Tim Jansen
Hydraulic Trainer Research
Purdue University Undergraduate Research
Spring 2021
I am currently doing research for Dr. Dabiri of the Mechanical Engineering department on a hydraulic trainer attachment. The goal of this project is to develop a robotic arm attachment for hydraulic trainer systems so that students can remotely control and observe the trainer and gain hands-on experience in fluid power. This laboratory experience will be utilized in online and distance learning classes.
These are the tasks that I will be working on this semester:
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Design of the gripper arm in SolidWorks
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Order parts and initialize the design of the hydraulic trainer controller
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Machine the parts required
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Prototype the gripper arm
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Assemble the XYZ axis linear stage slide and gripper arm
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Ensure structural integrity, test for any possible failures
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Incorporate the remote control and web streaming through Raspberry-Pi
Robotic Strandbeest Crawler
Purdue University
Fall 2020
For this project, my team and I build a Halloween-themed robotic crawler which included the Jansen linkage, a mechanism developed by Theo Jansen for his kinetic sculptures. The toy features eight legs powered by a total of two DC motors. The Jansen linkage allows the rotation of the motors to be converted to a life-like walking motion which is the main attraction of the toy. The Crazy Crawler can walk forwards, backward, make turns, and move its head, all at the touch of a few buttons on any smartphone using the BLYNK application.
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I was in charge of designing, prototyping, assembling, and integrating the legs from start to finish. To design the legs, I first computed the sizes of the parts by doing research and setting engineering requirements. I used Creo Parametric to make a skeleton model of the linkage and subsequently build the parts on top of the skeleton model. I went through several iterations of the design in order for the legs to walk smoothly. I calculated the tolerances of a 3D-Printer and a laser cutter and fabricated the legs out of acrylic and some parts out of plywood. Once all the parts were manufactured and assembled, it was time to integrate the legs with the rest of the robot, which involved building circuits for the motor and writing Arduino code for the mobile app to control the robot. Through clear communication with my team members, I was able to successfully implement my part of the project. Unfortunately, due to battery issues, our team was not able to get the full project working
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A key takeaway from this experience is to not overlook the importance of integration of systems. An iterative design process and testing are key to make a working prototype, as they identify and resolve issues. Although many problems that arose were fixed in the CAD design, bringing a prototype to the physical dimension will usually result in new issues that may hinder the outcome. This is why prototyping is essential for developing an new product.
Load-Ez Design Project
Purdue University
Fall 2019
Over the course of this project, my team was tasked with designing a device which would assist elderly with lifting heavy items into their vehicle. To start, our team made a Gantt chart and conducted customer and market research to assess the market viability of the product. Based on this, we developed customer requirements and engineering specifications. We went through a brainstorming phase in which each team member individually came up with several components for the device and then combined them with other components of the other team members. Once we had a few solid designs, our team chose the best one by means of a decision matrix. We then created sketches and CAD drawings in our iterative design process.
Our design included a scissor-lift mechanism that was able to lift items up to 75 lbs while still being light and compact enough to be stored in the user’s vehicle. The device was human-powered by means of a foot crank. Our team was able to build both a low and medium fidelity prototype shown below.
The main takeaway that I had from this project was that it is essential to keep the end-user in mind when designing a product as they will determine the success of your product. Additionally, designing for ease of manufacturing, using materials efficiently, and pricing the right materials helps to keep costs low while ensuring a successful product.
Low-Fidelity Prototype
Medium Fidelity Prototype
EPICS: CAR Team
Design Leader
Purdue University
Fall 2018 - Spring 2019
In this project I was the design leader of the Creating Accessible Racing (CAR) Team, our team had to goal of building a two-seater soapbox kart such that disabled children could safely enjoy the thrills of riding down a hill during a soapbox race under the guidance of a parent. As the design leader, I was in charge of designing a steering mechanism consisting of two steering wheels, one of which could be engaged and disengaged as the parent saw fit for the child.
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My design ended up encompassing a commercially available manual go-kart clutch for which our team build a reversal mechanism such that the steering wheel would have a normal state of being disengaged. I built a CAD model using CATIA V5 and first built a medium-fidelity prototype to show proof of concept. Based on the challenges we encountered from this, we altered our design using the iterative design process. At the end of the semester, our team was able to successfully integrate the mechanism into an actual kart which can be seen below in the video.
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Through this project, I learned to keep in mind ease of manufacturing under the constraint of a budget. I also was able to manufacture several parts needed for this mechanism. Most importantly, I learned that safety is the most important thing in a design, and I was able to implement several fail-safes in my design.
High Fidelity Thermocouple Analysis Tool
Purdue University
Spring 2018
Our team was given a large set of data points measured by a thermocouple which had to be analyzed in order to identify when two components in a mixing tub would react in an exothermal reaction. The thermocouple, however, was rather sensitive and picked up background noise, which lead to messy data Our team was tasked with developing a flexible MATLAB code that would smoothen out the data and correctly identify when the two components had reacted. Our team delivered a reliable product ready for industry implementation while having adapted to changing conditions, parameters, and guidelines from the contractor.