CSE 480 - Senior Design Project EE 491 - Senior Design SYS 491 - Senior Design ME 492 - Senior Mechanical Engineering Design Project Fall 2004

August 25, 2004

Fall 2004 Design Project Description:

Design a device, subject to the following constraints, that will climb a common rope (exact type of rope to be determined) hung from the top of the 8-story SEB tower. The rope will be at least 1.5 meters from the tower; the device must not touch the tower at any time. The device must climb the rope autonomously, ring a bell at the top of the rope and return safely to the ground. In addition, it must announce, in a voice loud enough to be heard on the ground, its position above the ground every 3 meters of height, both ascending and descending.

Design Constraints:

• Maximum cost for all components and assemblies shall not exceed $250. Lower total costs will result in improved grades. All project costs will be borne by the students.
• The device must have a positive safety braking system that will not allow the device to fall or slide down the rope in case of system or component failure.
• For designs that consist of two separate pieces (for example, a climbing device and a base that is on the ground announcing the height of the device), all communication between the components must be wireless.

Discussion for the final written reports:

For your final written reports, in addition to your technical discussions, you are to discuss applications of the technology that you are exploring and developing in this project. For your final report, discuss various applications of the technology, with specific emphasis on:

• Use of professional engineering standards - It is the student's responsibility to find and apply to this project all engineering standards (IEEE, ASME, ANSI, etc.) that cover rope climbing devices, wireless communication devices, etc. A section must appear in the final written report that contains details of how you searched for, applied and adhered to these standards.
• Safety - what sort of constraints must be accounted for if such technology was used on a large scale?
• Economic factors - How much would it cost to implement such technology and what sort of jobs would it impact (consider improvements to safety as well as displacing jobs)? What sort of impact would this have on the acceptance of such technology?
• Reliability - if this technology was to be used in mass applications, what sort of reliability and failure rates would be acceptable?
• Aesthetics - what sort of guides and guiding devices could be used to make this technology as aesthetically attractive as possible while retaining functionality?
• Potential customers - who would be the consumer for such technology? Consider the consumer of this technology; who would be the consumer? A government agency? Manufacturers? Insurance companies? The public at large?
• Societal impact - what would be the potential benefits to society for the applications that you discuss? What would be the potential drawbacks?

Competition:

On Thursday December 2, 2004 a competition will be held for all of the design groups. The design groups will demonstrate their devices outside (rain or shine, snow or ice) beginning at noon. Standings will be determined by the time to climb the rope, ring a bell placed near the top of the rope and safely return to the ground in working order. Inaccurate height announcements will be penalized 5 seconds per occurrence. Teams may attempt up to 3 runs; the shortest time will be used to determine the competition standings.

• What happen if we go over budget?
  You will not go over budget. This is not an option.

• What is the maximum rate of descent?
  The speed of the vehicle can be no more than 10 ft/s at any time during the descent.

• How loud does the height need to be announced?
  The voice announcing the height of the device must be clearly audible on the ground, at a sound level of at least 60 dBA.