Twin Piston Water Pump
This twin piston water pump was a project created for MAE 2250 Mechanical Synthesis. We were given 3 weeks to design and manufacture a water pump that can pump 1 liter of water per minute for less than $45 of material. The design was set to create a piston pump based on a Pugh Decision Matrix of piston, centrifugal, and gear pumps. The initial design took manufacturability and functionality as priorities by minimizing the number of design constraints in the most number of parts. All parts were machined using hand mills and lathes in Cornell's Emerson Machine Shop. The end product pumped 5 liters of water per minute, 500% greater than the required specification.
I was personally in charge of the design and manufacture of the piston head and rod. The design incorporated PVC pistons heads and steel rods connecting the heads to the drive shaft using a scotch yoke. The scotch yoke was chosen because it converts rotational motion to linear motion in few parts.
