The goal of this project was to investigate opportunities to increase efficiency by implementing Industry 4.0 “smart factory” technology, which centers on automation and data exchange, into the sponsor’s manufacturing facilities. The project also uses augmented reality, in the form of Microsoft HoloLens technology, to further improve manufacturing capabilities. The sponsor’s factory workers and engineers will be able to use the augmented reality system to view visually guided instructions for the assembly and manufacture of small satellites. The team also produced a trade study for the sponsor that analyzes Industry 4.0 and “smart factory” technology factors of interest to the sponsor, such as equipment cost and training time.

The Nasogastric Tube Placement Verification System was designed to determine the proper placement of a nasogastric tube in the stomach for tube feeding. Every year, many fatalities occur due to misplacement of nasogastric tubes. Current verification methods include X-ray and indirect verification. These methods are either expensive or inaccurate, and require a medical professional, creating a great need for a system that accurately indicates the correct placement of the tube in the stomach. The team designed a sensor, based on galvanic cell electrochemistry, that recognizes the acidic stomach environment. As the sensor enters the stomach, a chemical reaction produces a current that correlates to the pH of the solution. This current is processed by a microcontroller and indicates to the user whether the tube has been correctly placed. This system is specific, cost-efficient, and easy to use, allowing caregivers outside of the hospital to properly feed their patients.

There was a discrepancy between natural gas usage recorded by the sponsor at its power plants and what it was being billed by its suppliers. Fuel usage and measurement are critical to accurate operations and cost management, and the goal of this project is to assess the sponsor’s fuel measurement system in order to locate the source of the discrepancy. After mining large amounts of data supplied by the sponsor and finding a correlation to explain the discrepancy, the team developed a correction factor that aligned sponsor and supplier measurements. The team then integrated this correction factor into the power plant data management software to ensure that it recorded valid fuel usage.

Not all circuit cards received by the project sponsor are properly calibrated, so the goal of this project is to design and build a circuit card calibration device that tests card integrity quickly and easily at the sponsor’s manufacturing facility. Specifically, the output voltage of the cards needs to be verified at various operating temperatures. The design was a 7-by-14-by-4-inch device that uses a microcontroller to take periodic voltage readings from a circuit card placed in a temperature chamber cycling between -55 and 70 degrees Celsius. The microcontroller exports the voltage and temperature data to a microSD card for transfer to a computer at the manufacturing facility. This solution is fault-tolerant, easy to use, and will reduce cycle times and manufacturing costs.

RoboUmp is designed to evaluate whether a pitch is a strike more accurately and consistently than a human umpire. The design uses vertically oriented light detection and ranging, or LIDAR, sensors to measure the height of the ball above home plate, and microcontrollers process the sensor data to determine whether the ball is in the strike zone. The system incorporates three strike zones for players in different height ranges. If the LIDAR detects a ball in the strike zone, the microcontrollers relay the strike call to the umpire via an LED display. The system is accurate to within 1 inch vertically and 0.5 inches horizontally at ball speeds of up to 60 miles per hour. RoboUmp can be moved easily and installed without interfering with the players or the game.

Replacing desiccant cartridges is costly and time-consuming and desiccant breathers tend to be discarded after a single use when the desiccant is saturated with moisture. The goal of this project is to design a self-regenerating desiccant breather that eliminates the need to replace desiccant cartridges. The Infinity Breather is a small device that can self-regenerate while maintaining an air volume of 1 cubic foot with a dew-point temperature of -20 degrees Celsius.

The goal of this project is to design and fabricate a large-scale prototype 3-D printer capable of printing parts as large as 50 by 50 by 25 inches and of reaching and maintaining temperatures required to print high-grade thermoplastics such as Ultem. The design focused on system robustness and longevity and on the safety of the operator and bystanders. The system was built mostly using off-the-shelf components with provisions for an insulating enclosure for high-temperature printing. The extrusion system was designed to use any filament on the market, and the bed can support a print job of over 350 pounds. Nozzles of various sizes allow the user to adjust for different part sizes, accuracy, and printing speed. The prototype includes a software interface for customizing and estimating print times and materials needed.

Drones used in intelligence gathering and espionage are a threat to military personnel and national security, which creates a demand for a device that can disable drones without risk to life. Built specifically for the Navy, the Anti-Drone Device is designed to detect and disable drones autonomously. It consists of a microcomputer, LCD screen, Wi-Fi antenna and protective case designed to withstand the elements, such as rain, wind and humidity. Once a drone is detected, the device automatically connects to the Wi-Fi access point of the drone and sends commands via Telnet to shut it down.

Medical devices can be difficult to identify once implanted inside the human body. Adding a small unique device identifier, or UDI, allows medical staff to correctly identify the device after implantation and ensure its proper use. Information stored in the UDI can include device description, model number, catheter type, and compatibility with diagnostic devices, such as MRI. The team developed an implantable UDI and a detection system that uses mobile phone technology. This allows UDI information to be scanned from outside of the body, creating a safe and cost-effective alternative to current techniques. Information is stored on an induction-powered radio-frequency identification tag positioned on the implanted device. Medical personnel read the tag using an external device that connects via Bluetooth to a mobile phone. The external device can be programmed using a mobile application running the Android operating system.

An optimized mining production fleet improves the safety, efficiency, and profitability of a mining operation. This project determines the feasibility of a Peruvian copper mine using larger trucks to cope with a rapid increase in production during the next 30 years. The infrastructure on the site, the crusher in particular, is already equipped to process a larger throughput of material. Most of the trucks in the operation’s current fleet have a nominal payload of 218 metric tons, which could increase to 327 or 363 metric tons with new trucks from various manufacturers. Ascertaining the most profitable course of action for this mine site involved assessing existing and replacement trucks for capital, operating, overhaul, maintenance, and rebuild costs, and manipulating the data in spreadsheets to determine how many new trucks would be needed and how many would need to be rebuilt during the next 30 years.