Purdue News Photos
|
Matt Kloos, a senior mechanical engineering student at Purdue University, demonstrates the remote-controlled vertical robotic wall climber designed and built in a senior design course taught by Issam Mudawar, a professor of mechanical engineering. The machine uses compressed air in an 18-inch-long tank to create suction. Three suction cups are progressively moved with an electric motor so that the robot inches up or down a vertical surface. Such a robot might be used instead of human workers to perform dangerous or difficult tasks, perhaps to inspect structures such as tanks at chemical refineries or other facilities where conditions are hazardous. The students created prototypes and displayed their inventions in December. The robot was designed and built by Kloos, of Orland Park, Ill.; Mike Lepkowski, of Ann Arbor, Mich.; Will Rashin of Crown Point, Ind.; and Amaan Hundal, of Pakistan.
|
Mike Schrader, kneeling, and Ben Smith, both senior mechanical engineering students at Purdue University, demonstrate the remote-controlled vertical robotic wall climber they designed and built with three other students in a senior design course taught by Issam Mudawar, a professor of mechanical engineering. The students created prototypes and displayed their inventions in December. The machine uses components from a small vacuum cleaner to create suction in moving, plastic plates that cling to vertical surfaces. The plates, which are moved with a motor from a power drill, are sequentially inched up or down a surface as the suction is turned on and off, enabling the device to crawl on the surface. Such a robot might be used to clean skyscraper windows ‹ a job that now costs more than $100,000 annually for a single high-rise building. The robot was created by Kiel Stephens, of Columbus, Ind.; Schrader, of Newburgh, Ind.; Justin Camer, of Schererville, Ind.; Smith, of Indianapolis; and Eric Raszkowski, also of Indianapolis.
|
Derek McClean, at left, and Jay Cress, both senior mechanical engineering students at Purdue University, demonstrate the portable cooling backpack they created with three other students in a senior design course taught by Issam Mudawar, a professor of mechanical engineering. The students designed and built prototypes and displayed their creations in December. The backpack works by circulating cool water through four plastic bladders contained in a snug-fitting, elastic garment. The bladders contain environmentally friendly antifreeze, which absorbs heat from the body. Cool water is pumped in copper tubing through the bladders and circulates through an ice-filled heat sink ‹ a container that cools down the water. The cooled water is then circulated back through the bladders with a battery-powered pump to begin the cycle again. The cooling backpack could be worn by hikers or during outdoor events. The cooling effect lasts about two and a half hours. The portable cooling device was designed and built by Cress, of South Bend, Ind.; McClean, of Lafayette, Ind.; Ayall Sagi, of Carmel, Ind.; Emery Sasangka, of Indonesia; and Kevin Schmitt, of Evanston, Ill.
|
Adam Duggleby, a mechanical engineering senior at Purdue University, demonstrates a "no-sweat seat" created in a senior designed course taught by Issam Mudawar, a professor of mechanical engineering. The portable seat might be used at spectator events to keep fans cool. It works by circulating cool water via copper tubes in the back rest, absorbing heat from the person sitting on the seat and then pumping the water into ice packs in the seat, where the water is cooled and returned to the back rest to begin the cycle over again. The seat, which includes straps that can be used to fasten it to benches at sports stadiums, uses a battery-powered pump and stays cool for up to three hours. Four teams of mechanical engineering students in Mudawar's course designed and built prototypes and displayed their creations in December. The seat was created by students Scot Hart, of Albuquerque, N.M.; Jason Valentine, of St, Louis; Nathan O'Rourke, of Muncie, Ind.; Duggleby, of Wheatfield, Ind.; and Theng Swee Yap, of Malasia.
(Purdue News Service photos/Dave Umberger)
For more information about photographs, send e-mail to:
David Umberger
Associate Director
Purdue News Service
umberger@purdue.edu
Photo Index '03 Page.
To the News Service home page