Internship/Research Experience
Berkeley Undergraduate Research - TAF Lab - CalSat Project
The goal of the CalSat project:
Create a swarm of drones to communicate at deep depths using directional laser communication.
Overview:
Over the summer, I had the opportunity to work on UC Berkeley's CalSat project, one of the many project's of Berkeley's Theoretical Applied Fluid's Lab (TAF Lab).
My main goal was to integrate the optical components into the underwater housing and to prepare everything needed for underwater testing. This led me to finish the tasks listed below.
The Mechanical Engineering theory I used in this project was hydrostatics, GD&T, and mechanics of materials.
I practiced skills like troubleshooting, interpersonal communication, written communication, CAD, FEA, iterative design, fabrication.
Specific Tasks Achieved:
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Integrate optical/electronic hardware
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Design, Prototype, Fabricate, Test brace design to constrain hardware in an underwater housing.
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Documenting procedures for cleaning and assembly of components.
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Prepare underwater housing.
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Solder custom Ethernet cables.
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Design, Manufacture, Assemble fixtures for top bench testing and underwater testing.
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Making system neutrally buoyant with ballasts
REU - Researching the Effect of Misalignment of Wireless Charging Communication Coils for EV Charging Systems
Skills Learned:
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Reading Research Papers
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Collaborating between my research advisor and research partner
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Presenting findings to peers and an audience
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Benchtop Electronic Test Equipment: Oscilloscope, DMM, Power Supply
With the University of Michigan-Dearborn, my research partner and I became familiar with wireless charging systems for EVs and perform experiments to test how misalignment of wireless charging communication coils reduces power transfer efficiency. In order to bridge the gap between autonomous EVs and current EVs, our advising professor introduced the idea of wireless charging autonomous vehicles can be the solution. Initially, we believed it would be easier since cars would just be able to go over the coils and charge.
In 3 weeks, I became familiar with the topic by reading academic papers from schools and research labs, like Oak Ridge Laboratory or SAE regulations being implemented.
I learned that the topic of creating this technology to work in the real world would be tricky. The main problems I found was
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The durability of the coils in the real world, how critical z alignment is for efficient power transfer
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The variability of car height off the ground, minimum target efficiency posed by SAE standards
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Satisfying safety protocols proposed by SAE
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Creating a system for the receiving coil to detect the transmitting coil
We found proposed solutions included
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Changing the coil design for more efficient power transfer
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Using multiple coils to detect in 3D space where each coil is, and using a physical system to fix power transfer efficiency
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Using resonance charging to increase the misalignment tolerance compared to regular charging.
To test our findings on how critical x and y alignment, plus z gap distance is to efficient power transfer my research partner and I designed an experiment.