2019/2020 Capstone Projects

The Motivation

With advent of MRI technology, neuroscientists and neuroradiologists can potentially obtain MRI images of the brain at high resolution. However, subjects’ head movements remain the limiting factor that prevent the realization of the full potential of modern MRI scanners.

The Goal

To design MRI-compatible devices for stabilizing the head during MRI.

Additional information: Dr. Shmuel welcomes any new ideas and designs for solving the problem. However, the students who take on this challenge will not necessarily start the project from scratch, since Dr. Shmuel has already come up with a design which can be implemented towards achieving the requirements of the Capstone project.

The Motivation

Neurons create ‘analog’ and ‘binary’ like electrical activities, and send them as message to other neurons downstream in the network. To understand how the brain works, it is essential to record these activities and unravel the ‘code’ used by the neurons. Dr. Shmuel’s research involves recording of neurophysiological activity in the lab and in the MRI, during functional MRI experiment. This type of work requires innovative designs for holding and moving the electrodes used for recordings, to make sure they are stable, and to position them orthogonally to the surface of the brain.

The Goal

To design and implement MRI-compatible electrode holders that meet the above mentioned requirements. 

Project Description

The project is to develop and validate a portable dynamometer device to measure knee extensor and flexor muscle strength in human subjects. The application applies broadly to several populations including older adults being tested for age-related loss of muscle strength (“sarcopenia”) as a marker for frailty, rehabilitation patients being tested for recovery and exercise planning, patients being tested for rheumatologic or neuromuscular problems, and athletes being tested for physical performance. Another use of our device could be to exercise the knee extensor and flexor muscles against an active resistance. Currently available dynamometers to measure knee extensor and flexor strength are seldom used in practice because they rely on costly bulky seated machines or homemade pulley contraptions, with the former lacking accessibility and the latter lacking reliability. Our device could be easily transported and used at the point-of-care in hospitals, clinics, rehabilitation facilities, gyms, and homes. The core design of our device revolves around an adjustable knee brace with a central rotary articulation that houses a torque dynamometer. The torque dynamometer articulates in the forward (knee extension) or backward (knee flexion) direction, and could be set to different starting knee positions. It could be set to maintain angular velocities between 0° s-1 (isometric) and 300° s-1 (isokinetic). Its analog dial displays the achieved torque, and does not require an electrical power source. After design and prototyping, our device would be validated against a seated dynamometer reference standard in younger and older adults, encompassing a representative sample of healthy volunteers and hospitalized patients.

Knee brace specifications

• Rigid rods on the lateral and medial sides of the upper and lower leg
• Velcro straps attached to the rigid rods and wrapping around the upper and lower leg
• Central rotary articulation at the level of the knee joint Torque dynamometer specifications:
• Housed in the brace’s central rotary articulation
• Analog dial displaying values in Newton metres (Nm) with manual knob to reset the needle to 0
• Range 0 to 450 Nm (+450 Nm in extension direction, -450 Nm in flexion direction)
• Starting knee angle, options: 0°, 30°, 60°, 90°
• Angular velocity setting, options: 0° s-1, 60° s-1, 120° s-1, 180° s-1, 240° s-1, 300° s-1
• Motion direction setting, options: extension, flexion, both

Project Description

Your body has limits; when running, exercising, or in daily activity. But how can you pinpoint these limitations as they relate to your muscular system? We are looking to monitor and map muscle activation in the abdomen to better understand where weakness occurs in the trunk muscles.
 
Theobjective of this project is to design a muscle monitoring system that can evaluate the mechanical strain in your abdominal wall, while simultaneously recording muscle activation. As such, this device must continuously measure strain and muscle activation (think EMG), be optimized for patient comfort, and cost less than $200 per unit to manufacture. Furthermore, it must be able to reliably output and read data in real time.
 
To summarize, the designed device should comprise four major parts: material optimization (composite design using local materials), strain mapping (where are strains in the abdomen greatest?), muscle activation mapping (which muscles are of greatest interest, and where should sensors sit to reliably capture this information?), and data acquisition (bringing all the information together). It is the hope that this device can offer real-time training recommendations, without the need for large or expensive monitoring equipment.

Project Description

If you are lucky, you have spinal stability and are free of discomfort. Unfortunately, for many, a form of collapse or mechanical failure is present. Spinal disorders and associated back pain will be experienced by 4 of 5 adults, per Statistics Canada, and hence currently represent an epidemic hindering productivity and creating a massive economic burden to developed nations such as Canada and, more locally, in the province of Quebec. The presentation of a spinal disorder, mechanically, represents a flawed stability mechanism.

To better study spinal disorders and plausible solutions to correct such disorders, an analogue or robotic spine was designed. This spine uses synthetic bones (sawbones), elastics, and pneumatic muscles (McKibens). Muscular activity on the spine model can be controlled through a control system by inflating the pneumatic muscles and artificial cavities while studying the reaction of the spine when subjected to a load.

The role of this year’s capstone team will be to improve the spine model through the attachment method of the spine to the base and to redesign the artificial thoracic and abdominal cavities. The cavities should be integrated into the control system and be able to be controlled automatically. Once complete, the robot spine should be able to move in a controlled physiological like manner while being submitted to a compressional weight.

Project Description

Ever wonder how your body (muscles and musculoskeletal control) differs from other?  Everyone is different, and this spectrum includes high performance athletes to those with disabilities.  Currently, no device exists to effectively make this distinction, from a muscular pressure perspective which is very closely correlated to strength or force output.  Which is what we are designing!  
 
Last year, a capstone group developed a prototype to achieve the above goal. However, this device requires further optimization before it can be used in a hospital setting. This device must be handheld, reversible, streamlined and cost less than $100 per unit to manufacture. Furthermore, it must be able to reliably output and read positive and negative pressures with resolutions of 1 mmHg. The greatest challenges for this year’s team are to decrease the device size, be able to measure tissue deformation to within 1 mm, and restrict device motion when under positive pressurization.  
 
To summarize, the designed device should comprise five major parts: a quick-reverse pressure pump, pressure gauge, deformation sensor, data acquisition system, and housing body. It is the hope that this device can replace larger machinery for a fraction of the cost without compromising quality. 

Project Description

Orthopedic surgical procedures are extremely destructive as surgeons overcome the strength of the bones in the surgical area. When these strong surgeons are operating in and around neural components as is seen in spinal procedures, the surgeons risk damaging neural function or paralysis in limbs without proper motor skills. Therefore, our research group at Musculoskeletal Biomechanics Research Lab are working towards developing a surgical trainer to provide surgeons with a safe environment to perfect their motor skills before they operate on a patient.

The forces applied in orthopedic surgeries are extremely impactful when designing a surgical simulator for spine and orthopedic surgeons as various procedures require hammering of surgical tools. Therefore, this project aims to understand the impact forces experienced during one such surgical procedure (which can be as high as 500 N) and design a mechanism to model these interactions on a haptic device which outputs a peak force of 15 N. Haptic devices are used in simulators to model force feedback based on interactions of the model representing the haptic device in virtual environment with other objects in the environment. Lastly, the designed system will need to work alongside the benchtop model of the surgical area.

To summarize, the designed device should comprise of three major parts: understanding the loadings during hammering on bones, developing a hammering mechanism that can work alongside a haptic device, and work well with all the other components/sensors of the surgical simulator. It is the hope that this device can be used in the surgical simulator that is being developed at MBR lab and those for other orthopedic procedures.

Project Description

The popularization of surgical simulation as a training tool has led to demand for more advanced mechanical understanding of surgical procedures.

VR surgical training modules comprise a visual display of an operation such as an open spine, for example, with which a clinician virtually interacts by means of surgical tools connected to haptic controls. The feedback interactions, both graphic and haptic, are provided by physics driven FEM based computations achieved in real-time, which provide users with the sensory impression that they are performing a surgical procedure. The aim of these feedback interactions with the virtual patient is to mimic sensations experienced in an operating room. The goal of this device is to better quantify the forces involved in surgery so that they be programmed into more accurate simulators.

Project Description

Wound healing, particularly of infected or chronic wounds, represent a significant burden to patients, health care professionals, and the Canadian health care system. It has been estimated that a single diabetic ulcer carries a cost of nearly $52,360, and chronic wounds as a whole cost the Canadian medical system over $3.9 billion per year (2012). Klox Technologies has developed a novel technology platform that induces Fluorescent Light Energy (FLE) for the management of acute and chronic wounds. Studies in clinical setting have demonstrated the safety and efficacy of this technology.

This project proposes the development of a wearable light source to be used within the Klox technology platform. The light source shall be wearable for up to 8 hours, and conform with the following requirements.

Wavelength Range

• Blue/Green (no UV light shall be generated)

Light Intensity

• Generation of Fluorescence: Shall have sufficient intensity to generate FLE spectrum from a Klox dressing (preliminary data available by Klox, but testing to determine specification is required)
• Max intensity within temperature limits defined below
• Minimum Surface Size: at least 5x5cm (alternative surface area may be discussed with sponsor)
• Uniformity: Light intensity shall not vary more the 50% (min:max) across the surface
• Reliability: Light intensity shall be consistent during 8-hour wear time and for at least 20 cycles

Power

• Device shall be battery operated
• Battery shall be rechargeable

Wearability

• Temperature: During active wear time with dressing (provided by Klox), skin temperature shall not exceed 45oC
• Conformability: Shall be flexible enough to conform to a wound on an arm or leg
• Wear Time: Device shall automatically shut off after 8 hours of wear time (ideally it will produce a signal to the wearer that the illumination is complete)

Final Deliverables

Working prototype; BOM with cost estimates; preliminary patentability assessment

Project Description

The advent of 3D printing has been world changing in the world of manufacturing, chief among those changes is the ability to remove redundant supply chains and multi-part assemblies from production, lowering cost of products. One area still to benefit from these manufacturing advantages is prosthetics. While advances in prosthetics are multiple in the recent years, from increasingly sensitive control to improved degrees of movement, the cost of such devices has remained largely prohibitive to truly benefit patients. At MBEC we seek through our Arm Initiative to explore the world 3D printed prosthetics in order to provide a suitable and affordable alternative to patients. One avenue that we are excited about is the mechanical design of a hand that could be printed in less than 5 pieces, drastically reducing assembly complexity and production cost. We believe that recent advances in 3D printing such as dual filament printing and further understanding of compliant mechanism printing makes possible to overcome such design challenges. We would like to submit as capstone project the re-design of the mechanical hand currently under prototyping. The design limitations are as follows:

• Provide a hand design in the CAD files of their choice, which could be 3D printed in 5 pieces or less.
• The hand must include all parts from fingers to the wrist, and have planned for embedded flexion cables.
• The fingers must be compliant in flexion and extend on their own out of the printer without the use of springs or extra hardware.
• Print the hand so as to be actionable by 3 or more linear actuators by the MBEC design team.

Project Description

Tara is a woman who uses a power wheelchair. She lives in Verdun, where most businesses have one step between the sidewalk and the entrance to the building. The city does not have an initiative to create accessible entrances, and this single step prevents Tara from entering coffeeshops, hairdressers, corner stores, and many other areas of daily living. As a result, she is excluded from many of the spaces in her neighbourhood. This design project involves developing a lightweight, portable ramp that Tara can hang on the back of her wheelchair, place in front of a step when necessary, and use to get into currently inaccessible spaces.

This project will be conducted in connection with the clinical students in POTH 625: Design of Assistive Technology. Clinical and mechanical engineering students will form an interdisciplinary team together with Tara to design, develop and deliver a portable wheelchair ramp.

Design of Assistive Technologies partners with Makers Making Change, an online platform for makers of assistive technologies. Upon completion of this project, all designs will be uploaded onto the Makers Making Change website for other individuals who face similar challenges to access and download.

Project Description

PHASE 1: Design Inputs and Schedule

• Development of Design Inputs for the implant and instruments
• Establishing a Project Schedule

PHASE 2: Preliminary Design of Implants

• Development of ideas for the implant (brainstorming)
• Preliminary evaluation of risks/ potential harms
• Design Review for selection of preliminary concept and refinement of selected concept
• Patent research and preliminary drafting

PHASE 3: Preliminary Design of Instruments

• Development of ideas for the instrumentation (brainstorming)
• Drafting of preliminary Surgical Technique
• Design Review for selection of preliminary concept and refinement of selected concept

PHASE 4: Preliminary Prototype Manufacturing and Verifications

• Design and Development of 3D functional models
• Establishing the validation plan for verifications (FEA, Calculations, etc) and bench testing validations (design and quoting of simplified prototypes, design of testing jigs, development of testing protocols)
• Rapid prototyping of parts (if applicable)
• Testing of preliminary implant models and instrument models

PHASE 5: Final Concept of the Implant

• Optimization of final concept of the implant
• Preparation of engineering drawings
• Update to risk management

PHASE 6: Final Concept of the Instruments

• Optimization of final concept of the implant
• Preparation of engineering drawings
• Update to risk management

Project Description

Infants in the neonatal intensive care unit suffer from frequent apneas - periods when breathing ceases - which may be result from the lack of central drive or from obstruction of the air ways. It is important to detect apnea's and classify their origin. There is at present no reliable, clinically usable way of doing so. We propose that this problem could be addressed by building a sensor that would incorporate impedance tomography, to measure chest movements, and an acoustic transducer to measure breath sounds. With appropriate signal processing, the signals from this transducer should provide a means for the continuous, real-time, non-invasive detection and of apneas and their classification as either central or obstructive in nature.

Project Description

Current vascular grafts are made of Dacron. The material does replicate the natural properties which causes important mismatch and biomechanical consequences. The main objective of the project is 3D print a new concept of graft that would better reproduce the natural biomechanical properties of vascular tissue.

Project Description

The main objective of this project is to design a device to operate with an electroforce enduratec 3200 for stent fatigue tests. The device should allow for tension, compression and bending regimes. It should also be able to accommodate various stent sizes (from coronary to aortic sizes). Ideally, the system should also reproduce the environmental conditions the stents are subjected to.

Project Description

Minimally invasive cardiac procedures require access via the radial, ulnar and pedal arteries. A hemostatis system was designed for controlling the access for the radial and ulnar approach. The project aims at designing a hemostasis system for the pedal artery (for cases where the radial and ulnar are not accessible).

Project Description

The project is to develop an electro-mechanical system for controlled delivery of compressed gas, contained in a mini gas cartridge, into a medical device. Once the cartridge is loaded, the system must allow the user (physician) to initiate gas injection but then automatically stop gas flow after a pre-determined and pre-programmed time increment (to be determined but approximately 5-10 seconds). The electro-mechanical system must fit within a “black box” representative in shape and volume to a typical catheter handle enclosure. The enclosure must allow for the cartridge to be manually inserted by the physician, and then removed and exchanged for another cartridge when gas pressure has elapsed. Up to three pre-determined injection times are expected. The mini gas cartridges (approximately 2cm wide by 6cm long) are commercially available and typically used for either bicycle tire repair (carbon dioxide, CO2) or as the whipping agent (nitrous oxide, N2O) in whipped cream dispensers. A foil seal encloses the cartridge and is broken to allow gas release.

Project Description

An advanced prototype of this device is available. However, the hydraulics still need to be developed for the final device.

Project Description

Applications of 3D printing are growing rapidly in medicine due to the high demand in (1) medical education, (2) surgical practice of trainees, (3) in-simulacra research, (4) medical and surgical tools and (5) replacing biological organ transplants. This project specifically focuses on developing realistic and scaled models of human auditory system via 3D printing approaches for the first three applications listed above. The project will contain several steps which are listed below. The specific objectives may evolve during the course of the project.

1. Reconstructing head(s), middle ear(s), cochlea(s) from CT, μCT or other available medical images.
In this step a multi-scale model of a human head and auditory components will be developed via image-processing software. Based on the availability of image dataset, more than one 3D CAD model may be developed to take into account subject variability.

2. 3D printing CAD models
After developing proper CAD models, printing prototypes will be evaluated on different 3D printers. There are several printers available for this project (in Engineering and at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC)). During this step of project, modification of the developed CAD models may be required which will be performed via imageprocessing software and/or intermediate CAD software.

3. Evaluation of 3D printed models for surgical practice
After developing 3D models, the practical effectiveness of them will be evaluated by medical staff. Proper metrics for surgical practice will be adopted and the evaluations will be performed with senior and junior surgeons and also medical students. Similar studies have been performed at the MUHC and some protocols have been developed over the last few years. The specific surgical operations that are planned for this project include: (a) placing bone-conduction implants in the skull, (b) placing cochlear implant (CI) receiver/stimulators in the skull, (c) placing middle-ear prostheses and floating-mass transducers and (d) placing cochlear-implant electrodes in cochlea. All four plans include surgical practice and providing suggestions for landmarks for optimal placement.

4. In-simulacra laser Doppler vibromerty (LDV)
There have been a lot of experimental studies on the mechanics of auditory systems. These studies include animal and human models as well as computational models. For the experimental studies, LDV measurements provide useful information about the acoustic and vibration transmission through the auditory systems non-invasively. However, similar to all biological studies, there are always limitations associated with experimental setups. The most critical one is the limitation of access points on auditory systems. We plan to develop in-simulacra models to evaluate the mechanical responses of normal and pathological conditions of human ear. This requires a realistic model of the human ear, both for geometrical and material representation to mimic the vibration propagation through the ear components. The overall objective of this step is to provide a valid quantitative representation of the mechanical behaviour of the human ear with possible clinical applications.

Project Description

It has been widely recognized that, in order to fight climate change, mankind's energy production will have to mainly come from zero-carbon sources, i.e., nuclear power or renewables such as wind, solar or hydro. The successful transition from our fossil fuel based economy will also require a carrier with an energy and power density comparable to hydrocarbons. A possible solution is given by an energy cycle, based on the repeated combustion and reduction of metal powders. In this concept, metals can be burned in suspensions in air in a reactor. The process produces both hot gases - used to generate power by means of an external, e.g. Stirling, engine - as well as solid oxide particles, which can be collected and reduced back into metallic powders using the primary zero-carbon source. The powders can then be stored until they are burned again. The goal of the capstone team will be to design and to produce a prototype of a combustion chamber. The concept will be based on existing experimental burners, used for the study of properties of metal flames, and will be coupled to a commercial Stirling engine unit.

Project Description

The costs related to damages by a flood can be quite important in urban areas, the flood control barrier is convenient to protect houses or buildings. When a flood occurs, all resources are mobilized to reduce flooding and limit the damages. Time and manpower are required to build flood barriers and are factors that play a major role in this kind of situation. Therefore, good management of these parameters will increase the chances of restricting damages caused to property and potentially saving lives. Certainly, building the traditional sandbags barriers requires a high price tag, long time and many workers.

The goals of this project are to design and build the flood barrier that is deployed and installed by two persons in a short time. The barrier should be designed to withstand the change of flood water level up to 2 m. The previous flood barriers projects were designd for a maximum flood level of 1 meter. The general characteristics of this flood barrier are:

• Fighting flood levels up to 2 meters
• Fast deployment
• Flexibility and free access when deployed
• Simplicity
• 2-person job
• Light weight
• Ecological
• Stabile
• Adapts to all terrain
• Adapts to all ground types

Project Description

Concentrating solar power (CSP) is a renewable energy system that uses mirrors (heliostats) to concentrate a large area of natural sunlight onto a smaller area. The concentrated solar radiation is then converted into heat upon absorption by a solar receiver. The heat can be used as an energy source for electricity generation, thermochemical processes, or industrial process heat. High flux solar simulators are used in research laboratories in order to conduct lab-scale experimental CSP research. High-flux solar simulators replicate the sun’s spectrum using xenon or halogen lamps combined with spectral filters. The light emitted from the high power lamps is then concentrated to high fluxes using elliptical or parabolic reflectors, and focused onto the target/receiver to be studied. The McGill Thermal Energy Laboratory will be commissioning a 6 kWe solar furnace to conduct concentrated solar radiation experimental research. The objective of this Capstone project is to design and build the target system for mounting samples to be illuminated by a high-flux solar simulator. The sample must be appropriately positioned with respect to the ellipsoidal reflector’s focal point in order to achieve the desired radiation fluxes required for a given experiment. The mounting plate must therefore have a precise control mechanism for positioning the target. The system must also be able to withstand high radiation fluxes, elevated temperatures, and be able to accommodate large loads (lab-scale solar receivers) of roughly up to 10 kg. The team members working on this project will gain competency in concentrating solar power, non-imaging optics, radiative heat transfer, design and controls.

Project Description

The McGill Baja is a single seat off road race car designed and built by undergraduate engineering students. Each year the car is entered into competitions held at various locations around North America. As competition rules state, each baja is equipped with a front and rear brake system designed with reliability and responsiveness in mind. All teams must pass a brake test before attending Technical Inspection and competing in the race.

Like most teams, the McGill Baja Racing Team has always used OEM (off the shelf) brake calipers. This year, we are looking for custom front and rear brake calipers and brake discs that meet the team’s current design specifications. Both the inner mechanism and outer casing shall be designed from scratch. The custom components will allow for better system integration with the front suspension and rear powertrain. The design shall also be lightweight and compact compared to their OEM counterpart. This project will make use of 3D modelling (NX 12.0) and its finite element software as well as hydraulic fluid and vehicle dynamics knowledge.

Project Description

Tires are arguably the most important component of a racecar. All of the vehicle’s behavior and performance is dependent on its capacity to stick to the ground. Tire data is thus essential to the proper design of a performance automobile. The FSAE TTC (Tire Test Consortium) has a database which has tire data for a lot of currently available tires, in many sizes and compounds. However, it does not have tire data for any tire that has a diameter of less than 18”, as their rig is too big to hold them.

The team believes there may be performance gains in smaller tires. However, without tire data, the development of Traction Control and Torque Vectoring systems is severely limited. Hence, the team would need a tire rig that can hold smaller tires, with a system allowing to complete all of the necessary tests.

Project Description

The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is widely used to amplify and identify DNA samples. In PCR, the reaction vessel must be heated and cooled repeatedly. Most commercial PCR systems require over an hour to produce a result, but we have recently demonstrated a new approach that uses laser heating of gold nanoparticles to drive the reaction. This has allowed us to produce test results in under one minute, and opens the technique up to point-of-care applications. Efficient cooling of the reaction vessel now represents one of the major bottlenecks to further miniaturization of the system, and we would like to work with a team of Mechanical Engineers who can develop a thermal model for the system and who can design an efficient cooling system for a multichannel PCR system. Cooling options are constrained by the need to leave access for optical heating and monitoring beams. The objective will be to construct an improved cooling system and to test it in the lab.

Project Description

The ability of a large array of phase-locked lasers to deliver beamed energy to a spacecraft in deep space has the potential to revolutionize transportation in the solar system. However, a challenge for laser thermal propulsion is that radiation losses from the heated propellant to the walls of the thrust chamber can result in significant losses and destruction of the engine. This project will construct a facility to examine how radiative transfer from a hydrogen plasma can be “trapped” in the propellant by using gases with carefully tuned absorptivity. The facility will use an imploding shock wave to create a cylindrical column of hydrogen plasma, and then the radiation losses to the walls of the chamber will be measured. The emphasis of the project will be design and fabrication of a facility that will be easy to operate, enabling rapid turnaround between experiments.

Project Description

A new shock tube facility for the dynamic testing of candidate materials for lightsails for laser-driven interstellar flight has been built. While the facility is nearly completed, two challenging features remain to be designed: The ability to rupture the main diaphragm of the shock tube (on command) and the ability to have a gate valve—initially separating to different gases—that can be opened on command. Both of these devices must be able to hold vacuum and pressure (up to 2 atm), be activated by a TTL signal, operate on millisecond timescales, and integrate into the existing shock tube facility.

Project Description

Tree harvesting is a large industry in Canada and in particular in Quebec. FPInnovations is a government agency dedicated to improving tree harvesting practices and ensuring sustainable development and exploitation of Canadian forests. With this perspective, FPInnovations has engaged in collaborative research with universities, through the NSERC Canadian Robotics Network, to introduce the latest advances in robotics, artificial intelligence and automation into the tree-harvesting operations in order to improve these operations, to reduce the risks to the operator and the environment and to increase the productivity of the process. Professor Sharf is collaborating with FPInnovations on several projects related to autonomy of the feller buncher machine in order to increase the machine’s intelligence and performance. In this project, students of MECH 463 will be required to carry out design related to integrating one or multiple sensors to be placed in the felling head of the feller buncher machine. The machine operates in a very harsh environment, experiences high levels of impact and vibration during tree felling operations. The sensors to be placed in the felling head would provide the operator with a better view of the positioning of the felling head relative to the tree, assist with the final alignment of the saw to minimize the waste during the cut, measure inertial informatioin at the end-effector and possibly assist with counting the trees that have been cut. Challenges of this project are: limited access to the feller buncher machine, identifying suitable sensors for the application and the environment, and the overall challenges associated with the harsh environment in which the machine and the proposed design will have to operate. Further details are available from the client and interested student groups are encouraged to contact Professor Sharf for further information.

Project Description

This project is part of a larger initiative to understand waste habits and reduce recycling contamination rates at McGill. McGill Buildings and Grounds has roughly 200 employees across campus handling trash. In 2018, large amounts of time and effort were devoted to a waste audit where trash was counted and categorized by hand. The department is interested in finding better ways to gather data on waste habits, trash bin usage, and trash clearance. Ideally this will not only improve efficiency of waste handling on campus, but also provide data to inform future innovations that may reduce waste contamination.

Recycling contamination is a systemic issue with implications far beyond McGill campus. Recycling contamination refers to improper sorting or dirtied and soiled materials in recycling waste streams. When recycled goods are sent to municipal centers, tremendous amounts of money and time are placed into processing the waste. Often times the wrong type of plastic or soiled materials can ruin an entire batch of recycling. There is increasing pressure to improve the quality of recycled materials. Chinese manufacturers have largely stopped buying many of Quebec’s recycled materials due to its contamination and poor quality. This problem is just as bad on McGill campus. Recent waste audits of at McConnell dining hall found that 43% of waste by weight in a single bag of recycling waste was contaminated. A large part of the issue seems to be confusion with recycling. A recent survey of 200 McGill affiliated individuals found that despite the fact most people cared about recycling, they all performed poorly when asked how to properly recycle items.

Project Description

The magnetized target fusion reactor that General Fusion is developing aims at ultimately bringing clean, unlimited energy to meet the worlds growing needs. McGill has been working with General Fusion for several years, providing strategic insight into the operation of their facility. A key part of this insight is linked to the development of scaled reactor designs, which are used to understand critical technical issues that are facing the realization of this clean and reliable energy source. This capstone project will involve the design and manufacture of a new facility that mimic certain aspects of the design. Watch the video here. Students can expect to deal with in-depth design and analysis of rotating machinery, fluid dynamics, laser optics and dynamics. Interested students must first notify Prof. Nedić of their interest in the project, after which a detailed information session will be arranged for all interested parties. After this session, interested groups must arrange for a meeting with Prof. Nedić, where each group will pitch why they should be working on this project.

Project Description

The McGill Rocket Team is currently participating in the Base 11 Space Challenge, where students must design, build, and launch a liquid-propelled single-stage rocket. The rocket must reach an altitude of 100 km, i.e. the Karman line, and one of its main requirements is that it needs to be fully recoverable.

The parachute system consisting of one or multiple parachutes is key to recovering the rocket. As such, we need a team to design and manufacture a parachute system, as well as design their deployment sequence. It must be able to:

• Sustain the shock force resulting from the parachute opening and the ejection charge separating the rocket (the rocket may separate at any point in time following apogee).
• Slow down the rocket to an acceptable speed as to prevent any damage to internal and external parts upon landing (ideally no more than 6-7 m/s).
   

The parachute(s) should also be designed as to:

• Have an optimized geometry as to maximize the drag coefficient while reducing weight and packed volume.

Project Description

• The fibre-optic sensor assembly workstation (ASMJ) is used by operators daily.
• Current capacity is approximately 80 units assembled per day.
• This workstation is manned by our most skilled and efficient operators.
• The assembly consists of gluing a 0.23x0.20mm MEMS sensor onto the tip of a 0.10mm optical fibre.
• All critical operations are done under microscope at 50x to 70x magnification.
• Cameras are also used for alignment purpose.
• A side microscope is used to select material (MEMS sensor and glass rings).

Objectives

• Improve ergonomy - reduce risk of neck and wrist injuries
• Reduce distance between the two microscopes
• Improve material handling/flow
• Improve look, reduce clutter

Deliverables

• Recommendations on main improvements
• Design report with descriptions and rationales for the proposed changes
• New workstation design on CAD
• 3D simulation of operator movements
• Complete bill-of-materials
• Cost estimation (material only)

Project Description

The purpose of this project is to design and integrate a mechanical system capable of automatically deploying and retrieving Water Quality Sensors on an autonomous boat. The sensors can be used to measure properties including water pH levels, total algae or chlorine level; the sensors have been acquired by the Centre for Intelligent Machines (CIM) at McGill University. The different sensors are embodied in a cylinder type object that weighs less than 10lbs overall. The automated mechanical system should be able to deploy the sensors to maximum depth of 20 meters and be able to retrieve as well. This project will be supported by Professor David Merger from the school of Computer Science along with PhD student Johanna Hansen from the Mobile Robotics Lab at McGill.

Project Description

The McGill Robotics Team has been building a Mars Rover for the past 5 years. After a change in the leadership of the team, certain components of the rover are being rebuilt in order to optimize the rover configuration for the University Rover Challenge.

The Mars Rover group is proposing that a capstone team work on the gripping system. This would include the mechanical design of an adaptable end effector which can be integrated into the pre-existing arm. The end effector must be able to accomplish the tasks of the competition, namely panel servicing (pushing buttons, using a screwdriver) and object collection. It would likely be a compliant system, which could grasp objects of varied shapes and weights.

The team would also design the control system for the pre-existing arm in order to automate the use of the gripper. This would include sensor, including camera, integration and application of inverse kinematics to define the autonomous motion of the arm.

The team would be expected to integrate into the current McGill Robotics Team structure as an independent section collaborating with other subsystem teams.

Project Description

The SuMoth Challenge is a student competition organized by the Foiling Week and 11th Hour Racing. It aims to have students from across the globe participate in the design and fabrication of a sustainable high-performance sailboat. Student groups from McGill and ÉTS have joined forces to constitute the first partnership between the 2 schools in order to design and manufacture the entire vessel.

Upon discussion with ÉTS, the McGill subdivision of this project was entrusted with the fabrication of the hydrofoils of the sailboat. As of this moment, this includes the daggerboard, rudder and the foil control system. More specifically, our team would participate in the design and carry out the FEA and CFD analyses of the foil to then participate in the fabrication process, most probably taking place at ÉTS.

Project Description

The stiffened composite plate (SCP) is a common configuration employed in aerospace structures to improve bending stiffness and buckling stability of monolithic laminates. Beam configurations in SCPs typically involve straight stiffeners with regular spacings and uniform cross-sections. The configuration simplifies both design analysis and the manufacturing of such structures. However, advancements in additive manufacturing (AM) processes now enable to consider designs with increased geometric complexity without incurring prohibitive manufacturing costs.

The project aims to demonstrate the benefits of designing a SCP with an improved stiffening configuration by exploiting the design flexibility offered by AM. The concept involves the use of 3D printed cores in a sandwich configuration with fibre-reinforced laminate skins to fabricate the SCP in a one-shot process by vacuum assisted resin infusion (VARI). Using finite element analysis (FEA), the team is tasked to produce a novel design of a rectangular SCP under in-plane loading with improved buckling stability compared to a classical SCP configuration. The design also requires the consideration of material selection, wall thicknesses, cellular architecture and relative density of the 3D printed core to minimize weight of the structure. The final design is to be manufactured to demonstrate the viability of the solution.

Project Description

Drones are now a viable option for use in the agricultural sector to survey farmland and provide farmers with data on their crops. This information is invaluable to farmers as it lets them to track changes or deficiencies in their crops, thereby allowing them to act quickly to maximize yield and revenue. However, the most capable ag-drones on the market can only fly for a maximum of an hour and would have to be continually deployed and redeployed to cover larger farms. We are aiming to design and build a fully solar-powered autonomous drone, capable of 10 hours of continuous flight that will be able to survey farmland faster and more efficiently.

In this third mechanical capstone in the 2019-20 academic year, we hope to address the previously stated issues. Given the magnitude of the capstone project in the 2017-18 academic year, certain aspects of the aircraft design were not given the necessary attention to detail. The 2018-19 capstone project delved deeper into the fuselage design, building upon the work completed and lessons learned, and this year we hope to delve deeper into the wing and tail designs.

The parameters set this year are the communications system, payload, and fuselage and target flight time of 10 hours. The solar cells (Sunpower Maxeon 3.34W, 5”x5”) must also be utilized in this iteration. All other aspects of the design are the responsibility of the capstone team. The manufacturing method and material of the wing, airfoil selection, propulsion system and propulsion mount, and control surface design are all up to the team. Following project completion, it is expected that the wing and tail be fully manufactured. Note that the solar cells are not expected to be mounted on the wing at the completion of this project to avoid excessive risk during flight testing; proof of concept of mounting method, however, is expected to be demonstrated in the final report.