Arts - Buffalo State College

54
Computer Information
Systems & Technology
Ackermann: Steering You In the Right
Direction
Matthew McCall, Daniel Martino, Ken Norwich, and Josh
Monaco, ENT 422: Machine Design II
Faculty Mentor: Professor David Kukulka, Technology
Buffalo State College participates in an international Baja vehicle
design competition with more than 100 other colleges. The Society of
Automotive Engineers Baja vehicle is a small, off road vehicle that is
designed, built, and raced by students from hundreds of universities
around the world. Design involves major components such as drive
train, suspension, braking, and steering. This year the focus is on
the steering system. Previous designs utilized front wheel steering,
and this led to poor response and premature tire wear. As the vehicle
turns, the inside tire angles more than the outside tire because
the arc radius is smaller on the inside tire when compared to the
outside tire. This ratio of the inside tire compared to the outside is
known as Ackermann. Design calculations will be performed on
the vehicle, with an all wheel steer system. The BSC team expects
to be the only team competing with an all wheel steer system with
100% Ackermann. Our method of building and testing this system
will involve multiple design calculations to find the theoretical 100%
Ackermann geometry for the vehicle for various front to rear steering
ratios. A system will be built which allows us to vary the front/rear
steering ratio, and build multiple mounting systems for the steering
racks that will allow us to vary the Ackermann effect.
Presentation Type and Session: Poster V
Ball Valve Pressure Testing
Richard Simonetti and Richard Baumann, ENT 422:
Machine Design II
Faculty Mentor: Professor David Kukulka, Technology
Advanced Thermal Systems (ATS) is a local company well
known for thermal expansion solutions. They have been producing
ball joints and slip joints for over 40 years. Forming, machining, and
welding of all product lines are performed at the Lancaster facility.
A less known product line from ATS is their ball valve line. ATS is
currently in a contract with Praxair to provide a large quantity of
bronze 2-inch ball valves that have been pressure tested to their
standards. Praxair, a leader in gas separation, requires pressure
testing above 900 psi, which exceeds the current ATS pressure
test capabilities. The current test stand can test up to 100 psi with
compressed air. This is done by plugging the ball valve shell at both
ends with a stopper and submerging it in a water bath. Compressed
air is then pumped in through one plug, which has an inlet bore,
until desired pressure is met. Intent of this project is to design a
new system capable of testing these valves to much higher levels of
internal pressure. Machine must be capable of testing pressures up
to 900% greater than the current design. The test stand should be
designed for strength and efficiency, with safety in mind. Any new
design can be an improvement of the current process, or a different
process entirely. Additionally the test stand may employ the use of an
incompressible hydraulic fluid in order to reach high pressures. Cost
must be kept within a budget of $5,000.
Presentation Type and Session: Poster VIII
Bearing Frosting On FS Elliott Compressors
Jonathan Kress and David Stabel, ENT 422: Machine Design II
Faculty Mentor: Professor David Kukulka, Technology
FS Elliott is a leading manufacturer of oil-free centrifugal
air and gas compressors. Their compressors deliver 100% oilfree
air for the needs of their customers in the food, beverage
and pharmaceutical industries. They are experiencing a problem
known as bearing frosting on the bearings of the pinion shaft of
the compressors. Bearing frostings is the phenomena of electrical
discharge grounding out through the bearing and destroying the
bearing surface. Induction motors are used to drive the compressors
that in theory have the potential to leak stray currents through the
compressors, and damage them. There is also a possibility that
an electrostatic charge is building up within the system from high
velocity moist air or from friction. Through experiments that isolate
the variables that can cause an induced voltage, the source of
bearing frosting will be determined. Once the source is determined,
a solution will be provided to eliminate product failure and reduce
repair costs.
Presentation Type and Session: Poster VI
Block Game Engine With Multi-Language
Options
Kenny Chen and Steven Yang, CIS 435: Programming With
Python
Faculty Mentor: Professor Sarbani Banerjee, Computer
Information Systems
As gaming industry is getting bigger in today’s world and games
are being played on many different platforms and countries, our
research will investigate into creating a basic block game engine and
various other frameworks using Python programming language.
We will be creating and designing a bouncing object game. Our
study will show how to program a block game engine. There are
many different types of block games; in our project we are trying
to implement the block game in different natural languages (like
Chinese or English) with a total customized menu. Among the tools
we researched we found Pygames, a cross-platform set of Python
modules designed for writing video games, to be the most effective
tool to create the game engine. The objective of this game framework
is to knock out every “block” in its place without letting the “ball”
fall or let the “blocks” run through the screen. There will be many
different speed variations including the paddle speed, block speed,