In This Section

Recent Projects: Industrial

Development Of LabVIEW Software For Optical Test Equipment

Team: Gabriel Stocco, Abhijeet Jha
Sponsor: Wayne Tucker, Labsphere, North Sutton, N.H.
Advisor: Venkat Krishnaswamy

Labsphere hoped to allow their users to use Labsphere hardware with LabVIEW to allow easier interoperation with third-party hardware, as well as rapid prototyping of custom optics software. We designed, developed, and tested LabVIEW VIs for Labsphere CDS series Spectrometers via C# API and their SC 6000 Radiometer via a raw TCP/IP connection. Iterative user testing was performed to ensure interface consistency with LabVIEW. A NSIS install script was developed to distribute the VIs, and documentation was included in the VIs in the form of native LabVIEW "context help."

Electrawatch—Mechanical CHM Enclosure Redesign

Team: Christa Miller-Shelley
Sponsor: ElectraWatch, Charlottesville, Va.
Advisor: Professor Solomon Diamond

In order to reduce the multi-billion dollar cost of corrosion on military vehicles, the sponsor, ElectraWatch, has developed a device called the Coating Health Monitor (CHM), a wireless corrosion coating monitor. The current CHM enclosure is not optimized for long-term usage or resistance to sustained environmental exposure, and does not meet military specifications for vibration and shock resistance. The project focused on redesigning the CHM enclosure to meet these specifications and developing FEA analyses to model the vibration and shock testing requirements with the support of physical test results.

Mechanical Coating Health Monitor Enclosure Redesign

Infinite Rotation Bevel And Robotic Torch Head

Team: Christopher Klabes, Claire McConnell, Lauren Miller
Sponsor: Hypertherm, Hanover, N.H.
Advisor: Professor Solomon Diamond

Infinite Rotation Bevel And Robotic Torch Head The lead sets on Hypertherm's mechanized plasma torches, originally designed to meet the needs of X-Y table cutting applications, fail prematurely when used in robotic applications. This is costly and time-consuming for both Hypertherm and its clients. We have identified many of the causes for failures in the lead sets and have designed a robust prototype to help relieve some of the issues. Our design involves the addition of several components that allow the torch head to rotate infinitely, alleviating problems such as kinking, abrasion, and torsional stresses.

Portable Plasma Cutter

Team: David Lindenbaum, Hayley Steplyk, Brooks Smith
Sponsor: Hypertherm, Hanover, N.H.
Advisor: Professor Peter Robbie

Fire departments, SWAT, and military personnel have the need to cut through metals in buildings, doors, and other structures, and the devices currently in use are increasingly insufficient for this task. Plasma torches are able to cut quickly, quietly, and simply, though no autonomous torches currently exist. Through user research and testing, a refined prototype for a portable plasma cutter based upon the Powermax 30 manual torch from Hypertherm was developed. The prototype weighs 50 pounds, is backpack-mounted, and is able to cut for 3.5 minutes with the ability to replace all consumables within 50 seconds.