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UPDATES
NSF Site Visit
During a very cold and blustery week the Center welcomed industry and student representatives, faculty and staff to the midwest as the Center had its annual site visit with the National Science Foundation on February 20 and 21, 2008 at the University of Minnesota. The site visit team heard presentations on the overview and updates of the Center, research highlights, education and outreach activities, and had a tour of the lab space in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Minnesota and a student research poster session. The Center would like to thank all of the participants and, in particular, the NSF Site Visit team who carefully listened to the fantastic story that the Center has to tell and who shared their thoughts as well as provided positive feedback for improvements.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Save the Date
CCEFP Annual Meeting: May 28 – 30, 2008. Milwaukee School of Engineering, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Program, accommodations and Registration is available online at: http://www.ccefp.org/08conference/.
 RESEARCH
Hydraulic Haptics
Mark Elton, Graduate Student, GeorgiaTech
Hydraulic machinery has and will continue to play a large and critical role in agriculture, construction, forestry and other areas. These machines often have multiple tools each with multiple degrees of freedom. Such complex machines demand that operators be extensively trained before being allowed to use one “in the field,” and require even more experience before the operator qualifies as an expert.
The Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power (CCEFP) is a network of seven universities conducting focused research on advancing current fluid power technology. Current research thrusts at Georgia Tech focus on creating an augmented reality for the operator that uses haptics, sounds, and other interfaces to improve operator efficiency on multi-functional hydraulic equipment. In the most recent work, a haptic joystick is used to control a variable displacement pump system that improves the machine’s fuel efficiency. The test bed for this research is a small Bobcat excavator at Purdue University.
What is Haptics? Haptics, from the Greek “Haphe”, refers to the sense of touch. A haptic controller is a device that pushes, pulls, vibrates, or otherwise engages the user’s sense of touch. The controller being used in this research is a six degree of freedom device that gives the user a three dimensional force of up to 8 newtons (1.8 lbs). Haptic feedback, such as a force reflection of the weight of dirt in the bucket or cues when the operator has reached the limit of joint travel of the excavator arm, have been shown by previous research at Georgia Tech and other institutions to improve operator efficiency.
A Throttle-less Excavator
Current state of the art equipment is outfitted with valves to regulate cylinder pressures. These valves function by dissipating energy in the form of heat. This energy could be saved by eliminating the valves and using a variable displacement pump to control cylinder pressures. Purdue researchers are currently outfitting the Bobcat excavator with four variable displacement pumps, one for the swing, boom, arm, and bucket circuits. While the excavator is being re-outfitted, an excavator simulator has been created a Georgia Tech so that preliminary tests can be done to see how operator efficiency is affected with a new controller.
Goals
The goal of this project is to design and implement a haptic controller for a hydraulic excavator that controls the displacement of a block of variable displacement pumps. With haptic clues and other feedback, the operator should be able to complete the same task in less time, thereby saving on a host of other things such as fuel costs, equipment rental and maintenance, operator pay, etc. If the control scheme effectively manipulates the pumps displacement, the energy that would be lost in valve throttling could be saved, increasing the fuel efficiency of the excavator. This summer the first tests on the redesigned excavator will be performed to measure the increase in operator and machine efficiency.
INDUSTRY
IFPE 2008
The Center for Compact and Efficient Fluid Power served as an exhibitor during this years International Fluid Power Exposition which is part of the CONEXPO-CON/AGG, the largest trade show in the western hemisphere! The show took place in Las Vegas, Nevada March 10 – 15, 2008. The Center had on display its Hydraulic Hybrid Regenerative Braking Exhibit from the Science Museum of Minnesota, the TPT Discovering Fluid Power DVD and over 20 graduate students and staff of the CCEFP at IFPE!
 EDUCATION and OUTREACH
Support an intern!
The CCEFP Internship Program for engineering students is one of the Center's key initiatives. This program provides opportunities for engineering students to gain hands-on knowledge of hydraulic and pneumatic principles and applications through first-hand experiences with fluid power industry leaders. These internships also facilitate industry's access to a diverse, talented pool of engineering students. For information on internship opportunities visit http://www.ccefp.org/internship, or contact Alyssa Burger, Education & Outreach Director at 612.624.4991 or aburger@me.umn.edu.
 anishinaabeg ogichidaag FIRST Robotics Team
FIRST stands for “For the Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology”. The CCEFP and the University of Minnesota with support from the Fond du Lac Tribal and Community College, located in Cloquet, MN, has initiated a rookie FIRST Robotics team of 20 high students from the Fond du Lac Indian Reservation community. This team will serve as the areas first robotics team to enter the FIRST Robotics competition.
The Center will continue to mentor students and provide funding opportunities that will assist in the development of the STEM initiatives within the American Indian community. The goal of this team is exposure to the exciting world of robotics. This team has received a $10,000 grant from the University of Minnesota Foundation to join the competition. The team has many commitments from local area mentors including teachers and parents. The Center will be providing resources to the Team to help them achieve their goals. This team is new to the competition, the learning curve is steep and the challenge is meant to stimulate minds, creativity and teamwork. To date the robot has been successfully built and is currently being shipped to the Regional Competition Site at the U of MN. Competition dates are March 28-29. This has been a wonderful experience not only for the students but the community as a whole. The lead teacher involved will use the FIRST Robot as a model for pneumatic, programming, electronic, and mechanical robotic curriculum to implement in his K-12 courses. www.freewebs.com/yayrobots
 Science Museum of Minnesota
Youth Science Team
The Fluid Power Team was recruited in October 2007 and is composed of a diversity of students including girls, economically disadvantaged youth, and youth of color. Many of these youth are exploring the field of mechanical engineering for the first time and have already expressed interest in pursuing careers in this field. The hands-on fluid power activities they are creating will be used on outreach and in the Science Museum of Minnesota galleries to educate the general public about fluid power and its applications. Once the youth complete the exhibit display in collaboration with Science Museum staff, the exhibit will serve to disseminate the research and applications of the CCEFP to the general public.
Seven hands-on fluid power activities have been created to date:
Air Cannons - shoot compressed air to explore the motion of fluid through a medium. Fluid Theater - create theaters using syringes and vinyl tubing to explore the concept of the compressibility and motion of water and air. Fluid Toys - take apart and put together fluid toys to explore the concept of an accumulator. Lego Lifts - build Lego pneumatic kits to create elevators and dentist chairs to explore fluid power systems and circuits to move objects. Sand and Water Clocks - demonstrate the bottle-neck effect when a fluid is forced through a small area. Straw Rockets - use air power to shoot a straw rocket at a target. Wind Tubes - visitors make creative projects to fly, float, or sink based on surface area in a wind tube (Idea from PIE (Playful Invention and Exploration).
Every Saturday from 10:30-12:30, the Fluid Team works with Science Museum of Minnesota visitors in the Experiment Gallery. Team members choose the projects to bring and work with children and adults. In the month of January alone, the Fluid Team helped over 150 visitors.
 STUDENT LEADERSHIP COUNCIL
The Student Leadership Council is an active student group consists of 14 representatives from the seven institutions within the CCEFP. The SLC has officer positions with by-laws governing the organization. The SLC is responsible for providing a face and a voice for the students within the Center as well as organizing several of the activities within the Center.
Vision of the SLC
The SLC shall benefit its members by promoting leadership, service, and collaboration among members, and by providing opportunities to enter into meaningful professional relationships with ERC institutional faculty and partner company representatives
Mission of the SLC
Act as a liaison between the CCEFP and the CCEFP Students; promote collaboration between the students at the CCEFP institutions; enhance communication between the advisors & students of the CCEFP; encourage the study of engineering, math, & natural sciences for the future benefit of fluid power.
Activities of the SLC
Bi-Weekly web-cast, host CCEFP Booth at IFPE, alumni society, Facebook group, quarterly meetings, educational outreach, fluid power future employment survey, annual retreat, CCEFP SWOT analysis.
The SLC is currently in the planning stages of the next student retreat to be held August 7 – 9, 2008 at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. As an early save the date, industry project champions as well as all CCEFP students are invited to attend. Watch for more information!
GETTING TO KNOW US
The Center would like to introduce its talent. In each issue get to know the Center's students, researchers and leadership team.
Students
 Alex Shorter is a PhD candidate at the University of Illinois (UIUC), Urbana-Champaign, Illinois. He earned a B.S. Degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Colorado and a Masters in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois. Before returning to graduate school at Illinois Alex was employed at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution as a research engineer working closely with scientists and researchers to build instrumentation for various oceanographic research projects. These research projects included the design and fabrication of a non-invasive digital tag (DTAG) that was attached to whales using suction cups and used to collect behavioral information about the animals. Alex is working with Prof. Elizebeth Hsiao-Wecksler on Testbed #6: utilizing fluid powered systems to assist gait. Outside the lab, Alex enjoys a good run, skiing, and traveling.
 Mike Rannow earned his undergraduate in mechanical engineering from the University of Minnesota where he plans to earn his PhD. Mike’s research involves the development of on/off valve controlled hydraulic systems. The goal of the project is to control a system using valves that are either fully open or fully closed as opposed to using valves that are partially open (throttling). This approach has the potential to improve the efficiency of hydraulic systems since throttling valves waste a lot of energy. The team’s current focus is on designing an efficient, high-speed on/off valve to make on/off controlled systems feasible. The current prototype is a 3-way rotary on/off valve that utilizes the momentum of the fluid flowing through it to spin, eliminating the need for external rotary actuation. Any hydraulic system could potentially utilize this technique, and the goal is to demonstrate it in TB-1 (Excavator) and TB-3 (sUV). 3.) Outside of school, Mike enjoys being outside (although Minnesota winter makes it a little tough sometimes). If he could be anywhere (besides the lab, of course), Mike would probably go backpacking in some mountains. He is also starting to get interested in rock climbing and mountaineering, but is still very much a beginner. Mike enjoys running and biking when its warm, and broomball and skiing when its not.
 Researcher
Richard Salant earned his bachelors, masters and doctoral in mechanical engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by 1967. He is currently a Distinguished Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the George W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering. Currently Prof. Salant is concentrating his efforts on seals within the CCEFP. “Pollution, resulting from leakage of hydraulic fluid, is one of the top problems in this industry, if not the number 1 problem.” Tribology & Lubrication Technology, October 2007. Richard and his students are diligently working on building numerical models of hydraulic rod seals which are among the most “critical components in hydraulic systems because leakage past these seals directly enters the environment.”
 Leadership Team
Stephanie Bettermann received her B.A. in Public Relations from Metropolitan State University in Minnesota. She has been at the University of Minnesota since 1996 in different capacities. Prior to working for the CCEFP, she spent five years in the Office of International Programs, primarily administering scholarship programs, working with international delegates and alumni and advising students/faculty on international funding opportunities. She also spent two years at the University of Minnesota Extension Service, working in the Dean’s office. Stephanie serves as the Administrative Director for the CCEFP, which includes all reporting to NSF, as well as the management of the Center financial systems, personnel, facilities, information (annual report and data collection) and events. Outside of work, Stephanie is the mother to an adorable and precocious five-year old kindergarten daughter. Stephanie likes to spend time reading (she has an avid interest in world events), exercising (she loves to rollerblade), and gardening (this would only be half the year in Minnesota!) She also loves music, going to see live bands and playing the piano.
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