Date of Award

2017

Degree Type

Capstone Project

First Advisor

Bahram Nassersharif

Abstract

This report will follow the development cycle as Capstone Team 12 solves the Emerson Airflow Problem. The problem was proposed by Emerson on HeroX: Incentive Competition, Challenges and Prizes forum. This problem is an open competition to any inventors who can solve the dilemma of measuring total air flow in a residential heating, ventilation and cooling system (HVAC). The solutions will be judged against a rubric given by Emerson that includes price-point, accuracy, scalability, ease of installation and ease of use in order of greatest to least importance [5]. The following report outlines the engineering process from interpreting the problem statement up to a proof of concept design. Each section will speak to a critical engineering consideration such as project planning, patent research, cost analysis, evaluation of competition, and design characteristics which lead to the final designs. In the final pages, two carefully designed products which solve the problem statement will be laid out in detail. The first design is a fan matrix which adjusts to fit in any units filter cavity for a non-intrusive reading at the source. The second is small pressure sensor which will traverse a duct and generate a velocity profile for a specific point in the system. Using a simple algorithm, it will determine average velocity in the section. Beyond this report, the team will further prototype and propose the solutions to Emerson by the submission deadline of January 25, 2016.

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