SFSU Projects
TactuNovis - Senior Design Project
Flexible Microfluidic Sensor
TactuNovis is the application of flexible sensors at critical locations along a prosthetic for the active measuring of movement of the prosthetic. The initial design of this particular sensor will be primarily made to measure the flexion and extension of the elbow of a powered prosthetic. Using microfluidic channels, a flexible sensor made up of Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) allows for use of the relationship between pressure and electrical resistance of a metallic fluid for the sensor. Eutectic Gallium Indium (EGaIn), a eutectic alloy that exists in a liquid state at room temperature, serves as the medium to convert strain to a measurable signal change.
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For this project, I assisted in the design approach to the sensor and created the foundation for a graphical user interface which will be further developed and completed in Spring 2021. The GUI takes the output of the sensor and converts it into an angle measurement. This is fed into a Simulink Multibody model which uses the calculated angle to drive a virtual elbow animation to the desired angle. The layout of this model is designed so that it can easily become a subsystem to a larger model that incorporates more joints and sensor data. This will give future students the opportunity to simulate a full prosthetic from the shoulder to the fingertips. If physical parameters like material properties and gravity are added to the model, the user will be able to perform tasks such as estimating the motor torque required to perform various movements or testing automated functions.
In addition to the virtual arm, a physical arm will be built or 3D printed and the sensor will be mounted in place on the elbow joint. This will provide the ability to compare the angle measured by the sensor to what is observed in the physical world.
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Drawing Robot Experiment
Final Project for Mechatronics course
This project involved the use of the Arduino Engineering Kit. The cable-driven drawing robot experiment uses 2 DC motors attached to pulleys with nylon cord to navigate the robot around a vertical surface. A servo motor then lowers a pen to draw on the surface beneath. I assembled the robot and modified the provided code to fit my custom drawing area. The experiment leads the user through the creation of Matlab functions that convert digital images to coordinates which are then converted to encoder counts to drive the robot to a location where the servo will engage and lower the pen to draw the desired image. The robot is also capable of capturing a live image with a webcam and processing it the same way in order draw it on the drawing surface.
Mock Quadcopter
Final Project for Microcontrollers course
For this project I used an Arduino, joystick, and slide potentiometer to control 4 DC motors arranged at the 4 corners of a square. The goal of the project was to model the motor control of a quadcopter. The slide potentiometer was used as a throttle to drive all four motors. Then the Arduino used the directional input given by the joystick to send more power to the appropriate motors.
Tensegrity Project
This was a unique project that I enjoyed because it allowed me to bring my creative side into my engineering work. The assignment was for the Mechatronics course at SFSU and was simply to build a tensegrity structure. After doing some research on tensegrities I became fascinated with them and decided to take my project a bit beyond the requirements. It is made out of poplar wood, brass chain, and brass hooks. The base is about 10 inches wide and can support approximately 20-25 lbs. It now lives on display in my living room.
