Designing a Golf Robot for the 2024 ASME Student Design Competition: Mechanical Engineering Capstone Project; Exploiting Biology: The Role of Food Producers in the American Obesity Epidemic.

How do systemic design choices in engineered products and industrial processes shape consumer behavior and societal health outcomes? Systemic design is the integration of elements across components of a product or process. When applied to consumer goods and industrial systems, these choices can influence how people interact with products, make decisions, and experience their environment, for better or for worse. How may a small, remotely controlled, battery-powered robot be developed to navigate a given obstacle course within a prescribed time limit? Under guidance of Mechanical Engineering Prof. Natasha Smith, Maggie Clarke, Zach Hay, and Philip Chadwell completed the 2024 American Society of Mechanical Engineers Student Design Competition. The design required Arduino microcontrollers, IOS app development, CAD modeling, 3D printing, and physical assembly. The team designed and assembled the robot through an iterative design process. The robot was tested to meet several design and performance requirements. The project yielded a functional prototype that exceeded most requirements and failed at few, demonstrating use cases for mechatronic engineering and technology. How have major food producers contributed to the United States Obesity Epidemic? Nearly half the U.S. population is obese. Obesity contributes to numerous preventable diseases and a large strain on the healthcare system. The primary cause of obesity is excessive consumption of highly processed foods and beverages. The food and beverage industry hooked America on their products through formula engineering, pricing strategies, targeted marketing, lobbying, misinformation, and entanglement with regulatory agencies and advocacy groups. The disregard of and decline in public health is the result of an increased bottom line.