Though the Amazon basin várzea forests have been estimated to emit more methane from the stems of their trees than all Arctic wetlands combined, integrated study of the controls, budget and seasonal dynamics of methane cycling in these great forests is lacking. Due to severe seasonal flooding, obtaining continuous gas-flux measurements has proven difficult, incentivizing the need for a continuous, automated system. The team designed, constructed and tested a system in the rainforest of Biosphere 2.

The system consists of two towers: one tower analyzes soil-water surface interfaces and the other measures tree-surface interfaces. This provides year-round monitoring and withstands up to 10 feet of flooding. Polyurethane foam in the towers floats along installed guide rails during floods for sensor measurements at three heights along a tree.

Each tower contains a chamber which is sealed against a surface by an actuator controlled by pressure sensors. Gas enclosed within the chamber is then pumped to a trace gas analyzer where concentrations of methane, carbon dioxide and water vapor are measured. The system is controlled by a master hub and a user controller which transmit data via radio transmission. The interconnected system allows researchers to take gas flux measurements 12 times a day at multiple locations year-round in rainforest environments.

Measuring micro torques and forces is important for analyzing spacecraft components. Under the effect of Earth’s gravitational forces, micro torques and forces cause negligible reaction when applied to an object. However, while in space these same forces can cause large reactionary motions. This team developed a system to isolate, measure and analyze the effects of a known torque and force generator. Performing these tests in one Earth gravity, or the amount of gravity at Earth’s surface, predicts reactions of the system in space.

The design has three subsystems that use a combination of air-bearing components; an inertial measurement unit (IMU); linear actuators; and an electric motor to produce and measure the motion of the system. The team leveraged near frictionless air-bearing technology to levitate an onboard compressed air tank, a satellite bus to house measurement and data processing components, and the disturbance-generating payload.

The team designed a force generator that is driven by a microcontroller to output a known torque and force. This disturbance is measured by the IMU. IMU data is collected by a microcontroller and written to a removable data drive. The data is then transferred to an external computer, where software calculates the force and torque applied to the system.

Modern agriculture relies heavily on reactive farming, in which mitigatory actions are taken based on human observation of plant conditions. Advances in technology have begun to pave the way for predictive measurements in farming, but the technology is not yet commercially available.

Greenhouse technicians at Bayer Crop Science will use the imaging system developed by this team to access real-time data in analyzing growth factors that determine the readiness of each individual plant to move to the next stage of crop development.

The system design is centered around an Intel RealSense L515 camera capable of taking high-resolution RGB images as well as generating point particle cloud data using lidar, or Light Detection and Ranging, technology. The point particle cloud provides a three-dimensional representation of the target seedlings that is used to measure plant height with a high degree of accuracy.

A Raspberry Pi module controls the Intel camera calibration and data processing, which is outputted to an LCD touchscreen graphic user interface that allows Bayer staff to store, access and manipulate collected data.

The team developed a protective wooden frame surrounding the camera, mount and imaging area. The frame is mounted to the top of a utility cart to provide mobility and ease of access around Bayer’s facility.

This project creates a modern, energy-efficient approach to keeping air fresh and temperate within a home. This smart window fan system includes an app that allows users to monitor parameters and set personal preferences for using filtered outside air to intelligently ventilate, cool and heat.

The design uses extremely low power in an idle state, but can still exceed 250 cubic feet per minute of air flow when turned to full. It employs the ESP32 WiFi-enabled microcontroller, known as a system on a chip. When the internal sensor detects the temperature outside is cooler than the temperature inside, the fan pumps outside air through a MERV-8 air filter until the user’s desired temperature is reached.

The team developed logic and firmware to ensure ventilation occurs when the outdoor air temperature is cool – normally in late evening and early morning – and heating ventilation takes place when it’s warmer, normally late afternoon.

The unit is also able to communicate with a WiFi-enabled air quality sensor, allowing the user to set a desired quality index without integrating costly components. Using the MQTT protocol, a standard messaging protocol for the Internet of Things, the ESP32 communicates with Amazon’s web servers to allow control from the user’s phone, including setting desired temperature and humidity levels. The user can also operate the fan through manual controls if desired.

The 33-foot-tall Aermotor 702 windmill outside of Tucson Village Farms serves as a beacon, welcoming visitors to the site. The windmill originally served as a naturally powered water pump, but the farm did not need this function. The team converted the windmill to produce electricity instead. It now performs the relevant function of generating renewable energy while also serving as an educational experience for visitors.

This conversion maximizes efficiency to harness energy from the wind while maintaining the aesthetic of the Aermotor 702. The team replaced the pump’s mechanics in the nacelle with a custom drivetrain to rotate a Permanent Magnet Alternator, generating three-phase electrical power to reduce energy loss leading down the tower. A charge controller at the base stores the energy in a deep cycle gel battery and safely dissipates excess energy in the form of heat to prevent overcharging.

The team also designed an interactive exhibit where visitors can produce electricity with a hand-cranked generator and see their results with an LED wattmeter, along with monitors for live data displaying the wind speeds and power generated from the turbine. Visitors and volunteers can use the stored electricity to power their devices with USB and electrical outlets.

Better instruments for orthopedic surgeons could shorten operating room times and improve surgical outcomes.

Cannulated screws only have threads at the end and can strip if the bone becomes infected or if too much torque is applied. The team designed a removal instrument that enables the surgeon to pull upward on the screw so that it engages uninfected bone and is then able to be unscrewed. The instrument’s two parts consist of a thin rod with a hook that enters the hollow screw through a hole, attaching to its bottom, and a handle that connects to the other end of the rod. The hook had to easily catch the screw’s end and fit through the screw, yet be strong enough to apply upward force without failing. The solid screw removal instrument is a unibody design consisting of a lever and a forked tip that encloses below the head of the buried screw. Pushing down on the lever raises the screw.

Orthopedic surgeons also need a more efficient method to remove infected tissue while simultaneously providing suction and irrigation. The team developed one instrument to perform all three functions by combining a curette, used for scaping tissue, with irrigation and suction systems. A unique design made the instrument easier to manufacture, and human ergonomics principles were incorporated into all the instruments to make them comfortable to use.

Kidney or renal disease, leading to chronic kidney disease (CKD) and eventual end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is on the rise in the U.S., affecting 37 million people, or 15% of adults. Kidneys regulate the body’s water and electrolyte balance and remove wastes and excess fluids to maintain homeostasis.

Patients afflicted with CKD and ESRD suffer from excess fluid retention and leg edema or swelling. Many of these patients also develop uncontrolled leg movement, known as restless leg syndrome (RLS). In dialysis, the standard therapy, a machine effectively functions as a kidney substitute, removing excess water and wastes. Despite the efficacy of dialysis, physicians are unable to determine a patient’s baseline water content, or what is termed “dry weight” vs. water excess, making it unclear how to optimally time recurrent dialysis.

The team constructed a wearable lower leg band measurement device containing a single, four-electrode impedance-edema circuit and an accelerometer. A constant voltage and current is applied to the circuit to determine corresponding resistance values. With this impedance value, edema can be extrapolated using a simple mathematical model. The accelerometer detects movements associated with the motion of RLS. The device communicates data to a connected iOS app. This app displays the impedance, edema and RLS detection data for patients and physicians to view.

In the fast-moving consumer goods industry, manufacturers are motivated to increase the agility of their supply chains. This also means packing lines and packing machinery need to work with more complex product portfolios, without creating long periods of downtime between production runs. Adaptive robot grippers offer opportunities to minimize changeover time and increase agility of the equipment. These grippers can adapt to a range of product geometries and consistencies without mechanical modification.

This adaptive design is based on machine learning image recognition software, a sonar positioning system and a mechanical gripper. In addition, the team added emulation software based on RoboDK to deal with the technical challenges of sourcing a robot arm. A single Raspberry Pi computer runs the camera and gripper system. To keep the gripper from damaging objects, force feedback comes from a single sensor at the end of one side of the gripper. A sonar system determines the position of each object and feeds that into the Raspberry Pi to inform the gripper where to grab.

The mechanical gripper demonstrates the real-world use of the system, while the emulation software provides a comprehensive view into what implementation may look like on the factory floor.

Tucson Village Farm is an education-based farm for youth with a central educational theme of nutrition and healthy living. More than 15,000 children make visits annually and are provided with healthy snacks, including popcorn, which is grown on the farm.

Although kids assist with the harvesting, dekerneling, and washing of the popcorn, they cannot clean and dry all of it. Each year at harvest time, Tucson Village Farm experiences a bottleneck, with manual processing eating up many hundreds of hours of staff and volunteer time.

The team created the Popcorn Processor with the ability to run either autonomously or by human power.

The washer, similar to a laundry machine, uses a motor to spin an inner drum where kernels are thoroughly washed and chaff is removed to an outer drum. The washer can be powered by a stationary bicycle to provide a more interactive and educational experience for school groups. The dryer, similar to a chili roaster, uses a motor that spins the drum while a fan dries the kernels. The dryer also includes a hand crank for manual operation, again to enhance the educational experience. The system can clean and dry up to 5 pounds of kernels within a few minutes.

Conventional hand washing involves touching multiple potentially contaminated surfaces. By minimizing the need to touch these surfaces, WashBot can reduce cross-contamination when handling raw meats and other foods or contaminants. In addition, the device reduces the amounts of water, soap and drying agents needed to wash hands.

The user begins by inserting their hands into the scrubbing chamber, where a sensor detects their hands and begins the pre-rinse and soaping stages, followed by a mechanical microfiber scrubbing phase. After scrubbing is complete, the user places their hands in a rinsing chamber for rinsing and drying. Multiple rinsing chambers are available to allow for either a quick rinse or a full wash, depending on the user’s needs. An LCD screen displays the current stage of the washing cycle, as well as status of water quantity and system maintenance.

Water used during the pre-rinse and final rinse cycles is recycled to minimize water usage, with dirty, fresh and recycled water stored in separate tanks.

The team used the engineering design process to select commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) components and design, develop, integrate and test the COTS items, resulting in an effective system that saves water and decontaminates effectively.