UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI – COLUMBIA DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL AND AEROSPACE ENGINEERING MAE 3800 Instrumentation and Measurements Laboratory Due: Thursday, April 30 The problem: You are approached by the US Border Patrol to develop a low-cost sensor system that detects persons hidden in container trucks crossing the US borders. You may work in groups (a maximum of three students in each group) Report format The Lab 7 experiment together with other measurement tools you learned in class and in previous lab experiments provide a few solution options for you to consider. The Lab 7 experiment was intended to give you direct experiences using piezoelectric sensors. Please read this lab module and watch the videos in Lab 7 demonstration videos. You are not required to report any procedures or results of the experiment. Instead, this assignment asks you to design an experiment and document your design. You are required to prepare a technical report and submit it online as a group. Each group only submits one report for the group. The report must include the following: 1. (3 pts) A cover page including the project report title, names of the group members and an abstract of the report (less than 50 words). Next to each group member name, place in parenthesis the percent of effort by each group member. The total of the percent of effort must add to 100%. 2. (3 pts) Proposed design of your instrument setup. This should include the schematic diagrams and narratives explaining how your system works. For example, where do you place the sensor in relation to the container truck? What is the anticipated maximum force acting on the sensor? 3. (3 pts) Considerations that led to the proposed design. Have you considered other options? What are the pros and cons of the proposed design compared with one alternative design. 4. (3 pts) Issues to be addressed in the implementation of the detection system. Does the truck have to be parked on the load cell with engines shut down? Does the driver have to get off the truck? What are the constraints that can limit the use of your proposed system? Address any constraint you deem relevant such as a. economic (cost of your system, potential impact to the local and US economy); b. environmental (impact on the environment if any, and impact by the environment). For example, is it possible that the ground vibration will overwhelm the signal from human activities inside the truck? What additional investigation do you have to conduct in order to resolve this issue? c. social; political; ethical; health and safety; manufacturability; sustainability; and others that you deem important or relevant. 5. (3 pts) Adherence to formatting conventions of a technical report. Specifically, a table must be listed under its heading. A figure caption is placed at the bottom of the figure. A list of references follows the main body of the report.
