Stirling Engine Design
At Pioneer Astronautics, I was in charge of the design and build of a prototype Stirling engine in only 3 months. I produced thermodynamic models to optimize the engine design, made 3D models and prints of the parts to be made, and managed a team of machinists and technicians (also milling many of the parts myself), and prepared technical reports for this NASA SBIR Phase I contract.
Robotic Welding Equipment
At Encompass Machines, I designed robotic welding equipment for use in the nuclear power generation industry. Robotic welders can (as of yet) not perform as many complex welding tasks as a human welder, but for simple tasks, such as welding pipe/tubing, radiation-hardened robotic welders can limit human exposure to radiation.
SolidWorks assembly model of a track-based orbital TIG welder
Assembled orbital welder testing on a butt joint
SolidWorks model of an interior joint orbital TIG welder, designed to rotate and weld a joint inside of a pipe
These images show the design and final assembly for a hydraulic assembly designed to place and hold a backing bar behind a planar butt weld in a radiation barrier wall. The wall consists of modular sections two steel plates which are assembled on site using a linear robotic welder, ground flat, and inspected ultrasonically before being willed with concrete
SolidWorks assembly drawing for hydraulic backing bar placement tool
Plenty of GD&T in these welding head parts, I worked closely with the in-house machine shop
Parabolic Solar Concentrator
This was a fun project: a 6ft diameter prototype parabolic solar concentrator dish at Li-ion Motors / Skypower Solutions. The dish itself was made from modular fiberglass sections with a tensioning system to tune the shape for focusing. I was in charge of this project and designed the mechanical parts as well as a PV array / heatsink to be placed at the focal point.
Assembly model in SolidWorks
Mostly assembled concentrator dish
"Hey man, got a light?"
PV array designed for the focal point of the parabolic dish
Assembled PV array
Advanced Mooring System (AMS)
Starting in 2012, I worked at Cavotec USA with a group of engineers and scientists to develop a ship-to-ship mooring and stabilization system for the US Navy. Cavotec Moormaster uses large vacuum pads to automate container ship mooring (mostly in the South Pacific and Asia; stevedore unions prohibit this technology in the USA). I was focused on designing mechanical parts and sensors involved in adapting this technology to a system that will allow these vacuum pads to attach to a ship in heavy sea states safely.
Standard port-operated Cavotec MoorMaster installation
Advanced Mooring System (AMS) to be housed on the deck of a ship, complete with telescoping boom, LiDAR and rolling touch sensors to match hull velocities before attachment