College

College of Engineering and Polymer Science

Date of Last Revision

2025-02-20 07:03:42

Major

Mechanical Engineering

Honors Course

MECE 461_003 & MECE 471 (ME Senior Design Project 1&2)

Number of Credits

4

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Date of Expected Graduation

Winter 2024

Abstract

Gutters redirect rainwater away from nearly every roof and home in America and Europe but build up debris over time and require constant maintenance. Manual gutter cleaning is unpleasant, time-consuming, and dangerous, with 80,000 injuries/year attributed to people cleaning their gutters and overreaching from ladders in the U.S. alone. This difficult situation implies that consumers would be interested in a method to make this process safer and easier. In an age of increasing automation of tasks, especially those that might be dangerous to complete, a gutter cleaning robot is a solution that could alleviate several of these problems at once. This project aims to complete a robot that can serviceably clean the most common style of gutter in an automated fashion, with a budget of up to 350 dollars. This robot being implemented in the field could lead to a reduction in injuries associated with gutter cleaning, a reduction to the work of a consumer cleaning their gutters, and even some interest in taking the idea further into the workplace, perhaps even pursing a patent.

Research Sponsor

David Peters

First Reader

Dr. Ajay Mahajan

Second Reader

Dr. Henry Astley

Honors Faculty Advisor

Dr. Scott Sawyer

Proprietary and/or Confidential Information

No

Comments

n/a

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