MAE

Background

Client-focused project to develop prosthetic opposable thumb that allows for grasping objects with that hand. Work with an individual who retains portions of fingers on right hand, and has left arm and both feet amputated.

Project Team will interview client to assess and analyze needs, and obtain a 3D scan of residual hand. Team will then brainstorm design concepts before creating a CAD model of the prosthetic thumb prototype. Team members will perform calculations to determine degrees of freedom and force requirements. Appropriate adjustments will be made to the CAD design before first prosthetic thumb prototype is 3D printed. After testing the prototype with client to perfect the prototype, over several iterations, the design will be finalized and fabricated.

Our project was focused on exploring the resources available in the public knowledge space for creating advanced robotics. We specifically focused on the open source technology and guidance that would allow a small team or individual to create a versatile, efficient, and low cost robot that could be customized to act intelligently and effectively in as many different situations and environments as possible.

The result of the past 9 months of work is a robot dog in the sub $250 range that is both cute, powerful, and intelligent in how it receives and carries out commands. Given more time, we know our robot could acheive even more and we are excited to see how far it goes in the future.

This project was to make a robotic quadruped in the form of a dog.  It should be able to be voice-controlled using recognized commands to move via servo-controlled leg joints as well as perform speech output.  To achieve this, we utilized 3-D printed material for the chassis and legs as well as bearings for structural support.  These parts hold a “Raspberry Pi 4” connected to a servo hat that leads to 12 different servos, three for each leg.  As far as software, we imported a voice recognition library, taking advantage of Google’s voice recognition taking input from a USB microphone and outputting from a speaker.

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Background:

Drones (often referred to as unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)) are unpiloted aircraft or spacecraft that can be autonomously or remotely controlled. They are used for a wide variety of applications such as the military, space exploration, and for commercial use, which allow ordinary people and companies to fly these vehicles for all sorts of purposes. Drones usually run on lithium polymer batteries (lipo Batteries) but hydrogen fuel cells can also be incorporated. 

Background:

Background: 

Under high stress, the axle in SUPER73 e-bikes grind into the dropout, and deform, ultimately leading to failure over long term usage. The goal of this project is to redesign the axle or dropout to be able to handle the impact loads and torque regularly experienced, so as to not fail.

UCI Zephyr project plans to bring electrical power to the great outdoors. Taking inspiration from global climate change and large wind turbines, our team is developing a wind turbine small enough to fit inside a hiking bag and capable of charging multiple devices overnight in 10 m/s winds. The project will challenge the team to utilize the skills learned throughout our undergraduate careers to develop an efficient and affordable power source. UCI Zephyr project is composed of two teams, mechanical and electrical, working together with our sponsor. The Spring 2021 team will create the design plans needed for manufacturing during the 2021-2022 school year.

UCI Bike Builders is a senior project devoted to the design and manufacturing of bicycle frames. The frame being developed for 189 will be constructed using carbon fiber tubes and metal 3D printed lugs, bonded together with a high strength two part epoxy. The project is also manufacturing a more traditional steel frame using oxy acetylene brazing. In order to achieve this, a modular welding jig was designed and machined in house.

Background 

Background

The Pressurized Rocket Ejection Testing (PRET) team is designing the testing device that will be able to complete the objectives described. The design will be able to hold prototype nose cones, test different moutning methods, test different ejection system configurations, and measure velocity of deployment, pressure inside the nose cone, and shock force due a mass ejection.

Background

Background 

Ford Automotive Company partnered up with UCI students to redesign the current HVAC duct in a Lincoln Navigator. As of today, the manufacturing process of the duct utilizes injection molding where a large initial investment is needed. To make up for the high initial cost, large volume production is required in order to lower the unit cost. However, to lower costs for low volume production (<20,000 units), UCI students will redesign the duct for Additive Manufacturing. The engineering design process will be implemented to create at least 3 designs that maximize nesting efficiency of a Multi-Jet Fusion 3D printer, with the overall goal of lowering the unit cost and minimizing performance loss compared to the current injection molded design. Students will present these proposed designs with an associated business case benchmarking against conventional manufacturing and identifying production volume opportunities.

Whoopy Wipes is a sanitization device capable of dispensing warm, moist towelettes at the touch of a button.

Background:

Due to the recent COVID-19 pandemic, a higher standard of sanitation is required to safely navigate the world. This problem is particularly concerning because it affects almost every aspect of our lives. As indicated by the CDC, COVID can last on surfaces from hours to days. In order to satisfy the increased demand for a sanitary environment, we aim to design an autonomous sanitation device capable of sanitizing an entire surface to limit the risk of transmission.

Goal:

Thermal management systems, involving the use of technology to control and maintain temperature within a certain range, have applications across many industries. With the continuing advancements in electronics and other high power density producing systems such as spacecraft, the power they generate is expected to increase. These systems are projected to exceed a power generation of 1400 W/cm2. The absence of efficient cooling systems and power dissipation, however, will lead to the degradation of the system and short term use of components.

Design Build Fly is an annual international competition hosted by AIAA and Cessna/Raytheon. The goal is to design and build a plane that abides by the year's rules while also performing the best at the competition. The competition will take place in Tucson, Arizona in mid-April. This year the theme of the competition is to build a carrier based aircraft. Some specific requirements are that the wing of the aircraft must be able to fold and unfold remotely, carry a radome, and carry a minimum of 4 stores and be able to drop them remotely. 

Siemens has partnered with UCI to teach senior-level MAE students how to use their NX suite software with an emphasis on additive manufacturing over the next two quarters: winter and spring 2021. The current team will attend workshops hosted by Siemens engineers to get familiarized with the NX suite and the concept of Digital Twins, which will serve as a guiding tool to learn how additive manufacturing is evolving in industry due to the digitalization of engineering design projects in different sectors. During this time, the team will also design an additively manufactured component to control the elevator of a plane. 

The UCI Rocket Project - Main Valve Actuation System (MVAS) is a team sponsored by the UCI Rocket Project that is dedicated to designing and developing a valve actuation system for the main fuel and oxidizer lines for the static test fire scheduled for Spring 2021. The system will consist of two mechanically linked valves that should actuate together in the same motion. It should also be able to withstand the high pressures needed to provide the necessary thrust for the rocket and withstand the cryogenic temperatures of the propellants that may reach as low as -300 degrees Fahrenheit. It will need to be designed compactly and safely to ensure that it can fit snugly within the rocket.

The Hoag Bone Plate Fixation Project is a design project sponsored by Hoag Orthopedics consisting of MAE/BME/MSE students. The purpose of the project is to improve the overall design of the current bone plate which is an smooth metal plate implant held together by surgical screws used to immobilize fractured bone segments. A textured bone plate should provide more friction between the bone and the plate. The screws in both the smooth bone plate and the textured bone plate are compared which will be used to determine if increased friction between the plate and the bone reduces failure of the screws. The re-designed plates hope to reduce failure in the screws which will decrease the number of failed fixations in patients. 

Summary:

The winter 2021 steerable mechanical walker is a project with the goal of designing and building a 2-legged walker that utilizes a Jansen-style leg mechanism and steering system.  The walker's purpose is to operate through radio control and be able to navigate over uneven terrain that traditional wheeled vehicles would not be able to.  

Background:

Human interaction within the movie theater must be significantly reduced in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. A solution is needed to eliminate the portion of the movie theater experience in which customers are lined up to interact with the theater staff to order snacks and drinks at the concession stand.

Goals and Objectives: 

Airdrop Solutions is a project team contract by UCI’s UAV Forge to assist in designing and refining UAV Forge’s current design of components. UAV Forge participates in a yearly competition called AUVSI SUAS and is required to deploy a UGV and land on a 12.192 m (40 ft) circular target as one of its tasks (i.e. the Airdrop task). A UAV would fly on the course, passing through waypoints, and then complete the Airdrop task inside the designated boundaries to do the Airdrop task.

Diversifying technology is an imperative mission that requires careful consideration of all consumers involved, no matter how small the demographic, as to ensure equity, inclusion, and representation for marginalized groups. DiversiTeam’s goal is to provide an equitable design solution to a product that failed to consider diversity in its initial implementation. In our redesign, we aim to account for accessibility issues and/or other needs that underrepresented groups may have for consideration within our future product. For Winter 2021, our team has decided to redesign contemporary safety glasses. Conventional safety glasses are uncomfortable, ill-fitting (i.e.,one-size fits all approach), and provide poor clarity for users (e.g.,fog up), which causes many practical issues for users; especially those who suffer from anotia/microtia, eyeglass wearers, or those who generally have difficulties wearing standard glasses’ temples without discomfort. DiversiTeam's design will provide versatility to a product that will not only widen accessibility for users, but enhance convenience for all safety glass wearers. To remedy these concerns, DiversiTeam is designing innovative modular safety glasses with the following features: modular lens attachment capabilities that can accommodate the user’s size/fit preference, antifog coating to avoid poor clarity, and various adjustable strap/arm wearing styles to best suit the user’s comfort level, and the ability to integrate stackable modifications (e.g., face shield, top strap, light bar, etc.) to the frames through attachable/clip on methods will be implemented as a unique feature of this product. DiversiTeam's design will provide versatility to a product that will not only widen accessibility for users, but enhance convenience for all safety glass wearers.

Most of the energy leaves our bodies in the form of heat simply due to existing temperature gradients in the environment. An average human body at rest emits about 350,000 J of energy per hour, which is roughly equivalent to the energy given off by a 100-Watts incandescent light bulb. As a matter of fact, the conversion of human-body-heat into electrical energy using a solid-state thermoelectric generator (TEG) sparks interest in creating wearable self-powered mobile electronics and sensors. We, the UCI W.A.T.C.H team, which stands for "Wear A Thermoelectric Calorie Harvester," are dedicated to designing wearable thermoelectric devices powered by human body heat!

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