Water Egress Simulator

The goal of the project is to design a simulator to train pilots to escape from their aircraft incase of submerge. Two trainers will be strapped inside the simulator using seatbelts and will be pushed into a pool. Other assistances in the pool will hold down the simulator until it reaches the pool’s floor. They will give a signal to the trainers in the simulator so they start unstrapping the seatbelt and egress from the sides of the simulator.

Problem Statement
The current design of the simulator works perfectly as needed. However, there are some problems that occur in the current design. Department of Interior reports that the current simulator suffers from breaking joints and that problem caused by the materials used to design the simulator, which is PVC. The pictures below show the areas where joint exactly broken.

Goal
The goal of the project is to design a simulator that will be lighter, stronger, easy to assemble and disassemble, transportable and affordable.

Background
Picture of the client or something related to the client if possible According to Rick Gividen, chief training division at the U.S. Department of the Interior, the idea came after two accidents occurred at the U.S. Department of the Interior in 2010 and 2013 where the pilots hardly escaped from the plane. Now, new pilots at the U.S. Department of the Interior have to go through a course where they are strapped in the simulator and pushed into a pool then try to escape from simulator. As a result, the U.S. Department of the Interior demands such simulators that could be stronger that the current design. The reason of that is simulators are shipped from a city to another city and maybe from a state to another state. Shipping is one of the reasons why the current simulator has cracks and breaking joints.

Specifications
Capacity: Seat 2 people 5’ – 6’4” comfortably 4’6” – 6’9” uncomfortably. Water Proof: Components should be water proofed and corrosion resistince. Shipping Boxes: Final contents of shipping must not exceed 75 lbs. /box and 108" in length and 165" in length plus girth. Toleration: Broken assemblies both through shipping or use must be economically feasible and field reparable. 50% weight variance between seats. I.e. 300 lbs./150lbs seat. Cost: Less than the cost of current (pipe + fittings + seats + seatbelts + netting + glue + labor) + cases = $2,217.8. Seat Criteria: Seat up to 500 lbs. total. Seating either tandem or side by side. Assembly: Assemble in less than 1 hour. Disassembly: Disassemble in less than 1 hour.

New Design
The new design will be made out of aluminum and not PVC. Specifically, aluminum T-Slots that will allow us to assemble and disassemble the simulator by tightening and loosing screws. Aluminum is a material that has very good corrosion resistance as well as reasonable weight. Moreover, aluminum is not a rare material so it doesn’t cost much. It is also a tough material that doesn’t bend or break easily. Include a drawing that indicates the measurement of all components Include stress and bending analysis picture When the group proposed to the client about using aluminum T-Slots instead of PVC, there were a lot of concerns of whether using such material will damage the floor when pushing the simulator to the pool. Also, sharp edges might be dangerous while assembling and disassembling. After reviewing questions and concerns from our client, we have purchased Plastic Strips that could be attached at the bottom of the simulator, which will make the simulator slip easily and smoothly as well. Moreover, Caps also we purchased to cover the sharp edges that the client were concerned about. Picture of the plastic strips and caps

Team Information
{| class="wikitable" style="border-style: solid; border-width: 3px; border-color:3D3D3D; background: #FFFFFF" width="100%"
 * rowspan="5"|center
 *  ''Name
 * rowspan="4"|''Hobbies & Interests:'
 *  ''Name
 * rowspan="4"|''Hobbies & Interests:'

Career Goals: 
 * Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate
 * Hometown:
 * Email: |-
 * rowspan="5"|center
 *  ''Name
 * rowspan="4"|''Hobbies & Interests:'
 * rowspan="5"|center
 *  ''Name
 * rowspan="4"|''Hobbies & Interests:'
 * rowspan="4"|''Hobbies & Interests:'

Career Goals: 
 * Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate
 * Hometown:
 * Email: |-
 * rowspan="5"|center
 * Email: |-
 * rowspan="5"|center
 * rowspan="5"|center


 *  ''Name
 * rowspan="4"|''Hobbies & Interests:'

Career Goals: 
 * Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate
 * Hometown:
 * Email: |-
 * rowspan="5"|center
 * Email: |-
 * rowspan="5"|center
 * rowspan="5"|center


 *  ''Name
 * rowspan="4"|''Hobbies & Interests:'

Career Goals: 
 * Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate
 * Hometown:
 * Email: |-
 * rowspan="5"|center
 * Email: |-
 * rowspan="5"|center
 * rowspan="5"|center