Projects in Design Vimal Viswanathan

Low-cost Dynamic Braille Displays (Area: Engineering Design & Product Development) Investigation of a technology that drastically reduces the price of current braille displays Identification of the proper market and applications for the technology Collaborators: Penn State, a technology company in India

Teaching Engineering Design and Creativity through Disability Simulation Studies (Area: Engineering Design & Product Development) A disability simulation suit, allows us to model the difficulties faced by people with disabilities or by the aging population. With the empathetic knowledge gained from the disability simulation studies, we can better design products for people with disability. Inclusive design emphasizes on designing products that are good for both people with and without a disability. Project aim: to develop modules for K-12 teachers and design instructors to use disability suits and teach inclusive design Collaborator: Penn State

Measurement of Dynamic Characteristics of a Double Pendulum Arrangement (Area: Controls & Mechatronics) A double pendulum consists of two pendulums connected to each other. At large angle double pendulum produces completely chaotic dynamics and even infinitesimal change in initial condition will take the system to a very different trajectory. This project aims to build a set up to measure the physical characteristics (such as displacement, velocity, acceleration) of the double pendulum for theoretical interpretations of the chaotic system. These results will be compared against the prior results from an electrical system that replicates the dynamic characteristics of this system. Expertise needed: Mechatronics, controls, Arduino Programming

Developing tools to mitigate design fixation (Area: Engineering Design Creativity & Innovation) Identify factors that cause design fixation Develop new idea generation tools to mitigate fixation Several study opportunities in this area! Collaborator: Georgia Tech

Developing a "toolbox" to teach mechanism design (Area: CAD, Kinematics, Education) This projects aim to develop a tool kit for easily creating mechanisms in ME 154 classroom. The kit should be portable, easy to modify and easy to assemble. Expertise needed: CAD modeling, Kinematics

& any other project that you can propose in the area of design & product development… For details about any of these projects please email Dr. Viswanathan: vimal.viswanathan@sjsu.edu