Cattle ranchers in desert environments have to set up expansive water networks for their herds to survive. The integrity of these networks is critical and they need to be checked often.

The goal of this project is to design a system to monitor water tanks on an open range and communicate water levels to the rancher remotely. The system designed by the team measures water level and relays the information to the rancher through a line-of-sight transmission system.

Grid power is not available on the open range, so a power source is installed with the data collection and transmission systems at the tanks. A remote water-measurement system reduces the need for ranchers to visit and inspect their tanks in person.

The demand for improvements in vehicle navigation and automation can exceed the capabilities of GPS, which is not always available. The goal of this project is to evaluate the use of radar for vehicle navigation in GPS-deprived environments.

The navigation system designed by the team integrates two ViaSat radar modules with a student-designed mounting system, interfacing circuit board, and system to collect data for postprocessing. In postprocessing, the system calculates instantaneous velocities from the collected data and uses those velocities to infer the navigation of the vehicle.

The radar-based vehicle navigation system could operate when GPS is unavailable, and if used in conjunction with GPS could lead to more precise and accurate vehicle navigation systems.

The goal is to design and test a software application that influences how customers manage electricity use. The mobile application shows how much energy the customer is using and recommends ways to decrease consumption. It can also turn air conditioners on and off.

Better energy management by consumers means that utilities don’t have to ramp up production as quickly in peak demand hours. The team built a scaled down model of the real-world setup that would be required. The design measures energy usage using current transformers that connect to a 4Duino microcontroller, which records the data to a server.

Utility customers can use the mobile application to see their energy usage expressed in kilowatt-hours and dollars.

Downtime for repair is costly for a company that operates a large fleet of expensive vehicles. The goal of this project is to create a predictive wear model for the sponsor’s large mining trucks.

The model aims to predict the rate at which the wear plates lose volume, determining where the truck will wear and giving truck operators foresight into when repairs will be necessary. Experiments to determine rates of wear over the lifetime of a mining truck were designed after static testing in a lab, to examine the relationship between impinging and wearing materials, and dynamic testing at the sponsor’s Tucson Proving Grounds.

The designed system gives operators a customized assessment of repair schedules by allowing them to enter specific truck parameters, such as material mined, type of mining truck, capacity of the body, and shovel specifications.

The unmanned aircraft system, or UAS, is a valuable defense industry asset, but it has its limitations. As UAS platforms age, their payloads become obsolete and need to be replaced with updated technology to stay relevant and effective. Changing payloads often proves difficult because of the way they were integrated into the aircraft.

The goal of this project was to create a functional prototype of a modular mission payload bay for a generic UAS. The design accommodates three payload types that demonstrate the functionality of the payload bay; payloads must function in any given payload slot without physical user intervention. The system recognizes which payload is in which slot and functions appropriately.

Payload types are an LED, an LCD and a sound module. The functional prototype created by the team makes UAS platforms highly versatile in terms of mission capability and payload diversity.

Cerebral palsy is a movement disorder that affects mobility, motor skills and muscle tone. The purpose of this project is to design and deliver an unpowered exoskeleton that allows cerebral palsy patients to stand and walk.

The exoskeleton helps correct gait, stabilizes core and leg muscles while walking, and engages the pertinent muscles during movement and exercise. The team analyzed frame materials, support strappings and hinge connections.

The exoskeleton was assembled and tested on a patient, and modifications were made according to the patient’s feedback. This exoskeleton design gives patients a greater ability to stand and walk than other models and allows should improves the patient’s overall quality of life.

The goal of this project is to provide an inexpensive and accessible way to characterize nanoparticles. Current products are extremely expensive and often beyond the reach of research budgets.

Most biomedical researchers have access to microscopes and cameras to take images of samples, so the team designed a system, based on the theory of Brownian motion, to work with existing imaging equipment. The design includes a small, reusable circular chamber to hold the nanoparticles. The small size and 3-D printability reduce waste and cost.

The tracking and analysis software is written in Matlab, and a graphical user interface allows users to upload a video of their nanoparticles. The software shows the tracking of the particles and once tracking is complete, the concentration, total number, and size of the particles are displayed to the user.

The team’s goal is to design a system of integrated sensors to monitor muscle activity by analyzing biosignals to provide insight into an athlete's performance.

The device is a portable battery-operated system designed for personal gym or home use. The system uses electromyography technology to determine the athlete’s muscle health and activity. Electromyographic sensors indicate muscle activity as a voltage, which is digitized by an analog-to-digital converter.

The athlete’s activity is analyzed, processed and recorded as a comprehensive data set, and results are transmitted via Bluetooth to a mobile device for display.

The purpose of this project is to combine multiple devices from the electrical and computer engineering lab bench into a portable, affordable and expandable product.
The goal is to give electrical and computer engineers a cleaner, less cluttered, and more efficient laboratory workspace.

The system consists of a motherboard and daughter cards. The motherboard printed circuit board consists of an MSP430 microcontroller and main power supply. The daughter card printed circuit boards consist of the different lab devices. The team created test equipment interfaces for a direct-current power supply and developed a graphical user interface to control the system using LabVIEW.

The sponsor asked the team to build a system that would allow future incorporation of equipment, such as a digital multimeter, function generator, and oscilloscope. The resulting system gives users intuitive and efficient control of lab equipment, and allows engineers and hobbyists to create a portable laboratory at a reasonable price.

Elbow stiffness after surgery is common and debilitating. It is caused by fibrous tissue accumulating in the joint and surrounding structures during healing, and exacerbated by the rigid bracing used to stabilize the elbow after surgery.

Daily motion exercises to treat stiffness can be painful and ineffective. The goal of this project is to design and create a motor-hinged elbow orthosis that maintains joint motion and breaks down scar tissue during the six-month healing period.

The device designed aids recovery after surgery and has the advantage over physical therapy of being wearable and controllable by the patient. In flexing and extending the arm, the orthotic helps the patient move the arm to a predetermined angle per doctor’s orders.