Remote-Control Excavator Project
As the current state of industry moves towards an industrially globalized landscape, the expansion of modernized infrastructure is inevitable. This expansion, as is the case with any form of change, will have both good and bad consequences. Our goal as future Engineers is to tackle these issues head on, and to the best of our abilities deliver a product that is on par with industry standards. In the short history of mankind there has been a handful of defining moments that have shaped the world to what it is now. Some defining moments include the Bronze Age, The Industrial Revolution, the invention of the combustion engine, and the harnessing of electricity just to name a few. These defining moments are few and far between and as the world transitions to renewable forms of energy we have the privilege of being witnesses to such transition. Today, it is no secret that electricity is at the forefront when it comes to renewable forms of energy. It is also true that in our not too distant futures, our dependency on fossil fuels will be a thing of the past.As a result of these last two statements, we are beginning to enter the electric powered car revolution. which is gaining momentum very quickly, and some estimates predict that in 20 years there will be more electric vehicles than combustion powered ones on the road. As the movement grows its influence has managed to reach manufactures of heavy machinery such as caterpillar, Volvo as well as a few others. At the moment all of the electric excavators that are being prototyped and produced have applications that are most suited for professional use. Our team has been tasked with the capstone project of designing and building a small-scale, remotely operated excavator that is fully electric. The excavator’s primary application will be to dig irrigation trenches that would otherwise be dug manually. Some of the requirements that our project demand include a durable design, capable of a full 8-hour workday, and the ability to dig at minimum 6-inch-wide and 12-inch-deep trenches.
Team Information
Alec Boyce
My name is Alec Boyce. I am a mechanical engineering student at northern Arizona university and hope to pursue a career in the automotive industry once graduated. I am originally from San Diego but moved out to Arizona to attend school. Some of my hobbies include snowboarding and playing video games.
Email Address: ajb585@nau.edu
Ryan Fortier
Hello , my name is Ryan Fortier and I am a mechanical engineering student at Northern Arizona University. I am the budget liaison for the team and have been focusing on the CAD for the base of the design.
Email Address: raf276@nau.edu
Davis Geniza
Davis Geniza is a Mechanical Engineering major from San Diego and a prospective third generation mechanical engineer. He is the team leader of the Remote Excavator Team and his main scope of research for the project is designing the electronic control unit and remote operation of the excavator using Arduino.
Email Address: dag366@nau.edu
Oscar Nunez
My name is Oscar Nunez, and major is echanical engineering major. My role in our capstone project was creating the FEA model that we will use to validate and improve our design, as well as coding all of the force calculations for the project. Additionally I helped with the arm and bucket design. In the future I hope to be working either locally at W.L.Gore, or I plan to move to Washington state and pursue a career with bowing.
Email Address: odn6@nau.edu
Zhiyu Wang
Zhiyu Wang is an international student from Jiangsu, China. His major is Mechanical Engineering. He is the Web designer in the Reomte-Control Excavator Team. He is mainly responsible for researching hydraulic pump, accumulator and valves and motion control in this project.
Email Address: zw247@nau.edu
Client Information
David Trevas
Dr. David Trevas joined the faculty at Northern Arizona University in 2016 after working as an engineer in industries including oil & gas, electric power and medical devices. His accomplishments were in CAD automation and research and development of mechanical devices and systems serving those industries and has several patents that resulted from his work. Dr. Trevas teaches machine design and senior capstone design courses and instructs the thermal-fluids lab. Dr. Trevas founded the Arduino Club primarily to help mechanical engineers implement electronics into their work and serves as the faculty advisor. He is also co-faculty advisor of the NAU Tennis Club.