Date of Defense
12-19-2022
Date of Graduation
12-2022
Department
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
First Advisor
Bade Shrestha
Second Advisor
Javier Montefort
Abstract
An affordable musical water fountain was designed over the course of one year. The target consumers for this fountain are middle to upper class homeowners. Based on the design parameters and research found on the topic, the fountain presents an aesthetically pleasing light and water show for residential neighborhoods. The design was sought to be competitive on the market with preexisting fountains. Since it must play music and perform a water and light show all in synchronous, there was confidence in the unique features to sell with today’s consumers. SolidWorks was used extensively to design and model the fountain and the assemblies within it. Alongside the computer aided modeling, Arduino microcontrollers were used to program the various electromechanical devices used to control the water movements and light sequence. A scaled down fountain prototype was assembled in order to run various tests and obtain proof of concepts. This prototype was preprogrammed to synchronize the Western Michigan University fight song with the rest of the display and demonstrate its performance capabilities. Many obstacles were encountered through the process of designing the musical fountain. Some of these obstacles include constructing a prototype without financial aid, the synchronization of systems, and long waiting periods for custom 3D printed parts. Once these obstacles were overcome a successful prototype was assembled and tested. The final design of the musical fountain is far from a perfect design due to time constraints and lack of expertise in fountain design. Given more time and resources, further research and tests would have been completed with professionals in the industry to create a more robust product. The primary goal to design an effective musical water fountain was ultimately achieved despite the challenges and difficulties faced.
Recommended Citation
Nielsen, Amy, "The Musical Water Fountain" (2022). Honors Theses. 3602.
https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/honors_theses/3602
Access Setting
Honors Thesis-Open Access
Defense Presentation
Comments
Co-authored with:
Joseph Bonnen
Gavin Peddie