Automatic 2-axis positioning system for spray gun particle size and distribution measurement - Sponsored by ITW Industrial Finishing ITW Industrial Finishing designs spray equipment that are used to coat various products with various materials, such as applying stain to wood furniture or paint to aircraft etc. One aspect that affects the finish is the particle size distribution of the spray. Ideally all particles in the spray should be a specific size and shape. If the particles are too large they may splatter too and if they are too small they may dry up before reaching their target or not reach their target at all.
To help test spray particle size, ITW proposed a project to the MMAE 432 class to build a piece of test equipment capable of accurately positioning one of their spray nozzles.
Team Members: Matt Blocker, William Cabrera, Stephen Flicek, Omar Husain, Richard Ike, Jerry Jose, Kyle Koning, Nicholas Przybysz, Josie Truong, and Stephanie Walter
Safety Bench Press A bench that can lower automatically if a user gets stuck without a spotter while performing a bench press.
Team Members Julian Beltran, Uchenna Egwu, Samad Erogbogbo, Seon Jeong, Jichul Kim, Harry Michael, Nastasja Terry, Jan Teves, Aron Varhegyi, and Robert Whittlesey
Integrated Water Pump The objective of this project was to redesign a water pump shaft/hub/pulley system to have fewer parts and cost less than the current design employed by Navistar International.
Team Members: Vlad Antal, Nick Bailey, Nikola Baltadjiev, Chris Catalina, and Brad Sui
Mechano-Screwdriver The objective of this project was to assemble a multivariate screwdriver. The design process included five major geared designs which were evaluated throughout the project. There are several factors that must be considered when trying to verify whether or not a gear train is feasible. An attempt at creating a planetary gear design and a CVT design revealed that the concepts were too complex for the project. These factors include such things as tolerances, friction, gear pitch diameters, rated horsepower, torque, and number of gear teeth. By implementing the specifications from the functional requirements it was possible to complete all calculations needed to decide upon the feasibility of the planetary and CVT design. A conclusion was made that the planetary gear train and CVT design are not feasible based on manufacturing processes and design considerations. A parallel spur gear design was developed and proved to be much simpler. The spur gear screwdriver was converted into two prototypes before achieving acceptable levels of success. The design is still to be further developed, though it successfully provides the user with a torque and speed advantage as desired.
Team Members: Eduardo Aramayo, Joe Carden, Plamen Marinov, Daniel Oh, Nikolay Popov, Efann Saung, Andrew Seo, Joshua Sullivan, Kinjal Tailor, and Maribel Valdez
Improved Heat Exchanger The objective of this project was to design a submersible oil cooler that is 10% more efficient than a current heat exchanger used by Navistar International.
Team Members: Thomas Kennedy, Justin Ma, Aseem Pandey, Heling Shi, and Olufemi Sonoiki