For my senior Engineering Clinic capstone at Harvey Mudd College, I led a multidisciplinary team that developed an automated testing system using the Shadow robotic hand to evaluate the quality and tactile feel of plastic bottle designs for Niagara Bottling. The objective was to reducing plastic usage while maintaining consumer satisfaction and functional performance. Our team designed and developed custom mechanical and electrical systems that measured grip position, applied force, and bottle stiffness during robotic manipulation. The platform also integrated synchronized audio and video recording to capture deformation, grip dynamics, and other indicators of user experience. The resulting system enabled repeatable, data driven evaluation of bottle prototypes and supported packaging design decisions that balance sustainability with usability, and was able to replicate customer ranking trends for all the given bottle types.

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UR5 Vibration Reduction