Chris Kuhaneck led several engineering projects including a Six Sigma fatigue tester, sumobot, and musical glove. For the fatigue tester, he programmed the data acquisition system to measure rotations, force, time, and reset values. The sumobot competed in a robot competition and won gold. His musical glove used flex sensors on the fingers to play different tones. He also proposed a collaborative table called the EDO to promote group work in libraries. Across projects, he utilized skills in programming, electronics, design, and project management.

1. PORTFOLIO OF PROJECTS 2015
Robotics, Wearables, Embedded Systems, and Design
Chris Kuhaneck
cdk8044@rit.edu

2. Six Sigma Fatigue Tester
Figure 1: Six Sigma (DMADVV) Fatigue Tester Project– The group designed and built a rotating fatigue tester. I led the subgroup
responsible for programing and designing the data acquisition system. The data acquisition system was able to determine the
amount of rotations, the force being applied, the amount of time elapsed, and zero the force and rotation count. Utilizing Six
Sigma tools, such as House of Quality, VOC, and Critical to Quality, the group was successfully able to develop a fatigue tester.
Some Highlights:
• Led the programing and electric subgroup
o Held meetings between the subgroups
o Communicated expectations and sensor layout needs between the subgroups
o Established and programed core features, such as the cycle count, the force readings,
the ability to display these values on an LCD screen, and the ability to zero out these
values
o Laid out and soldered the prototype shield
• Managed the project budget
o Selected hardware
 Load Cell
 Hall Effect Sensor
 Arduino UNO
o Balanced project priorities
• Earned Six Sigma Green Belt (DMADVV) as part of project
• The project culminated with a successful group presentation to a committee of RIT professors
• Skills Utilized:
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3. o Six Sigma (DMADVV) Tools
o Machine Design
o Programing
o Electronics
o Project Management
o Communication
o Budget Management
o Networking
Sumobot
Figure 2: Sumobot- As part of a team, I contributed to the construction and design of an autonomous robot that competed in a
sumo-like competition (two robots try to push each other out of a ring) at the 2009 National Robot Challenge. It had two pairs
of IR sensors for detecting opponents. The team won the Gold Award in the Sumo contest. Furthermore, the robot earned a
nomination for the Honda Innovation Award.
Some Highlights:
• As part of the team, I contributed to the modular design of the robot. The lower portion of the
robot housed the motors, gearboxes, and the battery. The upper portion of the robot, which
was hinged to the lower portion for ease of access, housed the electronics and the sensors.
• The design of the robot allowed it to quickly see its opponent at the start of the match, with
minimum sensors. (The match started with the robots positioned face to face, back to back, or
side to side. With the first two options, the robot would sense the opponent right at the start of
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4. the match. With the third option, the robot would not sense the opponent at the start of the
match and would know to spin until it detected the opponent.)
• Used machine shop tools, such as the milling machine, to help create portions of the frame
• Won Gold Award for the contest and earned a nomination for the Honda Innovation Award
• Skills Utilized:
o Strategy Development
o Machine Design
o Design for Modularity
o Machining
Model L
Figure 3: Model L- Made a robot that had a rudimentary learning algorithm that enabled it to “learn” how to avoid walls.
Some Highlights:
• For personal interest, I developed a robot that adjusted the likelihood of an action being taken
based on its previous experience
• Overview of how it worked:
o Run forward until a wall is detected
o When a wall is detected select one of four options:
 Run forward
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5.  Stay still
 Turn left
 Turn right
o Perform the action
o Evaluate the action based on whether the wall is still detected
o Adjust the likelihood of the action
 If the wall is still detected, decrease the likelihood of the performed action
 If the wall is not still detected, increase the likelihood of the performed action
o Return to the start of the program
• Built the robot out of easily obtainable materials
o Ping Ultrasonic Sensor
o Two Servos (modified from 180° servos to continuous rotation servos)
o Arduino Uno
• Development Process:
o Selected the goal of making a robot that adjusted the likelihood of an action being taken
based on its previous experience
o Composed pseudo code
 Selected an easily understandable scenario that could showcase the
performance of a learning robot
 Limited the scope of the project to four options
 Developed the concept of how the likelihood of an option could be adjusted
o Wrote an abbreviated code with two options to evaluate the main concept
o Expanded the code to include the full four options
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6. o Created a breadboard test platform with a ping sensor and two LEDs (The LEDs were
stand-ins for motors.)
o Once the code was working on the breadboard, the robot body was made and the code
was adapted to run servos instead of LEDs
o Observed the robot operate in an area and watched the likelihoods of the options
change in the code
• Skills Utilized:
o Defining the Scope
o Programing
o Electronics
o Hardware Modification
o Prototyping
o Testing
o Troubleshooting
Musical Glove
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7. Figure 4: Musical Glove- Designed, constructed, and programmed a glove that produced different tones depending on how the
fingers were bent. This piece of wearable technology was presented at Imagine RIT.
Some Highlights:
• Collaborated with a design major to develop the Arduino Lilypad based glove
• The glove produces one tone per finger or combinations of fingers. Each finger had a flex sensor.
• Selected to have the electronics exposed to give it a more technological appearance
• The glove was presented at Imagine RIT, a showcase of student projects that is open to the
public
• Challenges that were overcome:
o Hardware layout on a flexible surface that would vary from user to user
 This was solved by evaluating where the glove would see the most and least
amount of movement
o Deciding what finger positions would trigger the tones
 This was determined by experimentation and the initial calibration of the flex
sensors
• Skills Utilized:
o Multidisciplinary Teamwork
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8. o Concept Selection
o Programing
o Design
o Troubleshooting
o Calibration
Collaborative Workspace Object
Figure 5: The EDO- A modular, multipurpose table intended to help promote collaborative work (early sketch)
Some Highlights:
• As part of the Design Thinking & Concept Development course, which was part of my
entrepreneurship minor, my group was given the task of applying design thinking to one of the
challenges we observed in the library. We saw that the long, heavy rectangular tables in the
library made larger group work difficult. Based on this observation, and the input of the library
staff, the group decided that we should focus on developing something that was more flexible
and conducive to group work.
• The general design is a triangular table with three trapezoidal leaves
o The leaves have white board surfaces on both sides to promote sketching and writing
o The leaves could be placed in an upright or horizontal position to allow the EDO to be
used as a table or as an easel
o The leaves could be removed for smaller groups
• We drew our inspiration from:
o Basic geometric shapes
o Flowers blossoming
o Origami (which is why the name EDO, a historical period of Japan, was selected)
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9. • The project concluded with an engaging and successful presentation to the class and the library
staff. Additionally, a scale model was made to help the audience better understand the
advantages of the EDO.
• Skills Utilized:
o Multidisciplinary Collaboration
o Ideation
o Active Listening with Customers
o Design
o Written and Verbal Communication
o Presentation
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10. • The project concluded with an engaging and successful presentation to the class and the library
staff. Additionally, a scale model was made to help the audience better understand the
advantages of the EDO.
• Skills Utilized:
o Multidisciplinary Collaboration
o Ideation
o Active Listening with Customers
o Design
o Written and Verbal Communication
o Presentation
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