Matching Items (2,779)
Filtering by
- Creators: Mozart, Wolfgang Amadeus, 1756-1791
Description
This study seeks to analyze the motivation behind why college students at ASU join student organizations. Analysis for this study will be performed through describing considerations a student may undergo when looking into an organization to join. This perspective will be done through document analysis of the contents of the SunDevilSync and Facebook pages that various organizations, ranging from professional and academic organizations to social and non-academic organizations. These web pages are the first things students see when they join an organization for the first time, and it is here, that they gain their first glimpse into what the organization might really provide for them. Fifteen different organizations at ASU were used as the focus to allow for a diverse population to be categorized between their involvement across professional and social activities. It was found that students join organizations primarily for the purposes of the audience the name of the organization reaches out to, the proof of activities and the interests students would have with regards to the types of activities involved with the organization. Further, a list of primary activities that organizations ranging in the categories of professional and social might display is also generated as a means of allowing developing an idea of the differences between activities of organizations. An analysis of two organizations the author had created will also be used as a means of applying the knowledge gained from this research in a more tangible concept.
ContributorsBorneman, Ryan Kendall (Author) / Lande, Micah (Thesis director) / Henderson, Mark (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
Motion simulators are a common feature in everything from high end science museums to amusement parks, allowing a full ride experience on a small footprint and at a comparatively low cost relative to full size rides. The rapidly advancing field of virtual reality provides a potential increase in this desire for motion simulators, by combing virtual reality with motion simulation, total immersions can be created that is competitive with theme parks. While there exists a small number of commercially available consumer motion simulators, these tend to not have a wide enough range of motion to provide flexibility for use cases. This report is the documentation of an attempt to create a low cost consumer grade motion simulator prototype to determine to what extent an adequate motion simulation experience can be created in the home environment. This design made use of a two degree of freedom platform mounted on a universal joint as a trade off between flexibility of use and affordability of the end product. Ultimately, although the design and motor selection was sound, structural issues prevented the design from being capable of withstanding the necessary forces. However, as a prototype, important lessons were learned that could apply to a better-constructed second generation design. The results definitely show that motion simulators will, in the near future, become feasible for in-home amusement park recreation, at least for some amusement park rides.
ContributorsMiller, Alec Michael (Author) / Sodemann, Angela (Thesis director) / Gintz, Jerry (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Parents in STEM careers are more apt to guide their kids towards STEM careers (Sherburne-Michigan, 2017). There are STEM programs and classes for students who are interested in related fields, but the conundrum is that students need to be interested in order to choose to participate. The goal of this creative project was to introduce engineering concepts in a high school class to reveal and investigate the ways in which engineering concepts can be successfully introduced to a larger student populace to increase interest in engineering programs, courses, and degrees. A lesson plan and corresponding materials - including circuit kits and a simulated ball launching station with graphical display - were made to accomplish this goal. Throughout the lesson students were asked to (1) use given materials to accomplish a goal, (2) predict outcomes based on conceptual understanding and mathematical calculations, (3) test predictions, (4) record data, and (5) analyze data to generate results. The students first created a simple circuit to understand the circuit components and learn general electrical engineering concepts. A simple light dimmer circuit let students demonstrate understanding of electrical concepts (e.g., voltage, current resistance) before using the circuit to a simulated motor in order to launch a ball. The students were then asked to predict the time and height of a ball launched with various settings of their control circuit. The students were able to test their theories with the simulated launcher test set up shown in Figure 25 and collect data to create a parabolic height versus time graph. Based on the measured graph, the students were able to record their results and compare calculated values to real-world measured values. The results of the study suggest ways to introduce students to engineering while developing hands-on concept modeling of projectile motion and circuit design in math classrooms. Additionally, this lesson identifies a rich topic for teachers and STEM education researchers to explore lesson plans with interdisciplinary connections to engineering. This report will include the inspiration for the product, related work, iterative design process, and the final design. This information will be followed by user feedback, a project reflection, and lessons learned. The report will conclude with a summary and a discussion of future work.
ContributorsBurgess, Kylee Rae (Author) / Jordan, Shawn (Thesis director) / Sohoni, Sohum (Committee member) / Kinach, Barbara (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Interplanetary space travel has seen a surge of interest in not only media but also within the academic field as well. No longer are we designing and investigating extravehicular activity (EVA) suits, scholars and researchers are also engineering the future suit to protect humans on the surfaces of Martian planets. As we are progressing with technology capable of taking us even further distances than before imaginable, this thesis aims to produce an exosuit that will find a place between the planets and stars, by providing countermeasures to muscle and bone atrophy. This is achieved through the rapidly growing field of soft robotics and the technology within it. An analytical model governing torque production of an array of soft pneumatic actuators was created to provide resistive forces on the human joints. Thus, we can recreate and simulate a majority of the loads that would be experienced on earth, in microgravity. Where push-ups on earth require on average 30Nm of torque about the elbow joint, by donning this exosuit, the same forces can be experienced when pushing off of surfaces while navigating within the space capsule. It is ergonomic, low-cost, and most importantly lightweight. While weight is negligible in micro-G, the payloads required for transporting current exercising equipment are costly and would take up valuable cargo space that would otherwise be allocated to research related items or sustenance. Factor in the scaling of current "special space agent" missions times 20-50, and the problem is further exacerbated. Therefore, the proposed design has warranted potential for the short term need of Mars missions, and additionally satisfy the long-term goal of taking humanity to infinite and beyond.
ContributorsLam, Quoc Phuong (Author) / Polygerinoa, Panagiotis (Thesis director) / Zhang, Wenlong (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
In this article we present a low-cost force-sensing quadrupedal laminate robot platform. The robot has two degrees of freedom on each of four independent legs, allowing for a variety of motion trajectories to be created at each leg, thus creating a rich control space to explore on a relatively low-cost robot. This platform allows a user to research complex motion and gait analysis control questions, and use different concepts in computer science and control theory methods to permit it to walk. The motion trajectory of each leg has been modeled in Python. Critical design considerations are: the complexity of the laminate design, the rigidity of the materials of which the laminate is constructed, the accuracy of the transmission to control each leg, and the design of the force sensing legs.
ContributorsShuch, Benjamin David (Author) / Aukes, Daniel (Thesis director) / Sodemann, Angela (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
This study used an online survey methodology looking at all levels of archers and coaches to understand their perceptions of the shooting process and Mental Game importance. The survey asked about the archer's skill level and their training style, as well as their perception of the importance of each step in the shooting process and the different parts of the Mental Game. The study also processed the impact of performance of an archer based on their perception of importance of the different steps of the shooting process and the Mental Game. Depending on if the archer has ever had a coach, certain steps of the shooting process and certain parts of the Mental Game was impacted by having a coach at one time. While, the level of coach also impacts how the Mental Game is perceived. Throughout this study, imagery was the most impacted by the level of coach the participant is, if the participants have ever had a coach, and how the participants perform.
ContributorsBell, Rebecca Christa (Author) / Craig, Scotty (Thesis director) / Gray, Robert (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Cooperative education has a long-standing tradition within engineering education. As part of the experiential education field, it carries many success stories. Several universities offer a robust cooperative education track. In recent years, Arizona State University has made the decision to formalize a cooperative education program. Arizona State University, like many other institutions, has long since provided career support and promoted internships as an excellent work experience option before graduation. The decision to formalize a cooperative education program speaks to a need for a more rigorous path to work experience for engineering students. This paper is an investigation into the barriers and enablers behind a young cooperative education program. These results indicate that while students do benefit from the program, growth of the program may be tied to creating a meaningful distinction between cooperative education and other learning opportunities.
ContributorsGolka, Margaret (Author) / Jordan, Shawn (Thesis director) / Morrell, Darryl (Committee member) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The field of soft robotics is a very quickly growing field that has yet to be fully explored or implemented in all of the possible applications. Soft robotics shows the greatest degree of possibility for mimicking biological systems effectively and accurately. This study seeks to set the groundwork for the development of a biomimetic nautilus using soft robotic methods. The study shows background research and discusses the methods used to develop a nautilus themed sub aquatic robot that uses a double bladder system and a pump to generate thrust for movement. The study shows how the unit would be fabricated and constructed. The study also explores why the second stage of the design failed and how it could potentially be fixed in future iterations.
ContributorsCarlson, Caleb Elijah (Author) / Polygerinos, Panagiotis (Thesis director) / Parsey, John (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
This research focused on how low-income communities in Ghana could convert Waste Vegetable Oil (WVO) into biodiesel to supplement their energy demands. The 2016 World Energy Outlook estimates that about 8 million Ghanaians do not have access to electricity while 82% of the population use biomass as cooking fuel. However, WVO is available in almost every home and is also largely produced by hotels and schools. There are over 2,700 registered hotels and more than 28,000 educational institutions from Basic to the Tertiary level. Currently, most WVOs are often discarded in open gutters or left to go rancid and later disposed of. Therefore, WVOs serve as cheap materials available in large quantities with a high potential for conversion into biodiesel and commercializing to support the economic needs of low-income communities. In 2013, a group of researchers at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Ghana estimated that the country could be producing between 82,361 and 85,904 tons of biodiesel from WVOs generated by hotels alone in 2015. Further analysis was also carried out to examine the Ghana National Biofuel Policy that was introduced in 2005 with support from the Ghana Energy Commission. Based on the information identified in the research, a set of recommendations were made to help the central government in promoting the biodiesel industry in Ghana, with a focus on low-income or farming communities. Lastly, a self-sustaining biodiesel production model with high potential for commercialization, was proposed to enable low-income communities to produce their own biodiesel from WVOs to meet their energy demands.
ContributorsAnnor-Wiafe, Stephen (Author) / Henderson, Mark (Thesis director) / Rogers, Bradley (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The SAE Baja series is a competition that challenges university student teams on all aspects of designing, building, and testing an all-terrain vehicle. In the competition, the teams present their engineering analysis of all components of their vehicle to a panel of professional engineers to show why the team's design is the overall best in performance and in manufacturing cost. Currently Arizona State University's SAE Baja team does not have a method to analyze their vehicle's suspension system, especially on the car's shock absorbers. The current solution to this problem is to change the shock absorber parameters, test drive the car, and repeat the shock absorber tuning until the car is able to produce the performance that the team desires. The following paper introduces and demonstrates three different methods, ADAMS Car, SOLIDWORKS, and MATLAB, that can be used to analyze the suspension system and gather data that can be used in the competition presentation. ADAMS Car is a power software that is used in the automotive and other engineering fields. The program does have a steep learning curve, but once the team is comfortable using it, ADAMS is very helpful with subsystem analysis and full body analysis. SOLIDWORKS can be used to perform motion analysis and drop tests, which can then be exported into ADAMS for further analysis. MATLAB can be used to model the Baja vehicle as a quarter model, which makes it easier for the team to model. Using the methods presented in this paper, ASU's Baja team can test coil-over and air shock absorbers to determine which type is more suitable for the performance and overall cost of the whole vehicle.
ContributorsPerez, Marcos (Author) / Contes, James (Thesis director) / Redkar, Sangram (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12