Project Details
[Return to Previous Page]Humidification of Hollow-bodied Wooden Instruments: prototype development through mechanical and electrical design
Company: PSU School of Engineering Design and Innovation
Major(s):
Primary: EE
Secondary: ME
Non-Disclosure Agreement: NO
Intellectual Property: NO
Hollow-bodied wooden instruments worth thousands of dollars can crack in a single dry winter. This project builds on a patented technology to humidify these instruments, and the team's mission is to move it from initial design to a refined prototype that professional musicians will use and evaluate on their own instruments. The prototype must demonstrate all core functionality and survive real-world use. The team will begin by identifying the core functions the product must perform, such as vapor generation, air transport, humidity monitoring, and instrument interface. For each core function, students will build and test small-scale prototypes of multiple candidate approaches, drawing primarily on commercially available components. The results of these prototype tests, not assumptions, will drive the design decisions: the team will select which approach to carry forward for each function based on their own experimental data. The selected approaches will then be synthesized into a complete, fully functional system-level prototype, allowing musicians to evaluate how well the chosen mechanisms serve their needs. Two engineering skill areas are essential to this project. First, circuit and microcontroller experience: the final prototype will integrate a microcontroller, vapor generation, power management with charging, and simple wireless connectivity such as Bluetooth or WiFi onto a printed circuit board, so basic PCB layout skills are required. Second, mechanical design of physical structures: the team will design and 3D print housings that contain the electronics, direct the flow of humid air, and incorporate a water reservoir, among other functions. Students with an interest in hands-on prototyping, data-driven design decisions, and taking a product from concept to working hardware will find this project a strong fit. Deliverables: 1. Functional decomposition identifying the core functions of the product 2. Micro-prototypes and test results evaluating multiple approaches for each core function 3. Documented trade studies justifying the selected approach for each function 4. A fully functional system-level prototype suitable for evaluation by musicians 5. Complete design files, including PCB layouts, firmware source code, and CAD models, delivered in editable formats 6. Final report, poster, and project summary per Capstone requirements
