Elizabeth DeBartolo

A Freshman Engineering Curriculum Integrating Design and Experimentation

A pilot freshman curriculum has been designed and implemented in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the Rochester Institute of Technology. The four-course sequence gives freshmen an overview of a broad range of mechanical engineering activities, ranging from system design and project management, electronics and programming, to technical writing and presentations. Students take a two-quarter ‘Introduction to Mechanical Engineering Design’ course and a two-quarter ‘Measurements, Instrumentation, and Controls’ course. In each sequence, the first course gives students most of the basic tools they will need and the second is centered on an electromechanical Rube Goldberg design project, undertaken by the whole class. Students develop the design concept, build the system, and prove that it works. They are able to practice skills such as communications, teamwork, time management, and experimentation. The integrated first-year course sequences have been offered for two years and have proved successful. The students were clearly satisfied with their experience.

Reliability Prediction of Remanufactured Product: A Welding Repair Process Case Study

Many experts agree that effective management of system reliability and reliability validation during product development is a key to achieve superior time to market and life cycle quality. However, reliability performance prediction is a common problem faced by all product developers and it is usually a difficult task. A related problem is to determine the reliability performance of a remanufactured product. Clearly, the remanufacturer would like to know the expected reliability of their product before entering it into service, but unlike an original manufacturer, they will typically have much less information available to them. In this paper, a general framework for reliability prediction in a remanufacturing environment is proposed. A case study of a remanufactured engine cylinder head that has had a fatigue crack repaired by a welding process will be presented in order to illustrate the process. The approach combines the use of Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA), Experimental Model Building, Monte Carlo Simulation and Linear Elastic Fracture Mechanics (LEFM) to generate a reliability estimate. The FMEA and physical modeling will be used to generate a model that relates the welding process control parameters to the fatigue performance of the test specimens. Monte Carlo Simulation techniques and LEFM will build on the above model to relate the process control parameters to the reliability performance. The paper concludes by discussing the utility of such a model and approach, and presents the future research agenda.Copyright

Terrain Characterization Using Modified RANSAC Analysis of Human Gait Data

One of the many lasting side effects of a stroke can be foot drop, or an inability to dorsiflex the foot. In order to remedy this, many people wear an ankle-foot orthotic (AFO) post-stroke. One of the many troubles these individuals face is in dealing with obstacles such as stairs and ramps, because the AFO limits the plantarflexion that is natural in navigating these obstacles [1,2]. The end goal of this research is to create an active AFO that adapts to changing ground terrain, providing a more natural gait pattern.This paper presents the first part of this work: a means for identifying terrain in order to control an AFO. This has been accomplished using an infrared (IR) range sensor attached to the lower leg, used to measure the surface profile of the ground just ahead of a test subject. Using a modified RANSAC technique to fit experimental gait data, standardized gait profiles for different terrain have been quantified and shown to be reproducible, indicating the utility of the technique for terrain identification and AFO control.Copyright

“Heat Transfer” Traveling Engineering Activity Kit: Designed by Engineering Students for Middle School Students

A 2005–06 Multidisciplinary Senior Design team created a series of classroom activities designed to teach middle school students about engineering topics related to energy and the environment. This Traveling Engineering Activity Kit (TEAK) consists of five smaller kits, each based on a different energy-related theme: Heat Transfer, Electrical Energy, Wind and Water, Solar Power, and Chemical Energy. Each kit contains an Academic Activity to teach a background concept, a Hands-On Activity to allow students to apply the concepts learned, and a Take-Home Activity that can be done independently at home. The design team also developed instruction manuals suitable for non-engineers, lesson plans, handouts, and post-activity quizzes to assess participants’ learning. To date, the kits have been used by several hundred middle school students either in their classroom setting or while participating in on-campus outreach programs. This paper highlights the Heat Transfer TEAK including an overview of the intended learning outcomes; physical materials and set-ups included within the interactive kit; as well as details related to the development of the kit by a multi-disciplinary team of senior engineering students. Program and kit assessment progress is discussed based on feedback from design team members; middle school students and teachers. Future plans for refining current kits and expanding kit offerings are also discussed.Copyright

Usage of Revision Control Tools in Capstone Senior Design Courses

The capstone project serves as the culminating experience of most engineering programs. Collaborative design and documentation tools are an integral component of a modern product design and development environment. The Engineering Design Guide and Environment (EDGE), is a web-based system which provides engineers with tools for collaboration on multidisciplinary projects. The EDGE system includes version-controlled repositories for project documentation and design files. By examining the history of changes to these repositories, it is possible to view the usage trends of the system and their relationship to curriculum structure. This paper explores these usage trends with respect to the transition from a quarter-based to a semester-based calendar, the cycle of project deliverables within an academic term, and the transition from a one-day-per-week meeting pattern to a two-day-per-week meeting pattern.Copyright

Sonar Class Adaptive Sailing Jib Transfer Bench

Within the disabled community, there are many that enjoy the sport of sailing. To a disabled person, the experience of sailing on the open water can feel liberating, while providing meaningful and entertaining recreation. However, certain disabilities restrict one’s capacity to function as a member of a sailing crew.Copyright

A Wearable Gait Monitor and Terrain Prediction System

Nearly one million people in 2009 were discharged from the hospital with stroke as the primary diagnosis [1]. One of the many lasting side effects of a stroke can be foot drop, or an inability to dorsiflex the foot. In order to remedy this, many people wear an ankle-foot orthotic (AFO) post-stroke. Interviews with AFO users revealed that they frequently have difficulty walking on stairs and ramps, because the AFO limits the plantarflexion that is natural in navigating those ground types. An active AFO that adapts to changing ground terrain would provide a more natural gait pattern for these individuals, if it could be designed to respond appropriately to upcoming terrain. In order to respond to terrain, the device must first identify the terrain.This paper outlines a system [2] that simultaneously predicts the type of terrain a user is approaching as they walk, and captures information about that user’s walking activity. Such a system can be used as the control system for an active orthotic or prosthetic device. Additionally, this system can be used as a stand-alone gait and terrain monitor to aid in rehabilitation monitoring in between patient visits with a clinician.Copyright

Un-Tethered, Active Ankle-Foot Orthotic

Foot drop, or the inability to dorsiflex the foot (i.e., point your toe upward) is a fairly common lasting side-effect of a stroke, affecting approximately 20% of stroke survivors (∼1.3 million people each year). The customers have adopted the use of Ankle Foot Orthotics (AFOs) in order to aid in the dorsi-flexion of the foot. These passive devices do not allow users to safely move down inclines or stairs as the user’s foot will always be pointed upwards when off the ground.Copyright

Air Muscle Powered Ankle Foot Orthotic

Foot drop, a disorder that affects millions of people worldwide, is a broad term used to describe a neurological or muscular-skeletal condition that restricts an individual’s ability to dorsiflex — raise — their foot about the ankle joint. Common causes of foot drop are stroke, ALS (Lou Gehrig’s disease), MS, and injury. Unassisted, an individual with foot drop will have difficulty walking as the affected foot easily catches on obstacles. Foot drop causes clients to drag their toes on each step, greatly increasing the risk of a trip or fall.Copyright

An Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Traveling Engineering Activity Kits in Pre-College Classrooms

The focus of this paper is assessment of the effectiveness of Traveling Engineering Activity Kits (TEAK) in engaging pre-college students in engineering-related activities. This includes a discussion of the challenges in assessing such a brief interaction with groups of middle school students with widely varying backgrounds as well as a discussion of how past assessment has led to modifications in TEAK activities. Program assessment has evolved from pre- and post-visit quizzes on technical content and interest in engineering to instructor observation of student engagement during TEAK visits relative to engagement during a typical class period. Initial results from pre- and post-visit quizzes showed that the vast majority of students self-reported an increased interest in engineering but that the percentage of students showing an increased understanding of engineering topics was highly dependent on the background of the students. Students who did well on the pre-visit quizzes would show less improvement after a TEAK visit, because their initial level of knowledge was higher. In the present model of rating levels of student engagement during TEAK visits, results seem much more promising, with teachers indicating that, during TEAK activities, their students are more engaged and ask more and better questions than during a typical class.Copyright