Science and Mechatronics Aided Research for Teachers with an Entrepreneurship Experience (SMARTER)
2015: Week V
Marc Frank and Ramona Fittipaldi
This week we analyzed our 18 static and 25 dynamic tests from last week by creating excel overview files of the data. In these overviews, we displayed graphs of the total elbow, shoulder, and arm power, the average energy usage of the elbow, shoulder, and arm, and the total energy of the elbow, shoulder and arm. A visual representation of the average energy usage of the arm vs. percent is displayed below. In addition, we graphed the angles for the static tests and the different trajectories for the dynamic tests as a confirmation of our experiments.
Lauren Schulman and Brian Palacios
We completed our samples last week, but needed the cement to fully cure, so on Monday of this week we spent considerable time working on our lesson. We finalized the idea and began working out details. Our lesson will be built around Newton’s Law of Cooling and specific heat. Students will model the cooling of a cup of hot chocolate with a regression and determine how long one should wait to drink it at its optimal temperature. In addition, students will discover how much heat is required to bring the hot chocolate back up to its optimal temperature after it has cooled to room temperature. On Tuesday, we continued to work on the lesson while also running compression tests on some of our samples, as some of them cured. On Wednesday and Thursday, we continued running compression tests on our samples (see photo, below). Lauren got introduced to the scanning electron microscope, and she used it to get a closer view of our many specimens. Brian began the data analysis portion of the research and began investigating the compression testing results by crunching numbers, creating graphs, and looking for correlations. To close out the week on Friday, Brian completed the compression testing and put finishing touches on the data while Lauren finished gathering electron microscopy images. Next week we will conclude our RET experience by finishing our lesson, writing the research paper, showcasing highlights in the poster, and wrapping it all up with a presentation on Friday.
Horace Walcott and Brian Lam
This week was spent getting the last finishing touches on the experimental setup before conducting actual experiments. Our molds were finalized and 3D printed after several iterations, and endoskeletons were cut from thin sheets of metal in order to fit them. The molds are shown in the figures. Several tests of the molds were done using silicon gel to ensure that they would dry properly. Tiny magnets were also arranged in the shape of the replica tail to be embedded into the molded replica. The flow of water in the tube has been recorded and analyzed, but different bluff bodies were 3D printed if necessary. Figures show the servo setup with the Arduino microcontroller. The motion of the servo motor was also captured on video using a replica endoskeleton and was graphed using ProAnalyst. Lastly, the materials that were ordered finally arrived.
Hau-yu Chu and Daniella DiLacqua
This week, our team refocused our efforts and found a wonderful project for our research. Ashwin Kumar is mentoring a group of high school students who are creating a stroke rehabilitation device. The students are focused on reading data from sensors and programming in MatLab to create a graphical output of joint rotations. Our team is focused on constructing the prototype of this device, validating the sensors, and determining the most appropriate applications for this device’s use. This week included lots of research on current stroke rehabilitation methods and other devices and methods of measuring joint rotation. We kept organized, utilizing Trello.com to help us with our project management. Supplies were ordered and the prototype is in early stages. We hope to refine the prototype and validate the sensors in our last week of RET.
Phil Cook and Iulian Irimina
This week our research focused on the setup and implementation of two Arduino Yun microprocessors as hybrid objects. We were able to successfully create each Arduino Yun into a hybrid object, and created an ad-hoc network between the two devices. Our work included validation of functionality by creating a virtual slider which is overlaid as an augmented reality image onto the marker associated with the hybrid object. This slider was coded to control light emission by a LED. By the end of the week, we were able to network both Arduinos and use sensors on either Arduino hybrid object to control one or more LEDs through the creation of virtual links within the hybrid editor app. The attached images show two unique markers, each one associated with a different hybrid object (Arduino Yun, also visible in the photo). The blue sliders are the augmented reality controllers that are linked to the visible LEDs.
YaQi Xiong and Tchnavia D. Merrick
After going through various capillary chamber designs, we finalized our structure and decided to use it to collect quantifiable data. The five types of sand that we are studying are silica-based coarse sand, silica-based fine sand, Atlantic crushed coral sand, white crab sand and colored crab sand. The first quantitative data we collected were conductivity versus height of soil profile. Conductivity was measured using Arduino-interfaced probe and height was measured using a paper scale inserted into a plastic straw. The conductivity reading was not consistent even after calibrating the probe in distilled water. The second quantitative data we collected were type of sand versus water-level rise. We noticed capillarity is not uniform in the three-dimensional cross section of the soil samples. We then took pictures at different angles to qualitatively compare the differences in capillary rise at different locations in the soil profile. The third measurement we performed was time versus capillary rise. The rate of capillary rise was very rapid, which made the data collection a bit challenging. In addition to the physical quantitative measurement, we improved our Arduino program by building in different tunes. This extension to our existing program can be used as an inspirational tool in the classroom.
