Prototype Development Laboratory

Wall-mount Faucet

Client: Pablo Feliz (entrepreneur)

Project description

• Motivation / Goals: Create a high-quality wall-mount faucet having a single lever, a single mounting location, and a retractable hose.
• Approach: Sponsor a project with the Prototype Development Lab to complete the client’s design and create a first fully-functioning prototype.

Staffing:

• PDL mechanical-engineering student Zach Huff.

Results

• A complete design of the desired product.
• A fully- functioning prototype delivered to the client.

Watercraft Storage System: The Beaver Boat Locker

Client: Willamette Valley Visitors Association

https://willamettevalley.org/

Project description

• Motivation / Goals: Create a watercraft locker system that enables river users to easily secure their watercraft (kayaks, canoes, and standup paddle boards) enabling them to explore riverside communities for meals, shopping, and more.
• Approach: The Willamette Valley Visitors Association working with the City of Independence Oregon and the Independence Hotel sponsored a project with the Prototype Development Lab.

Staffing:

• PDL mechanical-engineering honors-college student Jonathan Cordisco.

Results

• An innovative locker system was created consisting of fixed and movable enclosures which secure just the ends of a watercraft. This system allows easily securing one or more kayaks, canoes, or paddle boards of varying length.
• An initial installation was done in Independence Oregon on July 21, 2022 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 25, 2022.
• Additional installations are pending.

Building a pilot scale molded pulp machine

Client: Sustainable Food Processing and Packaging Lab, Dept. of Food Science & Technology, OSU

https://agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu/sfpp/

Funding provided by: ODA Specialty Crop Block Grant

Project description

• Goals: Design and build a pilot-scale, research molded pulp machine to create eco-friendly packaging using food processing byproducts.
• Approach: Use the prototype design provided by the Western Pulp Products Co. (https://www.westernpulp.com/) to design and build a similar pilot-scale molded pulp machine to produce compostable plant pot.

Staffing:

• PDL Director Dr. John Parmigiani and PDL graduate student Jacob Porter led the project with the assistance from Food Science graduate student Clara Lang and Food Science professor Dr. Yanyun Zhao.
• PDL undergraduate students Dante Sterling and Ian Hermanson extended the project with guidance from Food Science graduate student Emma Gordy.

Results

• A 9-month project resulted in a functioning apparatus delivered to the Food Science Pilot Plant and being tested by the Sustainable Food Processing and Packaging Lab to produce plant pots using commercial slurry and showed the system to be effective.
• The apparatus will be further evaluated and modified as needed to meet the specific operational conditions required for producing plant pots using our research slurry prepared from food processing byproducts to meet the utmost goal of our research.
• There are two unique features of this apparatus: 1) a 3D-printed mold that is sturdy and cost effective, and 2) the design to allow switching among different types of mold to produce different kinds of mold-pulp packaging products.

Semi-Truck Entry & Exit System

Client: Daimler Trucks North America, Inc.

https://daimler-trucksnorthamerica.com

Matching funding provided by: The Oregon Metals Initiative (OMI)

Project description

• Motivation / Goals: Trucking-fleet managers report that driver slip-and-fall injuries during cab entry-and-exit are a significant problem causing lost time and a median cost of over $14,000 per incident.
• Approach: Truck manufacturer Daimler Trucks North America sponsored a project with the Prototype Development Lab to create a solution.

Staffing:

• PDL graduate student Arthur Wells was the project lead.
• MIME capstone students participated in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 academic years.

Results

• After conducting a driver survey, performing an ergonomics analysis, vetting many alternatives, and building & testing a sequence of prototypes, a retrofittable handle system was selected and implemented
• Testing with drivers has shown the system to be very effective.
• Perhaps the most significant design feature is that its placement and features changes driver behavior by compelling them to use the handle when entering and exiting the cab.
• A conference paper entitled "Semi-Truck Driver Safe Egress Analysis and Renovation" describing the handle was published by ASME and presented at the 2020 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition
• The handle is being implemented in a number of vehicles
• A follow-up project to develop a production manufacturing concept is underway

Replication and Optimization of Stimulation for Females

Client: Lora Haddock (Lora DiCarlo, Inc.)

https://loradicarlo.com

Project description

• Motivation / Goals: Design and build prototypes of an electromechanical device for the purpose of stimulating women sexually.
• Approach: Use a list of 54 technical requirements provided by company founder Lora Haddock to create benchtop-testable prototypes (no human testing was performed at OSU)

Staffing

PDL mechanical engineering students

Results

By the conclusion of the six-month project with the PDL the company, Lora DiCarlo Inc, was launched.  The company won CES innovation awards in 2019 and 2020 for products initiated with the PDL.

The project and associated 2019 CES award were the topic of a New York Times article

NYT article

Continuous Powder Heat Treating Apparatus

Client: ATI Metals, Inc.

https://www.atimetals.com

Matching funding provided by: The Oregon Metals Initiative (OMI)

Project description

• Motivation / Goals: The proliferation and increase in sophistication of metal additive manufacturing has compelled significant research and development of powdered metals. A key aspect of this work is the heat treatment of the powdered metal. Currently the typical laboratory method consists of placing the powder in a crucible placed in a furnace located in a glove box (to provide the desired gaseous environment).  This method is inefficient, imprecise, and in need of improvement.
• Approach: Engineer, design, and build a continuous-flow powdered-metal heat-treatment apparatus incorporating a gas-handling system to provide the desired gaseous environment.

Staffing

PDL graduate student Jacob Porter

Results

• A fully-functioning machine was build and testing at OSU and delivered to the client where it is being used for research and development of powdered metal.
• A conference paper entitled “Powdered Metal Heat Treating Apparatus Designed for a Laboratory” describing the apparatus was published by ASME and presented at the 2020 International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition

Design and Fabrication of a Prototype Therapeutic Device

Client: Chris Causey (BluTapp Digital Health)

https://www.blutapp.com

Project description

• Motivation / Goals: EMDR is a psychotherapy for the treatment of the symptoms and emotional distress resulting from disturbing life experiences. A means of implementing EMDR is through hand-held pods that produce a series of therapist-directed tapping sensations to either the client’s right or left hands.  Although most often conducted through in-person sessions, a need exists to perform EMDR remotely (for example for a deployed soldier with PTSD) both through therapist-client synchronous virtual sessions and through client-only asynchronous prerecorded sessions.
• Approach: BluTapp founder Chris Causey contracted the PDL to create both the hardware and software required to provide both remote client-therapist EMDR sessions and prerecorded offline client-only sessions.

Staffing

PDL graduate student Dakota Pellegrino and PDL undergraduates Nicole LeRoux), Matt Sessions, and David Foyil.

Results

A year-long project led to a functioning prototype with associated software and the launch of the company.

Experimental and Analytical Study of Chain shot

Client: Blount International, Inc.

https://www.blount.com/

Matching funding provided by: The Oregon Metals Initiative (OMI)

Project description

• Motivation / Goals: The transition from handheld logging to mechanized timber harvesting has greatly increased operational efficiency while shifting the types of workplace hazards in the forest.  Mechanized harvester chains operate at significantly higher moving speeds, and examples exist of broken segments of saw chain penetrating the operator enclosure. System and component-level understanding of the circumstances that lead to these events can yield improved harvester-cab barriers and controls, creating a safer working environment for machine operators and other forestry workers.
• Approach: Blount sponsored a PDL project to create a test apparatus to produce chain shot events in a controlled environment in order to measure and develop a scientific understanding of how a chain shot projectile is produced and its resultant properties as it interacts with machine guarding panels. 

Staffing

PDL graduate students Mark McGuire and Eric Shannon and a number of PDL undergraduate students.

Results

A two-year project resulted in fully-functioning test apparatus being delivered to Blount’s Oregon facility. The apparatus was built inside a shipping container lined with steel plate and HDPE panels to insure safe projectile capture.  The apparatus is currently being used by Blount Inc.

Podcast

Creation of a Prototype Child Car Seat System with Sensors

Client: Paul Tanyi

https://www.mon-1.com/

Project description

• Motivation / Goals: Leaving a child unattended in a car seat, particularly in a parked car on a hot day, can have tragic consequences.  To address this problem the purpose of this project was to create a system which provides notification that a child has been left unattended in a car seat and to provide key information on the child’s status.
• Approach: Entrepreneur Paul Tanyi (founder of Monitor One) sponsored a project with the PDL to create the hardware and software for a prototype system with sensors which measure characteristics of a car-seat occupant and car interior for the purpose of detecting the presence of the child and the in-car environment.

Staffing

PDL undergraduates Matt Sessions, Nicole LeRoux, and David Foyil and PDL graduate student Dakota Pellegrino.

Results

A year-long project led to a functioning prototype with associated software and the launch of the company

InPipe Energy –Turning Water Pipelines into Power Generators

Client: InPipe Energy, Inc.

https://www.inpipeenergy.com

Project description

• Motivation / Goals: Entrepreneur and President & CEO of InPipe Energy Gregg Semler needed to validate the performance of a prototype system for harvesting energy from the pressure-reducing valves used in municipal water supplies.
• Approach: InPipe energy with Oregon BEST sponsored a project with the PDL to jointly fabricate a test apparatus and execute a testing program to rigorously verify the performance on the energy harvesting system.

Staffing

PDL graduate student Nick Aerne

Results

The system was successfully validated and has been implemented commercially.

Design and Fabrication of Prototype Consumer Products for Oliiv, LLC

Client: Stephanie Smith-Green (Oliiv, LLC.)

https://oliivllc.com

Project description

• Motivation / Goals: Entrepreneur Stephanie Smith-Green is a prolific inventor and holder of a number of patents.  However, she needed engineering help to move from patents to products.
• Approach: Stephanie sponsored work with the PDL to create prototypes of her patented “PeeBall” and “Shucket” product concepts.

Staffing

PDL undergraduate Kinsey Popham

Results

Two fully-functioning prototypes were created. PeeBall was licensed immediately following project completion and is commercially available. Shucket is under consideration by a major retailer.  Based on this success, a follow-up project involving other Oliiv patented concepts is underway staffed by PDL undergraduate students Kinsey Popham, Matt Sessions, and Allison Van Horn.

Design and Fabrication of a Prototype Basking Filter

Client: Alex Balog and Ben Cooper

Project description

• Motivation / Goals: Entrepreneurs Alex Balog and Ben Cooper had an idea to adapt a laboratory algae filtration method for wastewater treatment but needed engineering support to create a first prototype.
• Approach: Alex and Ben sponsored a project with the PDL to engineer, design, and build a fully-functioning and testable prototype.

Staffing

PDL Graduate Students Kevan Gahan and Jacob Porter.

Results

A fully-functioning prototype was delivered.