Gerald Sullivan

TickBot: A novel robotic device for controlling tick populations in the natural environment

A semi-autonomous 4-wheeled robot (TickBot) was fitted with a denim cloth treated with an acaricide (permethrin™) and tested for its ability to control ticks in a tick-infested natural environment in Portsmouth, Virginia. The robots sensors detect a magnetic field signal from a guide wire encased in 80m polyethylene tubing, enabling the robot to follow the trails, open areas and other terrain where the tubing was located. To attract ticks to the treated area, CO2 was distributed through the same tubing, fitted with evenly spaced pores and flow control valves, which permitted uniform CO2 distribution. Tests were done to determine the optimum frequency for TickBot to traverse the wire-guided treatment site as well as the duration of operation that could be accomplished on a single battery charge. Prior to treatment, dragging was done to determine the natural abundance of ticks in the test site. Controls were done without CO2 and without permethrin. TickBot proved highly effective in reducing the overall tick densities to nearly zero with the treatment that included both carbon dioxide pretreatment and the permethrin treated cloth. Following a 60min traverse of the treatment areas, adult tick numbers, almost entirely Amblyomma americanum, was reduced to zero within 1h and remained at or near zero for 24h. Treatments without CO2 also showed reduction of ticks to near zero within 1h, but the populations were no different than the control sections at 4h. This study demonstrates the efficacy of TickBot as a tick control device to significantly reduce the risk of tick bites and disease transmission to humans and companion animals visiting a previously tick-infested natural environment. Continued deployment of TickBot for additional days or weeks can assure a relatively tick-safe environment for enjoyment by the public.

The Can Crusher Project: A Multi-Semester Design Project to Enhance Retention of Engineering Skill Sets

This paper describes a three semester long project which promotes the development and retention of engineering skill-sets by involving students in the design and fabrication of a can-crushing device. The can-crusher project was inspired by spiral learning theory and provides opportunities for students to practice engineering skill sets, including CAD, programming, machining and working with practical electronics. The paper details the implementation of the project and shows how the project addresses skill-set deficits that can occur in conventional curricula. Finally, modifications to the content/organization of the can-crusher project are proposed based on the experiences of the first group of students to complete the three semester sequence.Copyright

Does an Experiential Based Project Improve Design Education

Students of engineering can significantly improve their comprehension of the theoretical and mathematical topics of design education if they are coupled with hands-on design and build projects. In this paper, several projects are discussed that are used to promote experiential learning in the Design of Mechanical Systems course. Projects implemented include natural frequency analysis of a cantilever beam and a buckling analysis. Each of the projects utilize a paradigm in which computational methods are used to reinforce analytical findings presented in class, followed by a design challenge for which students are required to design, build and then experimentally validate the performance of the design. The design challenge is structured such that analytical results give insight as to what features of the design could be changed to get the intended result, but, require the use of computational tools like ANSYS to obtain solutions due to the complex geometries involved. Once the design is complete, students fabricate it in the machine shop and then experimentally measure how closely the performance of their design came to the intended goals of the design challenge. Preliminary results indicate that students prefer these types of lab projects and that the retention of concepts covered with experiential project based labs is actually better than the retention of concepts observed in conventional labs.Copyright

Work in progress - relationship of demonstration construction quality on pedagogic effectiveness

Scientific studies have established the importance of engineering demonstrations, yet comparatively little is known about what makes some demonstrations more effective than others. In this study we investigate the pedagogic effect of demonstration construction quality. This study considers two build qualities: “raw” and “polished”. Raw demonstrations use prototype-quality construction techniques such as exposed solderless breadboards, and polished demonstrations use production-quality construction techniques designed to emulate typical consumer electronics. The impact of the demonstrations on student interest were assessed by constructing paired sets of demonstrations of raw and polished quality. These were used in lectures to 119 students and student interest and comprehension were assessed by post-lecture surveys. Initial data using only a single demonstration in both raw and polished versions show students in both technical and nontechnical majors score higher in objective testing and report higher interest in the material using raw construction techniques (two-tailed p=0.051 and ≪0.01 respectively). Further data using other demonstrations will be obtained in 2009 to determine if these findings can be generalized.