Benchtop Centrifuge for Materials Science

The Benchtop Centrifuge was designed to serve for research purposes within theMechanical Engineering Department at Santa Clara University. The prototype has been completely assembled and is functioning to the desired specifications of applying up to 1000 g’s of force for over 4 hours. The current uses are anticipated for separation of particles within materials for material processing and testing. The overall systemdesign has been adapted froma legacy project within the University. Various tests were conducted in order to ensure safety and usability of the system. Through Abaqus analysis and drop-test experiments, it was found enclosure itself can withstand an impact from a bucket at max-speed. The a SolidWorks analysis, the natural frequency of the enclosure was found to be 104.46 Hz, which translates to a rotational speed of 6267.6 RPM; this is well above what the system will be operating at. The team hopes that future students and faculty will be able to expand their current research through the use of this system

Annual performance indicators of enforced driver behaviours, 2002

The Centre for Automotive Safety Research at the University of Adelaide was commissioned by Transport SA to produce a report quantifying the effects of selected enforced driver behaviours: drink driving, speeding and restraint use, in South Australia for the calendar year 2002. The level of random breath testing (RBT) has increased substantially such that the annual average rate of testing was 2 tests for every 3 licensed drivers in 2002. An inverse relationship between detection rates and publicity expenditure suggests current publicity campaigns are supporting enforcement operations. Overall, speeding detection rates in 2002 decreased, especially speed camera detection rates. However, speeding detection rates were heavily influenced by police enforcement strategies and practices. Rural speed surveys indicated that the mean free speed decreased from 2000 to 2002 on 100km/h roads but showed no meaningful change on 60km/h and 110km/h roads each year. Determining the effectiveness of restraint use enforcement was very difficult because no specific restraint enforcement campaigns were undertaken. In the absence of available restraint enforcement details, the number of restraint related offences committed annually was used to provide a rough estimate of enforcement activities. Reasonably consistent observational surveys were useful in providing an indication of restraint wearing rates over time in a number of regions. The surveys indicated that both metropolitan and rural wearing rates increased in 2002 to a level of 96 per cent, just above the national target of 95 per cent.L.N. Wundersitz and A.J. McLea

High Speed, High Current Monitoring System

Electronics testing requires lengthy data collection and analysis. Streamlining at least part of this process allows resource reallocation, and faster data processing. Verifying a signal’s efficiency is key specification for a component’s datasheet. This project focuses on streamlining data collection when measuring a device’s output current. It combines amplifier design and digital interfacing to perform monitor a device’s output current. A computer-enable interface displays a graphical output current representation. It ensures accurate, high speed, high current measurements while removing a person’s need to manually plot data after testing. A new testing method provides room for company and product growth with eased data collection and analysis methods

Straight and chopped dc performance data for a Prestolite MTC-4001 motor and a general electric EV-1 controller

Performance data on the Prestolite MTC-4001 series wound dc motor and General Electric EV-1 Chopper Controller is supplied for the electric vehicle manufacturer. Data are provided for both straight and chopped dc input to the motor, at 2 motor temperature levels. Testing was done at 6 voltage increments to the motor, and 2 voltage increments to the controller. Data results are presented in both tabular and graphical forms. Tabular information includes motor voltage and current input data, motor speed and torque output data, power data and temperature data. Graphical information includes torque-speed, motor power output-speed, torque-current, and efficiency-speed plots under the various operating conditions. The data resulting from this testing show the speed-torque plots to have the most variance with operating temperature. The maximum motor efficiency is between 76% and 82%, regardless of temperature or mode of operation

Simulation Platform for the Evaluation of Robotic Swarm Algorithms

One major problem in the development of robotic swarms is the slow process of testing. Testing different algorithms or variations of a single one using physical robots requires reprogramming every robot in the swarm before every run. Hence, the speed at which a robotic swarm can be tested is highly dependent on the time taken to reprogram the entire swarm and the physical speed at which the swarm operates. This paper details the development of a computer-based simulation platform for rapid development and testing of swarm-intelligence algorithms in an effort to mitigate the current bottleneck imposed by testing. The simulator uses an object-oriented programming environment to facilitate the implementation and modification of swarm algorithms. Simulation of food foraging in an ant-hill scenario is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of the simulator

A swept wing panel in a low speed flexible walled test section

The testing of two-dimensional airfoil sections in adaptive wall tunnels is relatively widespread and has become routine at all speeds up to transonic. In contrast, the experience with the three-dimensional testing of swept panels in adaptive wall test sections is very limited, except for some activity in the 1940's at NPL, London. The current interest in testing swept wing panels led to the work covered by this report, which describes the design of an adaptive-wall swept-wing test section for a low speed wind tunnel and gives test results for a wing panel swept at 40 deg. The test section has rigid flat sidewalls supporting the panel, and features flexible top and bottom wall with ribs swept at the same angle as the wing. When streamlined, the walls form waves swept at the same angle as the wing. The C sub L (-) curve for the swept wing, determined from its pressure distributions taken with the walls streamlined, compare well with reference data which was taken on the same model, unswept, in a test section deep enough to avoid wall interference

Straight and chopped dc performance data for a General Electric 5BT 2366C10 motor and an EV-1 controller

Performance data on the General Electric 5BT 2366C10 series wound dc motor and EV-1 Chopper Controller is supplied for the electric vehicle manufacturer. Data is provided for both straight and chopped dc input to the motor, at 2 motor temperature levels. Testing was done at 6 voltage increments to the motor, and 2 voltage increments to the controller. Data results are presented in both tabular and graphical forms. Tabular information includes motor voltage and current input data, motor speed and torque output data, power data and temperature data. Graphical information includes torque-speed, motor power output-speed, torque-current, and efficiency-speed plots under the various operating conditions. The data resulting from this testing shows the speed-torque plots to have the most variance with operating temperature. The maximum motor efficiency is between 86% and 87%, regardless of temperature or mode of operation. When the chopper is utilized, maximum motor efficiency occurs when the chopper duty cycle approaches 100%

A Model-based Predictive Current Controller for a Back-to-Back Connected Multilevel Converter Aerospace Starter-Generator

The application of predictive current control to a multilevel converter is explored for application in an aerospace starter-generator system to investigate how such as system may be used to limit the harmonic distortion in the starter-generator’s stator current waveform and also at the point of common connection with the aircraft supply system. The proposed system is analyzed, and a prototype converter and aerospace generator are used to provide experimental testing results. During testing a dynamometer is used to reproduce the turbines torque speed characteristics