MEMS 411: Heavy Cart Ramp Assistant

Authors

Caelyn Walton-Macaulay, Washington University in St. LouisFollow
Eniya Jaber, Washington University in St. LouisFollow
Nashleen Salazar Rodriguez, Washington University in St. LouisFollow

Publication Date

Fall 2023

Document Type

Final Report

Embargo Date

12-8-2023

Problem Statement

Some experiments in Prof. Kathy Flores’s lab use argon gas, which is stored in a
big tank. A scale is used to determine how much gas is left in the tank.
To get the tank onto the scale, a person must roll it up a short, fairly steep ramp
onto the scale platform. There is a ramp on the other side of the scale too, so
overshooting the platform causes the ramp to crash into the wall (the lab has taped a foam bumper onto the wall to mitigate this). Once finished, the cart is rolled
back down the ramp, and around to its original location. Depending on how full
the tank is, the cart ranges from fairly heavy to very heavy.
Prof. Flores would like a system or device to make this process easier/faster/safer.

Author's School

McKelvey School of Engineering

Author's Department

Mechanical Engineering and Materials Science

Class Name

Mechanical Engineering Design Project (MEMS 411)

Recommended Citation

Walton-Macaulay, Caelyn; Jaber, Eniya; and Salazar Rodriguez, Nashleen, "MEMS 411: Heavy Cart Ramp Assistant" (2023). Mechanical Engineering Design Project Class. 207.
https://openscholarship.wustl.edu/mems411/207