Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
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Description
This thesis focused on the development of a system that can sense light intensity and then control a smart film to provide the optimal light intensity for cyanobacteria. The overarching goal of this project is to further the study of biofuels as an alternative energy source by increasing growth rates. If more algae or cyanobacteria can be grown per day, then the cost to produce the biofuel will decrease. To achieve this goal, PDLC (polymer dispersed liquid crystal) film was selected to be controlled due to its unique properties. It can be controlled with electricity and has variable states, in other words, not restricted to simply on or off. It also blocks 80% ultraviolet light and reduces thermal heat gain by 40% which is an important consideration for outdoor growing situations. To control the film, a simple control system was created using an Arduino Uno, SainSmart 8 channel relay board, an inverter, and a power supply. A relay board was utilized to manage the 40 volts required by the PDLC film and protected the electronics on the Arduino Uno. To sense the light intensity, the Arduino Uno was connected to a photoresistor, which changes resistance with light intensity. A 15 day test of two flasks of Cyanobacteria Synechocycstis sp. 6803, one shaded by the PDLC film, and the other unshaded, yielded 65% difference in optical densities. Overall, the experiment showed promise for controlling light intensity for photobioreactors. Ideally, this research will help to optimize light intensities when growing cyanobacteria or algae outdoors or it will help to discover what an ideal light intensity is by allowing a researcher unprecedented control.
ContributorsRoney, Kitt Alicia (Author) / Nielsen, David (Thesis director) / Middleton, James (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The purpose of this paper is to provide a new and improved design method for the Formula Society of Automotive Engineering (FSAE) team. There are five tasks that I accomplish in this paper: 1. I describe how the FSAE team is currently designing their car. This allows the reader to understand where the flaws might arise in their design method. 2. I then describe the key aspects of systems engineering design. This is the backbone of the method I am proposing, and it is important to understand the key concepts so that they can be applied to the FSAE design method. 3. I discuss what is available in the literature about race car design and optimization. I describe what other FSAE teams are doing and how that differs from systems engineering design. 4. I describe what the FSAE team at Arizona State University (ASU) should do to improve their approach to race car design. I go into detail about how the systems engineering method works and how it can and should be applied to the way they design their car. 5. I then describe how the team should implement this method because the method is useless if they do not implement it into their design process. I include an interview from their brakes team leader, Colin Twist, to give an example of their current method of design and show how it can be improved with the new method. This paper provides a framework for the FSAE team to develop their new method of design that will help them accomplish their overall goal of succeeding at the national competition.
ContributorsPickrell, Trevor Charles (Author) / Trimble, Steven (Thesis director) / Middleton, James (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2015-05