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Honors Graduate From the University of New Hampshire
This project, in the initial stages of the patent process sponsored by UNH, aims to assist in the automated retrieval of irregularly shaped objects in deep sea or outer space. To firmly grasp the object, we employ a clamp with thermoplastic "soft jaws" that are heated and pressed around the object to securely hold it without causing damage.
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Contouring End-Effectors
(Patent Pending)
In this simulation, we are recovering a steel rope which would be difficult to grab using traditional fixturing methods. After heating the soft jaws, they are pressed onto the steel rope. Above you can see how the jaws contour to the strands in the rope allowing a secure fixture. A silicone skin prevents the observed bubbling in the newer models
How are the thermoplastic jaws heated?
The thermoplastic jaws are made from stacked layers of 3D printed PLA. Between these layers are nichrome wires, which are highly resistive and disperses thermal energy through an applied current. Once all of the layers are stacked, they are heated and compressed to create a solid module preventing delamination. Current is through the soft jaw via two wires of equal resistance in parallel. One wire matrix is dedicated to the exterior face and is densely packed to account for the convective heat losses. The other wire matrix is more sparsely spread throughout the rest of the jaw where heat is more readily contained. Because these two wires are in parallel, when the central wires heat and increase in resistance, more current is directed to the posterior wire matrix in a self-regulating feedback system.
Higher wire density at posterior face that contacts the artifact
In an underwater environment with a 145 watt power supplied to the nichrome, it takes less then 60 seconds for both the center and exterior of the thermoplastic jaws to reach melting temperature.
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Single-use snap in thermoplastic jaws before melting and clamping
A system was also designed to fixture to artifacts with a robotic arm. Once the robotic arm melts the jaws and engages the clamp, it can uncouple from the clamp using a pair of Schunk connectors allowing for a hand-off between transport systems
Internal Fillet Tool
Grinding welds inside corners is difficult and time consuming. Angle grinders are often unable to reach internal corners and often results in a poor aesthetic and rotary tools with carbide burrs send millions of sharp slivers into your skin as you brace your hand on the workpiece. I worked on this prototype to convert an angle grinder into a die grinder with guides to grind welds down to a perfect 1/4" radius while keeping your hands far from the carbide burr and the pesky slivers. The system clamps onto the standard angle grinder guard mount and tightens by turning the stabilizing handle. The gear ratio increases the speed of the angle grinder to reach speeds appropriate for carbide burrs.
The aim of this project was to add stippling capabilities to any milling machine where the relative motion between the spindle and quill powers the linear oscillatory motion of a die. This could be used for operations such as work hardening, peening, or adding texture to an CNC part. A spring washer prevents machine damage that could occur when the force of deformation is higher than machine capabilities. The stippling frequency is twice that of the spindle speed making this a very high speed operation.
Stippling Attatchment for Milling Machines
Hard Gauge For LOx/Kerosene Engine
This was a project completed during my Ursa Major Internship. Ursa Major's 5,000 lbf Hadley engine had several positional tolerances for features used in engine-vehicle integration. Previously, the valves would be iteratively positioned and checked on the CMM until they fell within tolerance which was a very labor intensive process requiring transport of a top-level engine assembly. The hard gauge uses alignment pins on the gimble (the reference datum) and has a plate that slides over the valves with any interferences indicating out of tolerance features. Another feature on the back of the hard gauge locates the bellows. The 3D printed hard gauge is only sufficient for these features due to very forgiving tolerances. The CMM verified this tool within .1" of true position so features pass inspection when no less than .1" within specified tolerances.
Summer of 2022 I was commissioned by a meat processing plant to make a rail system for transporting and storing pigs in refrigerator units. As the pigs are pulled along the main track, they are sent to one of ten tracks for compact storage. This means that eight switches were needed to redirect the pigs. I designed and manufactured the switches to open and close with a single lever.
Butcher Rail System
Precision OD Tenon Tool
Drilling and tapping is a very common and simple process. However, making external threads is much more difficult because obtaining a precise OD is nearly impossible in situations where a lathe can't be used. Even when using standard stock sizes, die cutters require the OD to be slightly less than the nominal size. The goal of this project was to be able to take a rough and oversized tenon down to a specific OD. My first attempt at this problem was to use an angle grinder equipped with carbide inserts spaced apart at the target OD similar to using an external boring bar. This idea was discarded when the tool binded and exploded.
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The newest, but untested, design uses a set of carbide burrs reducing the cutting force and required rigidity. Since the burrs are set within a planetary gear, the burrs are spun in the cutting direction while rotating around the oversized tenon. While this design is restricted to single sized tenoning, I am exploring using elastic planetary gears which would allow custom tenon sizing and reduce chatter.
Accelerated Hand Ratchet
I designed this ratchet for nuts that are too hard to be unscrewed by hand even after the nut has been cracked such as locknuts or rusted nuts. Holding the two handles together, the ratchet acts as normal. By repeatedly spreading the handles apart, the nut is unscrewed at four times the normal speed. A printed prototype proved the concept successful.
Modular Dorm Furniture
For a class project when first learning CAD, I was tasked with designing modular dorm furniture to make the most out of a small space. This dorm bed made from channel and angle iron can be completely disassembled and assembled for shipping without tools and can be converted into a couch with swinging desks that can be adjusted to different heights.
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