward forces can be generated on a car, providing it with the ability to increase its cornering speeds due to enhanced grip, improving its overall performance. The aerodynamics sub-team of Anteater Formula Racing (AFR) will use the foam airfoils as a base to layer composite materials on top to create a final design. 

Goals and Objectives

• Design and produce a precise CNC hot wire foam cutter able to cut pieces of foam 2 feet long
• The entire project should be completed with a maximum cost of $400
• The system should be user friendly and time efficient

Week 7: Design Phase Iteration 1- Determine XZ axis stepper motor system, hot wire system, and user interface

Week 8: Design Phase Iteration 2- Finalize decisions made in week 7, determine mounting base and overall structure 

Week 9: Complete a trade study to...