Article
Echempati_3D Printer Capstone Projects_ASEE NCS Final Draft uploaded March 6 2020.pdf
Proceedings of ASEE NCS
(2020)
Abstract
The objective of this paper is to discuss the different aspects of applied research carried in typical mechanical engineering undergraduate capstone classes, and to what extent it helps students to meet their objectives and quality of their project work. Since our university operates on a quarter academic system, each course needs to be completed in just 11 weeks. The number of members in each group of a capstone is either 3 or 4. One example of the project dealing with an automated bed clearing mechanism of a 3D printing machine is presented in this paper. A group of 4 students developed two ideas of this system. The design details of one of these ideas is presented in this paper. The 3D printer in this example uses Fused Deposition Modelling (FDM) process. Many automotive, aerospace and other sectors are focusing on using functional 3D printed parts to either reduce the weight or to replace metal parts that otherwise require complex processes and assemblies. The applied research component of the work presented in this paper is to design the systems that are user-friendly and be able to print multiple parts without human interaction. This saves time to load and unload one component at a time. These projects represent uniqueness in the sense that the students were able to successfully complete the projects in one term, and communicate their designs effectively through an engineering report, power point slide presentation and by a poster. Each report contains several items including the safety issues, ethics and impact to society due to poor designs. The teaching and learning parts of undertaking this and other capstone projects will be briefly discussed in this paper.
Keywords
- Capstone Projects,
- Assessment,
- 3D Printing Technology
Disciplines
Publication Date
Spring February 29, 2020
Citation Information
Raghu Echempati. "Echempati_3D Printer Capstone Projects_ASEE NCS Final Draft uploaded March 6 2020.pdf" Proceedings of ASEE NCS (2020) Available at: http://works.bepress.com/raghu-echempati/50/