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Item Constraint Elimination through Water Reuse(2021-12-04) Blalock, James; Ray, Veto Matthew; Koo, Dan; Dalir, HamidFacility 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.Item Residential Emergency Backup Power Supply and Hazard Detector(2021-05-01) Medina, Marco; Izadian, AfshinThe purpose of this device is to work as a power backup to a house’s sump pump system for when there is a power outage, specifically targeting homes older than the year 2000. It is assumed the UPS will be operating in a basement. The system will be able to operate continuously for 3 hours. If within this time, the battery is low, the pump overheats or fails to start, the client will receive an email notification. In addition, if the battery is bad and/or is not charging when the main AC power is back, the client will also get an email notification. Our UPS will contain the following components: a smart charger that will be connected to the main power source, an inverter that will convert DC to AC, and a bypass switch. Our system will have one current sensor, one voltage sensor, and an ultrasonic sensor. All the sensors will be connected to the embedded system. This will be key to keep our system working the way it should. The team will also keep in mind any standards that will apply to the system. They shall refer to IEEE, NEC, UL, IP Layer Protocol, and other agency standards with which to comply.Item A Case Study of Safe and Cost-Effective Hospital HVAC Strategies(2022-08-02) Caesar, Jeffrey; Ray, Matthew Veto; Koo, Dan; Dalir, HamidThe 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.Item 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, RobertParker-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.Item Houseplant Advisor(2021) Griswold, Andrew E.; Magnabosco, Nadia E.; Freije, Elizabeth; Cooney, ElizabethFor 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.Item 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, DavidThe 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.Item Robot Safety Interlocks For ABB(2022-05-04) Mitchell, Jacob; Grissom, Joe; Robinson, Timothy; Cooney, ElaineThe 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.Item Utilizing Modern Fleet Management Technologies to Track and Manage Indiana University Landscape Services’ Grounds Equipment Fleet(2023-08-01) Johnson, Tristan Beck; Ray, Matthew VetoTechnology integration is critical to the successful operation of any business or municipality. In today’s modern era of sophisticated machinery, smart sensors, and data tracking software, teams must develop a comprehensive software suite that caters to their needs as an industry. In the case of a large user group such as a municipality or higher education environment, these points are even more important. These large entities, unlike a business or production facility, function as small-to-medium-sized cities. Multiple divisions, multiple accounting methodologies, and multiple management teams are the norm for major universities. Ensuring that the university adopts and adheres to a widely adaptable set of operating procedures ensures that these various divisions can all work in a similar format while still allowing each team to adapt their procedures to their unique needs. One of the most difficult tasks of any university is the upkeep and maintenance of its physical assets. These can include the academic buildings, the infrastructure that heats and cools those buildings, and the equipment used to perform those maintenance duties for the physical assets of a university. This task is typically handled by a fleet management division. These fleet management divisions rely heavily on the latest technology to ensure their vehicular and equipment assets are maintained properly, replaced on schedule and ultimately can perform the duties of the workers who utilize them on a daily basis. In the same way that modern technology can improve the everyday functions of so many tasks in daily life, the proper fleet management software can handle many of the important tasks of a facility and fleet manager. Data acquisition can be largely automated, resulting in an accurate inventory of even the most sophisticated equipment fleets. The purpose of this study is to examine the potential optimization of a fleet management system at IU Landscape Services by examining the current framework of existing technologies available to Indiana University. The outcome of this exercise will be a proposed new direction to help accomplish these goals.Item Batch Mixing Skid Senior Design Capstone 2024(2024-05-01) Gibbs, Hayden; Wheeler , Zachary; Isaacs, Laiten; Freije , Elizabeth; Pash , Phillip; Weissbach , RobertThis report will look at the Batch Mixing Skid located in ET222 of the Engineering Technology building. The purpose of the Batch Mixing Skid is to provide a comprehensive solution to demonstrate how various instrumentation can be integrated and utilized to monitor and automate a system. This system uses a PLC and HMI to control solenoid valves and pumps to move water to different tanks, as well as heating and mixing the liquids. This process is designed to replicate what could be seen in an industrial setting, but at a smaller scale. The current Batch Mixing Skid is loud, inefficient, and a burden to use making it difficult for faculty and students within the ECET 35100 to learn about the instrumentation on the Batch Mixing Skid. While this project has been worked on by multiple groups in the past, our goal is to make this system more user-friendly, more efficient, and made to last as well as to create a great platform for students to learn from. We will do this by replacing the systems' plumbing, installing a new PLC and HMI system, rewriting the code from the ground up, as well as other improvements. The goal, outcome, and why this project is significant is that this is a system that will be used by the department for many years to come. This aims to teach students in ECET 35100 more about instrumentation, PLCs, and ladder logicItem Final Report For Siemens and Safety Labs Project(2022-05-04) South, Tim; Brewer, Chris; Bik, Van; Goodman, DavidThis 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.