DESIGN PROJECT IDEAS FOR THE 2008/2009 YEAR Updated August 20, 2008

PROJECT A Proponent: Dominic Grouloux Project title: Naturally heated ice skate blade Summary: Would heating the blades of ice skates diminish the friction with the ice and increase the skating overall efficiency? In order to answer this question, a pair of ice skates with blades have to be design and fabricated. The heating should be achieved by using the natural heat released by the body, mainly the feet of the skaters; this will ask for innovative design ideas. It will be possible to test the prototype against a regular pair of skates to quantify the effect of heating the blades. **************** PROJECT B Proponents: Ismet Ugursal and Peter Jones: Project title: Design and construction of Thermo I Experiments Summary: The objective of this project is to design and construct several lab set-ups for the second year Thermodynamics course which will be used to demonstrate the P-v-T relationships as well as other Thermodynamics concepts and laws. The designs will include computerized data collection, and should be interesting and challenging. This is your opportunity to help your fellow students and have your names remembered for many years to come as every experimental set-up will have a plaque indicating the names of the students who designed and constructed the set-up. **************** PROJECT C Proponent: Andrew Warkentin Project title: Device for Launching Squash Balls Summary: In order to improve their skills, squash players do drills that require an instructor to consistently hit squash balls to them. A device that could consistently hit/launch squash balls to a squash player would be useful for helping squash players improve there skills without a partner or instructor.

PROJECT D Proponent: Yajun Pan Project Title: Hexapod walking robot Summary: The design of the Hexapod walking robot will include: mechanical design for the body, low cost modular design for the six legs with 18 DOF in total (3DOF for each leg), control unit design (computer controlled system would be preferred) for servo motors, integration and assembly. The robot should be able to walk backward or forward at a certain desired speed, to lift itself to adjust the height of the main body. Integrations of various sensors could be optional to accomplish more complicated tasks. ***************** PROJECT E Proponent; Marek Kujath Energy Harvester (other than a turbine) Summary: Design and test a prototype of other wind generator than a turbine: e.g. - cilia generators (like a wheat field) -flapping wing http://www.vortexosc.com/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=87 ****************** PROJECT F Proponent: Marek Kujath Project Title: Huge Puppets (to promote Mechanical Engineering at Dal) Summary: Design huge puppets driven manually through series of simple mechanisms. see the attached pps file Niesamowite for ideas. *******************

PROJECT G Proponent; Marek Kujath Project title: Solar powered air jellyfish Summary: Design an indoor/outdoor airship for entertainment/advertising. Idea from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F_citFkSNtk
*******************

PROJECT H Proponent: Geoffrey Maksym [mailto:gmaksym@dal.ca] Project title: Oscillation spirometer support. Summary: The oscillation spirometer is a biomedical device with an oscillating actuator that produces a pressure wave into the lungs of patients. The project consists in the design and construction of an assembly to hold this device minimizing vibration, that is height adjustable, stow able and would work well in the clinic. We are working towards an industrial design and are collaborating with NSCAD somewhat as well. ********************** PROJECT I Proponent: Prabir Basu Project title:Hydrogenfromsewagewateraninnovativeapproachforwastewaterdisposal Summary: The project will involve a preliminary assessment of its technical viability in the context of small to medium municipalities. It will then involve design of a high pressure high temperature reactor to demonstrate the process. In the final phase the reactor will be built and tested with sample city sewage water.
*********************

PROJECT J Proponent: Alex Kalamkarov Client: Dalhousie School of Architecture Project title: Massage therapy privacy enclosure Summary: Massage therapists who follow sport teams in outdoor environments need a privacy enclosure to do their work. This enclosure should be self-supporting and collapsible into a bundle that fits in the back of a car; light enough to be carried by one person; and expandable into a wall that encloses 60 sqft area. The objective of the project is to develop the skeleton (or structural supporting system) of such an enclosure. The engineering requirements focus solely on the design of the wall (with or without a roof) that needs to be light, collapsible and selfsupporting. The enclosure should be 6.6 feet high and encloses a floor area that is 10 feet long and 6 feet wide. The joints should be optimized to the requirements; the compressive elements should allow for wires to run through them; the wind load should be calculated and the anchorage strategy should be designed. ****************