MENG 400 - CAD Projects

Cam/Follower: For this project, we were taught about cam systems and physics in SolidWorks. We were then told to make a mechanism that used one cam and a ball that would respond in a physically correct way. I thought that the cam behavior was really interesting and was hoping to produce a mechanism that could be run over and over again. In the end, I ended up with this toy which would allow someone to turn the crank and power the ball around this loop. I was quite pleased with how this project came out both mechanically and aesthetically.

Governor: For this project, we were taught about the utility of a governor mechanism which can regulate mechanical systems. I found the concept very interesting, so instead of just making the simple governor that was required, I attempted to emulate an actual flow regulator where the governor is connected to a flow meter (shown here as a simple propeller) and a butterfly valve to control flow. Although it was difficult to generate a video that captured the physics accurately, I was pleased with how my design turned out.

Mouthstick Project: One of the central focuses of the course was around accessible design and the class was co-taught by a man who advocates for the community of people with disabilities. For this project, I worked with a team to develop an improved mouthstick, which is an item allowing people with severe disabilities to interact with the world using only their mouth and neck muscles. We were hoping to add a grabbing mechanism which would allow a user to grab objects by tilting their head from side to side. There is still work our team could do on the design, but this project was meant to reflect the general conceptual design for the mechanism.

Final Project: For the final project of the course, we were given the opportunity to design anything that we wanted with certain requirements. I have been really interested in drones and thus sought to design a drone. I created space for different electronic components and designed the motors and other components. I specifically attempted to make the design modular so that pieces could be removed and replaced. For example, all of the arms are attached to the main electronics bay with a retaining pin that can be easily removed. After creating the initial design, we also performed analysis simulations, such as the aerodynamics simulation seen to the right. While I think I was able to make a lot of progress in the design and analysis of this drone during the project, I hope to further develop this design at some point and potentially even implement it.