{"id":{"repo_id":"mit","oai_identifier":"oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/54485"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/mit/oai:dspace.mit.edu:1721.1/54485","repository":{"repo_id":"mit","name":"MIT","base_url":"https://dspace.mit.edu/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"Thermodynamic modeling of solder melting and solidification for proposed squishbot design","abstract":"This thesis develops a thermodynamic simulation of the melting and solidification of a substance resting on a surface. The simulation was created in an effort to develop a single actuator joint locking and unlocking mechanism for Squishbot. The Squishbot is a proposed robot that has the ability to climb walls and change shape in order to gain entry into normally inaccessible areas. By using COMSOL Multiphysics, a simple model was developed and tested. Under these conditions, the solder melting phase transition took 2.25 seconds to melt and 2.65 seconds to solidify. These results, as well as observations about the behavior of the program's numerical solver, seem to suggest that the proposed joint locking system is feasible. A framework is laid out to proceed with improved and more specific models for use as an optimization tool.","abstract_html":"This thesis develops a thermodynamic simulation of the melting and solidification of a substance resting on a surface. The simulation was created in an effort to develop a single actuator joint locking and unlocking mechanism for Squishbot. The Squishbot is a proposed robot that has the ability to climb walls and change shape in order to gain entry into normally inaccessible areas. By using COMSOL Multiphysics, a simple model was developed and tested. Under these conditions, the solder melting phase transition took 2.25 seconds to melt and 2.65 seconds to solidify. These results, as well as observations about the behavior of the program's numerical solver, seem to suggest that the proposed joint locking system is feasible. A framework is laid out to proceed with improved and more specific models for use as an optimization tool.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Utz, Robert (Robert C.)"],"institution":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":"Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering.","school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Martin Culpepper."],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009","date_published":"2009","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:54Z","subjects":["Mechanical Engineering."],"languages":["eng"],"rights":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission."],"rights_urls":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/54485","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Martin Culpepper."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.department","label":"Department","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering."]},{"key":"dc:contributor.other","label":"Dc Contributor Other","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering."]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Utz, Robert (Robert C.)"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2010-04-28T15:40:58Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2010-04-28T15:40:58Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2009"]},{"key":"dc:publisher","label":"Institution","values":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Mechanical Engineering."]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]},{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission."]},{"key":"dc:rights.uri","label":"Rights URI","values":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/54485"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2009.","Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.","Includes bibliographical references (p. 52)."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis develops a thermodynamic simulation of the melting and solidification of a substance resting on a surface. The simulation was created in an effort to develop a single actuator joint locking and unlocking mechanism for Squishbot. The Squishbot is a proposed robot that has the ability to climb walls and change shape in order to gain entry into normally inaccessible areas. By using COMSOL Multiphysics, a simple model was developed and tested. Under these conditions, the solder melting phase transition took 2.25 seconds to melt and 2.65 seconds to solidify. These results, as well as observations about the behavior of the program's numerical solver, seem to suggest that the proposed joint locking system is feasible. A framework is laid out to proceed with improved and more specific models for use as an optimization tool."]},{"key":"dc:description.degree","label":"Dc Description Degree","values":["S.B."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Thermodynamic modeling of solder melting and solidification for proposed squishbot design"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Martin Culpepper."],"dc:contributor.department":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering."],"dc:contributor.other":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Mechanical Engineering."],"dc:creator":["Utz, Robert (Robert C.)"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2010-04-28T15:40:58Z"],"dc:date.available":["2010-04-28T15:40:58Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2009"],"dc:description":["Thesis (S.B.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, 2009.","Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.","Includes bibliographical references (p. 52)."],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis develops a thermodynamic simulation of the melting and solidification of a substance resting on a surface. The simulation was created in an effort to develop a single actuator joint locking and unlocking mechanism for Squishbot. The Squishbot is a proposed robot that has the ability to climb walls and change shape in order to gain entry into normally inaccessible areas. By using COMSOL Multiphysics, a simple model was developed and tested. Under these conditions, the solder melting phase transition took 2.25 seconds to melt and 2.65 seconds to solidify. These results, as well as observations about the behavior of the program's numerical solver, seem to suggest that the proposed joint locking system is feasible. A framework is laid out to proceed with improved and more specific models for use as an optimization tool."],"dc:description.degree":["S.B."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/54485"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher":["Massachusetts Institute of Technology"],"dc:rights":["M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission."],"dc:rights.uri":["http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582"],"dc:subject":["Mechanical Engineering."],"dc:title":["Thermodynamic modeling of solder melting and solidification for proposed squishbot design"],"dc:type":["Thesis"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:21:54Z"}