INNOVATION DAY 2022 | mechanical engineering

Team: Karl Hagenlocher, Nicholas Hamel, Luica Rivera Salas, Josep Carbajal, Garrett Porter

Electrical plugs for electric vehicles and machinery pose two main problems. First, electrical wires placed on the ground pose a tripping hazard to people, and second, the plug or outlet can be damaged if the cord is not ejected correctly due to the unintentional movement of the cord or electrical equipment. The consequences of the current electrical plug designs result in a product that fails to protect the equipment it is coupled with and creates a potentially dangerous hazard for people working around the equipment. The ideal electrical plug would be designed to detect an abrupt movement of the electrical cord and eject itself to preserve the integrity of the plug and outlet, and reduce the potential for a tripping hazard. This project addresses the deficiencies in the current electric car plug design by designing a plug that will detect unintentional movement of the cord and safely self-eject itself. This auto-eject system also can be used for convenience, ejecting the cord upon startup of the vehicle. 

ME-01 Lighting Talk

Team: Christer Hendelberg, Kasey LeSourd, Devyn Wusstig, Frank Lee, Scott Le, Gary Shaner

When working underneath a car or truck, people have an excess of options to lift the vehicle. Those include, but are not limited to, hydraulic jacks, scissor jacks, farm jacks and pneumatic jacks, with different designs in each of those categories, each having their own purpose. Each of those jacks offer their own compromise between ease of use, safety, size and versatility. Many of those jacks require experience and physical strength to use, which can intimidate drivers and lead to dangerous situations. According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), over 10,000 people every year are injured or killed from jack stands. The Wolf Core team will design a jack system that will be able to safely lift and support a vehicle in order to help reduce the number of injuries caused by jacks. The jack will need to be affordable, safe, compact, versatile and easy to use. The jack system will have safety features such as mechanical locks in order to reduce the risk of injury. The system also will be designed to work with a majority of vehicles. Lastly, the jack will have a footprint smaller than the size of a car in order to be used in most garages and not be limited by space. Those considerations will help create a safer, easier to use and versatile jack system. 

ME-02 Lighting Talk

Team: Orlando Diaz, Abigail Felch, Joseph Gurgui, Glenn Overmyer, Carson Van Dorn

Gaia Box is a miniature smart greenhouse designed to be used in a home or office. Stick your plant inside, set your desired humidity level and the Gaia Box will take care of the rest. It will automatically keep the humidity level to the desired value while maintaining optimal temperature and air flow. The built-in LED grow lights ensure your plant is getting all the light it needs, whatever time of day. The Gaia Box is the solution to keeping rare and finicky tropical species of plants alive and thriving. 

ME-03 Lighting Talk

Team: Isabel Pittman, Keli Tokunaga, Aspen Anderson, Alissa Chavalithumrong, Jennifer Noud, Rachel Slezak

Bed frames are bulky, expensive, made of environmentally hostile materials, and typically do not accommodate varying sizes of bed. A cardboard bed frame can solve these issues, while inviting individuals to rethink how and what products are constructed of, developing both curiosity and a green perspective.

The cardboard bed frame must be easy to assemble, lightweight, and able to transform into a smaller and packable design for easy transportation. Cardboard is fully recyclable, biodegradable, and predominantly made from recycled materials, making it an affordable and readily available material option. New areas of marketing have started to go deeper in sustainable products. Green marketing is one of them: it defines segments inclined to consume a product like cardboard furniture. The modularity and customizability of cardboard structures can allow for flexible mattress sizing options.

To meet the standards of current bed frame designs, the cardboard design must be sturdy enough to support the same or greater amount of weight. In order to meet this criteria, creative and innovative design must be used. Due to the inherent properties of cardboard, such as foldability, rigidity and impact resistance, it can also lend itself to the creation of a strong, ventilated and insulated bed frame.

Our solution is to create a lightweight, affordable, eco-friendly and biodegradable bed frame that has the ability to grow or change with the user and is locally available to the U.S. market.

ME-04 Lighting Talk

Team: Erick Bandala Sanchez, Nicolas Dickten, Ducati Mondani, Nate Victors, Lucas Talbott, Vance Kreutz

The prototype is a six-wheeled, motorized, remote-operated trailer mover. Hitch receivers can be interchanged to accommodate any sized trailer and are operated remotely via a PlayStation controller. The problem being solved is lessening the difficulty of backing/moving trailers with a conventional vehicle. The impact will be decreased damage to trailers, equipment and buildings for the recreational sector and decreased labor and fuel costs for the commercial sector.

ME-05 Lighting Talk

Team: Nicholas Hallas, Ian Eusebio, Alex Moe, Edwin Araiza, Michael Pence, Morgan Koller

With more people working from home, it has become more important for people to have a proper desk and working space. Today, modern devices solve many problems but can be a source of distractions. IoT devices work great for controlling the environment but tend to create clutter and waste time going between all the apps. The goal for this desk is to provide a space that promotes user productivity and health. The desk will increase user productivity by reducing smartphone distractions and providing a clean and organized dedicated working area. User health will be improved by maintaining natural lighting and the option to use the smart desk as a standing desk. 

ME-06 Lighting Talk

Team: Evan Perron, Andres Esparza, Conner Lyndaker, Jonathan Damon, Seth Henderson

Within large warehouses, workers may have to transport various parts, products or materials from their workstation to a different station in the facility, taking time away from more valuable tasks. To eliminate this task, the autonomous payload transporter is intended to autonomously transport such parts, products or materials to the proper location without human intervention, leaving more time for workers to focus on their intended tasks.

ME-07 Lighting Talk

Team: Zachary Shales, Bryton Heiselt, Bryan Madison, Alex Oggerino, Taylor Morton

The first turf field was installed at Moses Brown School in Providence, Rhode Island. It was the first large-scale implementation of artificial grass. Then, it was implemented at the Houston Astros stadium. Afterwards, this turf quickly spread across the country, becoming the popular alternative to growing natural grass. Team Asclepius is going to innovate artificial turf by implementing an interface that allows the display of various colors and images via an embedded light system. Logos, sponsors and other details also can be easily changed from lights in the turf. Our product will light up the field and add easy accessibility to different field types and images at the touch of a finger. 

ME-08 Lighting Talk

Team: Jacob Falconer, Branden Fong, Justin Del Soldato, Kevin Yee, Nathaniel Maloco

On average, 90% of American households have some form of air conditioning. A typical single-family household spends approximately $2,060 on its annual energy bill, with 13% of the cost going to cooling. Natural cooling can be done to help reduce the cost of energy used on air conditioning. Natural cooling also brings on several health benefits by circulating fresh air to sweep out unwanted chemicals in your home. Our project is to create an automated smart window for the average American home. The major factors are targeting an affordable alternative for households to artificial cooling and implementing a system for the design for ease of use. 

ME-09 Lighting Talk

Team: Ryan Heaton,Kevin Watson, Derek Ocenosak, Garrett Moses, Ian Carothers

This product will allow for the automated towing of cars with a compact robot. This product aims to both reduce headcount in labor intensive industries, such as valet services, and increase safety in compact facilities, such as an auto shop. It can even tow downed vehicles that can't be operated and would otherwise be moved using dollies or forklifts, each presenting their own hazards.

ME-10 Lighting Talk

Team: Aaron Fliegler, Mason Marlin, Ian Napier, Jack Crowley, Cianan Brennan

Our project ia a self-regulating fire pit.

ME-11 Lighting Talk

Team: Wesley Klein, Mason Lawley, Taylor Saarem, Steve Avilesmejia

An issue hunters face is the need for a form of transportation capable of safely and quickly navigating through the narrow, rough terrain that the game they seek lives in, while still being able to hold the necessary gear for them to successfully complete the hunt. The current modes of transportation that are available to them are utility quads, side-by-sides and off-road capable cars. All of those options carry a common downfall. Each form of transportation available to hunters requires a wide trail with little to no obstacles in order for the vehicle to pass safely. These vehicles also are slow moving through the terrain that they are able to pass. Oftentimes, the game that is being hunted is located on narrow, single track trails which require the hunter to exit their vehicle and pursue on foot. To solve this problem our team, Quick Covey is developing a rack that allows a shotgun to be stored on an off-road dirt bike or electric bicycle. 

ME-12 Lighting Talk

Team: Sean Merker, Connor Strong, Gustavo Aquilar, Devon Mendez, Omar Madera

The resurgence of COVID-19 calls for new vaccine distribution methods. When ordering vaccination devices, packages can take a while to arrive and can also be easily stolen or lost in transit. When a package is stolen, the purchaser risks a monetary loss if the vendor does not cover the price of the stolen goods, unless the company has high moral standards. We want to create a system that quickly delivers packages to one’s door by providing an aerial delivery device complemented with radio control accessibility to streamline the package’s arrival.
The AIAA Design/Build/Fly has a new mission for this year. That is to design, build and test an aircraft to deliver vaccination components. Missions will include deployment of the aircraft, staging of vaccination syringes and delivery of environmentally sensitive vaccine vial packages. The objective is to design, fabricate and demonstrate the flight capabilities of an unmanned, electric-powered, radio-controlled aircraft that can best meet the specified mission profile. The goal is a balanced design possessing demonstrated flight handling qualities and practical and affordable manufacturing requirements while providing a high vehicle performance.

ME-13 Lighting Talk

Team: James Monroe, Juliana Brockman, Craig Moe, Dallas Evans, Bo Fu

The Filament Fabricator is a filament rehabilitating device that takes 3D print enthusiasts' discarded filament and melts it down into reusable filament. This novel project aims to reduce the costs of needless waste for individuals who own a 3D printer by making a system that is optimized for instantly recycling polylactic acid (PLA). 

ME-14 Lighting Talk

Team: Nicholas Mavis, Ramon Baluyut, Jesse Paniagua, Patrick Durgin, Phuong Nguyen, Beatriz Godina

Our team has set out to research and propose alternative materials and manufacturing processes for the construction of an innovative yoga block design with an integrated internal handle. Currently, each yoga block is hand-made from solid hardwood using hand and power tools by Feelio, a company located in Lake Tahoe. Feelio is interested in alternative materials to wood that fulfill its expectations for cost, sustainability, durability and feel, without any major changes to the overall design. The design and construction guidelines outlined include a recycled or eco-friendly material to the extent possible; a target weight between 2 and 3 pounds; the capability to support at least 250 pounds of force on all surfaces including the handle; an easily cleanable, smooth, anti-slip surface; and a high-quality look. The project will involve researching material and manufacturing process options that will best fit these guidelines, estimating tooling and manufacturing costs and developing functional prototypes to demonstrate the finished product. The end goal of the project is to develop a plan with engineering files involving material selection and manufacturing processes to allow Feelio to work with a manufacturer to produce blocks at scale. 

ME-15 Lighting Talk

Team: Logan Manchester, Joshua Long, Trevor Plummer, Sean Rolandelli

Our project is a modern interpretation of a snatch block that eliminates moving parts to prevent points of failure and takes advantage of sliding friction rather than rolling friction. The design is intended for the mountaineering and climbing industry and is meant to bridge the gap between a rescue pulley and an ascender or descender. 

ME-16 Lighting Talk

Team: Josh Thompson, Dakota Thompson, Shayleah Neth, Corey Wilkins, Warner Matt

We designed a custom gaming table with modular platforms that can raise and lower. There is also an automated slat system that protects the electronics when the device is not in use. Various integrated systems are planned in future iterations of the product, such as custom lighting and sound system. 

ME-17 Lighting Talk

Team: Jay Rieckers, Ian Thompson, Daniel Rodgers, Angus McCarroll, Faith Teagarden, Tori Jaques

Creating a better version of the already made Feelio Block at the request of the company with the same name. 

ME-18 Lighting Talk

Team: Robert Schieberl, Drew Christensen, Chandler Stanfill, Colton Keith, Greyson Parker, William Pelham

Coolio Studio’s client, Feelio Block, specializes in high-end yoga blocks that have an aesthetic and functional appeal, all while being environmentally friendly. The trade-off of making these specialized products is that the current manufacturing process is not cost-effective or scalable for mass production. By selecting eco-friendly materials and improved manufacturing methods, the product can be mass-produced at a lower cost for the client. Coolio Studio’s solution to this manufacturing issue is sand casting with aluminum. Sand casting is a common and low-cost manufacturing method that can use recycled metals like aluminum for production. In addition, the mold material also can be reused after each production cycle. The strength of aluminum is also desirable for the functionality and durability of the yoga block. To further justify sand casting as the leading solution, Coolio Studio has created prototypes on a small scale, demonstrating the feasibility of this manufacturing method, even by amateur sand casters. Coolio Studio currently is refining its sand casting processes before casting a final yoga block that will be presented to Feelio Block, along with the rest of the team's research. 

ME-19 Lighting Talk

Team: Calvin Stargaard, Benjamin Roller, Carson Sawchuk, Yuriy Kovalov, Justin Taylor

Nevada Racing's goal is to aid the Nevada Electric Racing Club team by designing and constructing the frame of their Formula SAE Electric race car.

Formula SAE Electric requires a safe and competitive frame for their race car. Our team is being challenged to design and build the frame structure of the car in a way that meets safety requirements and accommodates such components as the batteries and motor. The frame structure must also undergo a series of stress and performance tests.

Over the duration of this project, we have designed, optimized, tested and begun construction and verification of our frame. As we progress, we are verifying that all regulations, goals and expectations are met and documented to engineering standards.

ME-20 Lighting Talk

Team: Ian Stanko, Chase Baker, Kolton Potts, Brian Nguyen, Ewan Bradley

Our project seeks to solve problems snowboarders face frequently when riding. The main problem is flat terrain. Snowboarders don't have any handheld equipment -like skiers do to propel themselves when not on a decline. The collapsible functionality of our project aids in addressing this directly so a snowboarder can have this pole on his or her person. Another feature of our project is the integration of a multi-tool which will cut down on unnecessary bulk, addressing another problem for when adjustments must be made on the go. 

ME-21 Lighting Talk