Engineering Technology Capstones

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    Nano-compatible tensile testing machine
    (2024) Johnson, Martez; Scott, Austin; Izadian, Afshin
    The Nano-Compatible Tensile Testing Machine (NCT TM) represents a collaborative effort to develop a system for measuring the mechanical proper ties of nanomaterials. This project integrates interchangeable load cells, alongside a digital caliper within a single system that interfaces with a user’s microscope. This data combined with what the user can gather via their microscope capabilities will enable precise assessment of tensile strength, yield strength, and Young’s modulus. By bridging the gap between traditional testing methods and the unique challenges posed by nanotechnology, the NCT TM promises to advance research capabilities within materials science here at IUPUI.
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    Implementation of a Noise Control Program: Eliminating the requirement of a Hearing Conservation Program at Parker-Hannifin’s Indianapolis, IN Site
    (2021-08-03) Slater, Jeffrey; Ray, V. Matt; Koo, Daniel; Weissbach, Robert
    Parker-Hannifin’s Indianapolis site employs a variety of equipment capable of producing harmful noise above the OSHA regulatory action level for noise. If no action is taken to reduce hazardous noise generation, the site would be required to implement a Hearing Conservation Program, where a majority of the workforce would be subject to recurrent and expensive annual testing, training, and the ongoing required use of personal protective equipment. However, the site is currently undergoing a significant expansion and refurbishment initiative, which offers the potential to use design solutions to significantly reduce its operating decibels. At the employee level, exposure to harmful noise can lead to tinnitus, partial hearing loss of high-frequency noise, and eventually permanent hearing loss. (OSHA 2018) To prevent this impairment, OSHA requires the implementation of a Hearing Conservation Program for worksites with a time-weighted average noise level above 85 decibels on an A-weighted scale. Such programs cost, on average, $350 per employee annually. (Dobie 2018) This study collected best practices from regulatory bodies and industry leaders to create a specific guide for the Indianapolis site to implement during this period of increased capital investment. Additionally, the guidelines can be applied to similar Parker-Hannifin sites within the division and can be a reference for further capital projects. Applying the program will reduce the harmful noise to a point where a hearing conservation program is not required, and PPE use is made optional. This study applies principles to a small, representative section of the site as verification, with the intent to replicate site-wide as resources are available. Using case study analysis and on-site noise data collection, the paper delivers a program for the engineering team, a noise map of a specific area, and a set of specific recommendations to reduce significant noise generators.
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    Constraint Elimination through Water Reuse
    (2021-12-04) Blalock, James; Ray, Veto Matthew; Koo, Dan; Dalir, Hamid
    Facility managers are tasked with maintaining the very systems that create much of plant overhead. Careful management of maintenance and operations can keep plant overhead costs low and ensure optimum performance of systems and equipment. A thorough understanding of plant systems and equipment can also assist in producing creative solutions to plant problems in the most affordable manner. Zimmer Biomet, Inc. is faced with adding additional cleaning equipment that will further overwhelm a wastewater processing operation that is already nearing 85% capacity. The obvious resolution of this problem is to increase the capacity of wastewater processing by adding a third processing station. Due to the expense of adding another processing station, the facilities department was contacted and asked to investigate alternative solutions. Fundamentally, the facilities department was asked to resolve a process constraint. They leveraged their understanding of plant systems, a review of industry best practices, and the appropriate continuous improvement tools in order identify a more cost effective solution to eliminating the constraint. This project documents the process followed by the facilities department that resulted in identifying a water reuse opportunity that not only eliminated the constraint, but also resulted in a financial savings, a reduction in water usage, a reduction in energy cost, reduced stress on the environment, and a demonstration of the plants commitment to social responsibility through carefully managing natural resources.
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    Final Report For Siemens and Safety Labs Project
    (2022-05-04) South, Tim; Brewer, Chris; Bik, Van; Goodman, David
    This paper is a comprehensive document includes labs, instructor notes, high and low level designs, test specifications as well as all other documentation that goes to the senior project tasked with the creation of 3 labs. These labs include an introduction to Siemens, Introduction to Safety Relays, and The Safety Standards Lab.
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    Houseplant Advisor
    (2021) Griswold, Andrew E.; Magnabosco, Nadia E.; Freije, Elizabeth; Cooney, Elizabeth
    For capstone in the ECET department, it was expected for this group to create a houseplant advisor device. The device includes an LCD touchscreen, temperature/humidity sensor, and a light sensor. The device is expected to take a 24-hour scan of a certain area of a home. Then based off the average light, humidity, and temperature, it would recommend a plant that would do well in that specific area and display it on the touchscreen. The customer also wanted the device to have the option of logging the owned plants and to send a reminder when to water them.
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    Robot Safety Interlocks For ABB
    (2022-05-04) Mitchell, Jacob; Grissom, Joe; Robinson, Timothy; Cooney, Elaine
    The Robot Interlocks Capstone project serves its purpose of protecting those in the room of the ABB robot. The entire system was designed by the Robot Interlocks Team of 2021-2022 and built by Campus Facility Services. The students in charge of the project are Joe Grissom, Jacob Mitchell, and Timothy Robinson. The Academic Advisor and supervisor of the project is Professor Elaine Cooney. The project function is to halt robot operation once the door interlock loses contact with its actuator, the enclosure gate is opened, or once the area scanners detect obstruction of any kind within the robot enclosure. All documentation used by the team has been referenced within this document. Since this project will continue to be an ongoing project in the future, it is highly recommended to read through this document before going forward with robot operations.
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    Home Leak Sensor Final Report: A Kitchen Sink Sensor Used to Detect Water Leaks
    (2021-05-05) Bonds-Johnson, Jeffrey; Balcazar, Angel; Lin, William; Weissbach, Robert; Pash, Phillip; Goodman, David
    The home leak sensor project is a smart leak sensor that will detect water leaks under the customer’s kitchen sink. The sensor will alert homeowners with an audible alarm and with an email when there is a leak. The customer is looking for an affordable, fast acting leak detection device that will last at least 6 months before having to replace the batteries, and that is able to collect the leak to minimize clean up. After extensive research, we approached this design focusing on those main points within our decision matrices. We designed a device that will clamp onto the pipes itself allowing us to implement a way to collect the leak and ultimately receive leak detections in under 10 seconds. The longevity of the home leak sensor is accomplished by the microcontroller and batteries we chose. Our microcontroller has sleep mode functionalities and the batteries have a mah rating of 2200. After testing and calculating, we estimate that our home leak sensor will last an average of 935 days before needing to change batteries. Finally, the microcontroller also allows for IOT connections, which we were able to use to connect to the internet and send email notifications to the customer. The home leak sensor is able to detect leaks under 10 seconds, collect ½ cup of water, last an average of 935 days, and sends email notifications to the customer. It passes all of the specifications we tested to, including stability and durability. For future improvements, we may have overdesigned the longevity of the device as the customer only asked to last 6 months. If we were to do this again we would use a mAh rating from our batteries of at most 1000.
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    Outsourcing Considerations for Douglas County School District
    (2023-04-17) Schuurman, Michael James; Ray, Matthew; Koo, Dan; Dalir, Hamid
    Due to inefficiencies in staffing and response rates to work order requests, including providing the appropriate preventative maintenance for facilities and equipment, Douglas County School District is seeking ways to shift some of the operational responsibilities to third-party vendors through supplemental service agreements, otherwise known as outsourcing. This project looks at the costs and effectiveness of performing facility management functions for the Douglas County School District with third-party vendors, by contracting for as-needed services through an outsourcing vendor. Actual data for the Douglas County School District is obtained for the fiscal year ending 2022, including financial and data related to the responsibilities of the Douglas County School District facilities management department. The custodial services, grounds services, and operation/maintenance disciplines, which comprise the larger facilities management department, were analyzed and used for this project. The project found that outsourcing comes in many different models. Each organization must custom-fit these models to accommodate their needs, which could be customer service related, the availability of funds, or other reasons.
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    A Case Study of Safe and Cost-Effective Hospital HVAC Strategies
    (2022-08-02) Caesar, Jeffrey; Ray, Matthew Veto; Koo, Dan; Dalir, Hamid
    The pressures of healthcare facilities to keep patients safe while also maintaining financial viability have been felt in recent years amongst industry leaders. The impacts COVID has had on patient safety and planning has in any way fast-tracked patient safety progress, but certainly at a financial cost. As hospital leaders and facility leaders attempt to grapple with these realities, a facility's operating strategy that addresses both safety and cost should be employed. The below study aims to solve two issues facing hospital facility leadership in regards to the facilities’ HVAC system. The first issue is how to decrease energy consumption and operating expenses in light of industry pressures to improve the financial outlook and secondly, how to increase patient safety as a direct result of COVID-19 realities. Increasing safety and ultimately flexibility can many times increase costs, so utilizing the most appropriate and tested techniques that follow patient safety protocols will be necessary. The importance of this study cannot be understated. As with any healthcare system, improving patient outcomes are at the heart of the industry and especially in light of our recent pandemic. The fundamental question as to how facilities can keep patients safer while simultaneously reducing energy consumption is a tough question to answer, but manageable due to both recent industry experience and up-to-date research on the topic. The methodology will be to conduct a straightforward cost benefit analysis that takes into account both patient safety and energy consumption. The first step will be to gather baseline data for Lutheran Hospital’s HVAC system to gauge current system performance vs. benchmarked performance. Next, the data will inform us as to what strategies to implement to both curb costs and increase patient safety. The third step will be to implement those strategies where possible and measure their benefits. Lastly, a conclusion will be made as to what long-term solutions will be most useful to both this hospital and the other hospitals within Lutheran Health Network.
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    MSTE Flywheel Capstone Project Report
    (2024-04-30) Hill, Kaleb; Franco, Gabrielle; Abegunde, Dami; Weissbach, Robert; Pash, Phillip; Freije, Elizabeth
    The objective of this capstone project evolved during its progression, ultimately aiming to develop a control system capable of idling the engine and operating the flywheel with braking capabilities. The flywheel's functionality includes idling the engine at approximately 3000-5000 RPM and rotating at speeds between 7000-9000 RPM. While the complete control system remains a work in progress, the flywheel can be fully braked, and preliminary data analysis has been conducted. Presently, the servo mechanism is utilized to maintain engine idling, adjusting the throttle to approximately 108° and returning to 100° upon closure. Future iterations will involve further servo implementation to facilitate RPM acceleration, achieving full throttle opening at 120° and introduce gradual braking.