Senior Project: Automated Thin Film Spreader
The Automated Thin Film Spreader was designed and built for a research group at Purdue University. The group was hand-spreading silicone polymer films, and the human element caused significant variability in film thickness. The automated film spreader is computer controlled, modular, and portable. It vastly improved the quality of the films and allowed them to produce more films for testing.
The spreader is a mix of custom and off-the-shelf parts. The goal was to design something that could be easily replicated or expanded upon. 80/20 aluminum extrusions were used for structural pieces due to their light weight, rigidity, and T-Slot attachment system. Three components, the motor mount, spreader bar uprights, and bar clamps, are the only machined components, and can all be made on a manual mill if necessary. The rest of the custom parts were 3D printed using printers the lab already owned. Braided fishing line was used to attach the gantry to the spool as it is extremely strong and has no stretch,
To operate the device, the gantry section is pulled to the desired spread length mark on the track. The user inputs the spread length and speed on the control panel. The uncured film mixture is poured between the goop guards. The user presses the start button to start the spread, and the device pulls the gantry towards the electronics unit until spread length has been reached.
The spreader is a mix of custom and off-the-shelf parts. The goal was to design something that could be easily replicated or expanded upon. 80/20 aluminum extrusions were used for structural pieces due to their light weight, rigidity, and T-Slot attachment system. Three components, the motor mount, spreader bar uprights, and bar clamps, are the only machined components, and can all be made on a manual mill if necessary. The rest of the custom parts were 3D printed using printers the lab already owned. Braided fishing line was used to attach the gantry to the spool as it is extremely strong and has no stretch,
To operate the device, the gantry section is pulled to the desired spread length mark on the track. The user inputs the spread length and speed on the control panel. The uncured film mixture is poured between the goop guards. The user presses the start button to start the spread, and the device pulls the gantry towards the electronics unit until spread length has been reached.
Toy Design & Independent Study: FIJT Modular Fidget Toy
Fijt was created during Purdue's fall 2016 Toy Design class. Fijt is a modular fidget toy system that allows users to combine several tactile elements into a flexible platform. Each Fijt square has a pair of magnets on each side, such that individual Fijt squares can be connected to form a bracelet, cube, etc. At the end of semester toy fair, Fijt won best of show, and the class director, Dr. Karthik Ramani, urged us to develop the concept further. Dr. Ramani subsequently sponsored the team to develop V2 as an Independent Study to evaluate its' commercial potential.
The plan was to develop V2 to a point where the team could search for venture capital or crowdsourcing funds to commercialize the system. Once the company was off the ground and shipping V2 units, the team would start development of Fijt V3. Whereas Fijt V2 was totally passive, Fijt V3 was to be interactive and electronic. The plan was to design a mixture of fun, electronic fidget toys, tools, and IoT devices, including:
The plan was to develop V2 to a point where the team could search for venture capital or crowdsourcing funds to commercialize the system. Once the company was off the ground and shipping V2 units, the team would start development of Fijt V3. Whereas Fijt V2 was totally passive, Fijt V3 was to be interactive and electronic. The plan was to design a mixture of fun, electronic fidget toys, tools, and IoT devices, including:
- Vibrating Fijt with input devices to change vibration characteristics.
- Bluetooth joystick to control a cursor on a phone or tablet.
- User programmable notification Fijt which turned a certain color to indicate a certain type of notification.
- Flashlight, laser point, USB drive, bio-metric scanner,
Sophomore Design Project: Baby CPR Assist Device
sThe Baby CPR Assist Device was developed to deliver chest compression to a baby at the proper location, depth, and cadence. With a baby on their back, the device is placed on top of the baby with their head between the ear pads, and snugged up to the bottom of their chin. To deliver chest compressions, the user turns the crank. The crank has a clicking mechanism that clicks twice per rotation. This clicking noise allows the user to alter the cranking speed to ensure the compressions are being delivered in the "one-and-two-and" cadence recommended by the red cross. The cam-follower system ensures the compression depth is adequate and consistent.
Manufacturing Minor Pool Filter Project
The final project for the Manufacturing Processes II class (IE470) was to design a rotary style pool valve. The pool valve was to have two modes, normal flow and backflush flow. The goal was to reduce cost of production by optimizing part & mold design, as well as tooling choices. Three versions were developed, and for the final version, a mold was created to mold the housing, cover, and internal gate. The valve assembly was initially drawn in Solidworks to utilize the mold creation utility. These cavities were stitched together and then exported in Autodesk Fusion 360 to CAM and simulate. This design won the class competition.