Students Complete Project with Parts Donated by SDP/SI
02/25/2009
In the Computer-Aided Design course (MECE E3409) taught by Professor Nabil Simaan and his teaching assistant Andrea Bajo, seniors applied the theory of machine component design and computer-aided software to solve a close-ended design problem. In the Fall 2008 course the final project was a challenge to design, construct, and test a mechanism that emulated the motion of a human finger throughout a bending cycle as shown the in the figure below.
The performance goals required that the finger have the least amount of parts and be as close as possible to the dimensions of an "ideal finger," it should apply maximal force at its tip, at maximal speed the finger should be able to complete a natural finger bending cycle in at least one second while applying a load of at least 5 N at the finger tip with minimal backlash. Crucial to the success of these student projects was having adequate supplies, which was where the SDP/SI (Stock Drive Products/Sterling Instrument) Company stepped in. Dr. Hitoshi Tanaka, a member of the ME External Advisory Board and the Sr. Vice President of Designatronics, Inc. (www.designatronics.com), a holding company for several organizations including SDP/SI became aware of the need and offered to donate the parts necessary to complete the projects. "Their generous donation allowed the students to have quality parts for their projects and enhanced the scope of the project beyond its traditional budgetary constraints. We're very grateful for the support of Designatronics," said Prof. Simaan. The final projects were presented to a panel of judges that included Professors Ateshian, Simaan, Stolfi and Bob Stark. The image below shows the best three fingers that were presented.
The project on the right received the award for the best project. Team members: Xavier Ducher, Kelly Russel, Hang Shu, Robet Sokola, Travis Thurber