540:400 Design of Engineering Systems II
Large Projects

Group 1: RutSkate

Andrew Bufalo
Sean O’Brien
Komal Patel
Rafael Soto
Carolyn Youssef

Segway is gaining acceptance and is now being used by parking meter attendants and police officers in metropolitan areas. It has two disadvantages: cost and storage space. Skateboards serve the same function but require skills to use. The objective of this project is to design and construct a skateboard on two wheels that will be driven by electric motors. Its directional movement will be determined by sensing where the person riding skateboard is leaning. It will be able to turn due to pressure sensors on the board. It should be inexpensive and does not require skills to ride. The innovations of the design consider the stability of the board, turning at various degreed angles, communication with the user, and speed control.

Group 2: Paint Crawler

Joseph Butewicz
Anand Patel
Delia Rios
Pooja Singh

Interior painting is a tedious and expensive task. The purpose of this project is to design and implement an automated painting system that measures the dimensions of the area to be painted (excludes areas not to be painted), calculates the amount of paint needed for painting, and sets up a structure that enables it to steadily move up and down to paint the desired areas. The machine will send notices for paint replenishments and task completion. The motivation for this project is to both make the first automated interior wall painting machine and to show the possibility of replacing the majority of the painting workforce with automated painting machines.

Group 3: Networked SmartAlarm Clock

Jay Chu
Kelly Delpome
Clair Johnson
Carl Pankok

As personal data devices become more advanced and less expensive, markets for simple and traditional technologies, such as the classic alarm clock radio, have declined. In an effort to revitalize this market for companies still immersed in such areas, this project aims to produce a proof-of-concept alarm clock design that integrates modern technologies with classic simplicity. The Networked SmartAlarm clock, developed with donations and technologies from Emerson, features the SmartSet technology, which automatically sets the clock when it is plugged in. The clock is also equipped with wireless internet access. This allows the user to access a webpage for customizations, including the display of streaming text from specified websites and user input on the clock screen. Outlet control and window status are also enabled through remote access. The clock features the SmartAlarm, which allows it to adjust the alarm based on external conditions, such as traffic or delays.

Group 4: Tennis Ball Collector

Akira Hada
Diane Ielmini
Michael Pandolfo
Qi Wen

Tennis ball feeder and players require constant availability of tennis balls. Collecting scatter balls in the court area is a daunting task. Design a fully automated tennis ball collector that collects tennis balls and places them back into the feeder. In order to collect the balls the machine must recognize where the ball is located and then move directly to that ball. After picking up the one ball it must then figure out the next closest ball and move to that spot, and so on until all the balls are picked up. The collector should not miss collecting any ball and should perform the task accurately, efficiently (short time) and inexpensively. It should be compact and occupy a small space.

Group 5: Mass Customizing Assembly System

Cynthia Hus
Thomas Ramos
Thomas Yen

The introduction of interchangeable parts and assembly line concepts revolutionized the world by improving the ability of humans to quickly and efficiently manufacture products. While we now live in a world where mass production is commonplace and oftentimes necessary, over time the consumer has been steadily removed from the product design process. The objective of mass customization is to reintroduce the consumer to this process and provide the choice of exact product specifications he or she desires. The group has created an automated assembly system that manufactures cutlery and dining accessories that are customizable to over 10,000 configurations. A customer has the ability to log onto a website and place an order that matches his or her exact wants and needs. A computer program will then automatically operate the product assembly while a database will log inventory and sales. Other database capabilities include alerting operators at reorder levels to prevent stockouts and confirming the readiness of the product with the customer through email and text message.

Group 6: Port-of-Entry Optimization

Nathalia Londono
Omar Pena
Vanessa Sanchez-Dominguez

Containers arrive at ports from different port origins to different destinations. In this project we consider a port-of-entry (POE) container inspection system where a fraction of the arriving containers at the port is subjected to a sequence of inspections at different stations. A typical inspection system begins with radiation detection. Containers are driven through a Radiation Portal Monitor (RPM) at approximately five miles per hour, where radiation emissions are detected. A graphic profile of the radiation reading is produced and if the profile suggests the presence of radioactive material, an alarm is activated. Once an alarm is activated, the container is then subjected to further inspection to determine the source of radiation. Other inspections stations follow. Containers that are not subject to inspection are stacked in the port yard to be retrieved later by the intended receiver or stored temporarily until another ship arrives to carry to other destinations. Design a POE system where containers arrive and stacked efficiently in the yard and are retrieved after en elapsed time to be delivered to the receiving company or to another ship. The system keeps track of every container and its attributes. The stacking algorithm should be able to move a container from any location with a minimum number of moves. The prototype system should be fully automated and computer controlled.