Association: DHS (Department of Homeland Security) Sponsored ALERT (Awareness and Localization of Explosives-Related Threats) Research for Undergraduates

Role: Mechanical Design and Assemblage Team Member

Duration: January 2014 – June 2014

Mentions: An article was published by the Honors Department at Northeastern University on my research.

Overview: The research assignment was done under Professor Jose Martinez-Lorenzo at Northeastern University. The project abstract was to research the detection of improvised explosives (particularly, suicide bombers) at ranged distances of up to 50 feet using radar imaging. My particular role in the mechanical assemblage team embodied designing and building the next generation dynamic framework that would holster multiple radar transmitters and receivers.

Details: The frame that was being used at the time was made of 80/20 material, and had a horizontal linear actuator, 4 receivers, and 1 transmitter. The new design required 2 linear actuators in order to move in the vertical and horizontal directions. I came up with several design renderings, and the final CAD model agreed upon by the professor was the following:

Next, I sourced 80/20 material for the build (including linear bearings, mechanical hardware and brackets, etc.) and I machined them in the on-campus machine shop with tolerances of 1 mm (this was critical, as a looser tolerance would result in faulty data collection). The frame was assembled, and looked as follows:

My time at the lab was over before tests were done using the new frame, however it is currently being used and Professor Martinez tells me it is stable, and working well.

Presentations: I presented my research at 2 main events; RISE 2014 (Research, Innovation, and Scholarship Expo) and HERE 2014 and 2015 (Honors Evening Research Expo):

Skills Gained: I gained skills in part-sourcing, design for manufacturability, machining and implementation, and presentation skills.