Development of a rotor blade with optimized aerodynamics to propel a quadcopter
Sustainable mobility concepts are playing an increasingly important part in today's social developments. As a promising mode of future transportation, quadcopters play a special role, and their further development and optimization is being advanced along many disciplines. Even in my hometown of Zurich this trend has not passed by without leaving its marks. Since 2019, the Swiss National Postal Service has been testing autonomous means of transport together with the Zurich University Hospital as part of a pilot project. However, quadcopters are not exclusively used for transportation purposes. Geologists use them for landscape modeling and the insurance industry utilizes them for damage assessment. Quadcopters have also become an integral part of photography and agriculture, where they are used for pest control, for example [2]. I first became intensively involved with quadcopters in 2017, when I received a hobby model for my birthday in the form of the Mavic Pro from the Chinese company Da-Jiang Innovations Science and Technology Co., Ltd (DJI). In October of the same year, I completed an internship in the biofluid mechanics department of the Institute for ImplantTechnology and Biomaterials e.V., where I studied the aerodynamics of airfoils. With my Mavic Pro in my backpack, I had the idea to develop and prototype my own functional rotor for my quadcopter as part of my upcoming Swiss Matura thesis paper. The rotor would be considered functional if it generates enough lift to keep the quadcopter hovering. The focus of this project was the investigation of aerodynamic properties. The influence of other factors, such as the material used, was not the primary focus of the work and therefore not investigated in detail.
Using EEG Neuro-Feedback technology to control a prosthetic hand
Unaffordable healthcare and excessive plastic waste are both alarming issues that are plaguing modern society. Recent studies conducted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) report that about 15% of the world's population suffer from a form of disability, of which 50% of the demographic cannot afford adequate health care. Furthermore, 8 million metric tons of plastic annually enter our oceans (apart from the 150 metric tons that currently circulate our oceans!). In conjunction to the global plastic pollution crisis, unnecessary invasive surgery is currently being done on amputees. Many of these desperate patients are forced to pay exorbitant prices in order to live a normal life with bionic prosthetics. The solution… Project Limbs - an EEG, 3D printed prosthetic printed from recycled plastic. Signal processors will be implemented to build an affordable and easy-to-use ‘mind controlled prosthetic hand’, that requires no invasive surgery.
AUTONOMIC HEATING GLOVES
In today's world, medicine is very advanced, thanks to which many diseases that were previously considered incurable, are now treated almost all over the world. But, unfortunately, some diseases are still incurable and can only facilitate their course. One such disease is Raynaud's disease or Raynaud's syndrome. Statistics show that worldwide the percentage of patients with this disease is 3-4%. Raynaud's disease is a paroxysmal spasm of the arteries of the fingers of the hand, rarely the feet when cooling the extremities. As mentioned earlier, this disease is incurable. That is why the creation of a device that can help people overcome many inconveniences due to the inability to stay in the cold without gloves or the problem of discomfort in heated gloves is relevant. And one of the solutions to this problem is to create special heated gloves. This work is also relevant, because even existing treatments, such as medication and conservative, do not completely solve the problem of reducing the sensitivity of the hands when cooled or even the slightest moisture on the palms. Also, these methods are very expensive, so our device will be cheaper and more affordable than existing ones. When using our gloves together with the two already mentioned methods, the treatment will be more effective. Unfortunately, medical and conservative treatments will lead to complications over time, so we not only maintain sensitivity in the hands, but also prevent further amputation of the upper extremities and the emergence of human health problems associated with the effects of drugs on the whole body. Nowadays, people work hard to be able to live well, but it is difficult for people with Raynaud's phenomenon to do so, as the sensitivity of the upper extremities decreases during the exacerbation of the disease. It is important for us to maintain the sensitivity of the hands by normalizing the thermal balance of the hands, which leads to the elimination of spasms of the atria of the hand. The aim of the work is to create a simple and effective means to normalize and maintain the thermal balance of the upper extremities, in order to reduce the loss of sensitivity of the hands in patients, as well as reduce the likelihood of spasms of the arteries of the fingers. The subject of the study is the course of Raynaud's disease and the current treatments for it. The aim of the study is the creation of special gloves that can stop spasms of arteries and maintain blood flow in them by balancing the heat balance in the hand, and depriving patients of the disease during their wearing During the work the following tasks were set: - to theoretically investigate the peculiarities of Raynaud's disease; - to analyze the existing clothes on the market with heating; - to develop and improve its own design of heated gloves, which will be affordable and easy to use. - calculate the cost of gloves taking into account all factors
HYBRID COMPOSITE FROM X-RAY WASTE
This study considered the tensile and flexural characterization of new lighter and cheaper hybrid composite materials to replace the existing insert panel for the currently available bulletproof vest. The materials chosen included a natural fibre, i.e., kenaf fibre, chemically treated with sodium hydroxide solution, and, as a means of recycling, used x-ray films with a surface treatment. Using the traditional hand lay-up method, the materials were fabricated into seven layers of different configurations, which were then subjected to tensile and flexural tests. The findings showed that one of the configurations that consisted of both treated materials had a tensile strength of 396.9M Pa, which is quite strong, and a flexural modulus of 6.24G Pa, which makes it flexible enough to be made into wearable equipment. This configuration was then chosen to be the base design for the specimen subjected to impact test. The interfacial bond between the two distinct materials proved to be a major issue, even with the help of fibre treatment. Therefore, some improvements need to be made for the material to be comparable to existing materials performance-wise hence making this configuration suitable for ballistic application.
Designing Multifunctional Intelligent Autonomous Underwater Remote Operating Vehicle to perform “Search and Rescue” in the event of extreme weather flooding condition
This underwater remote operating vehicle (ROV) is designed with and without tethered operation. The operator can control the ROV from the real time first-person view in graphical user interface combined with sonar and object detection function when the tether is attached to perform search and rescue. The control tether with fiber optic lighting cable establishes a guided link medium between the possible search victim location and the rescue team. When the tether is detached, rapid deployment by a predefined set of instruction to achieve further operation range. The intelligent technologies of signal processing were used for object recognition, collision detection and sonar scanning data to enhance underwater operation. Autonomous driving is based on software development with limited capability to run in unrestricted open areas. We have achieved the design intent and confirmed the performance data in the laboratory boundary conditions.