There are a number of resources available to help you with your hardware. In some cases there is a fee for the services. To purchase items from these resources, follow the procedures found in On-campus Purchases.
Capstone students are guests in all campus facilities. To maintain availability of these facilities, it is vital that students act professionally in their interactions with the people, facilities, and equipment that comprise these resources. Basically, treat others as they would want to be treated. Be respectful. Follow rules and policies. Don't demand exceptions or special treatment. Focus on being a good citizen.
Eye protection is required at all times in the PRL as well as in all labs in the college. Students are responsible for their own safety glasses. Upon completion of the safety training for the PRL, Capstone will provide you a pair of safety glasses, along with a scratch-prevention pouch. If you lose or damage your safety glasses, you will be responsible for replacing them.
See Team Workspace for information about getting proximity card access to the PRL.
Nick Hawkins, Lab supervisor, 801-422-6297, nick.hawkins@byu.edu
See On-campus Purchases for details about purchasing inexpensive materials from the Prototype Laboratory.
You may not use the purchasing methods above for substantial material purchases (over $30.00). For these purchase you MUST place the order through the Capstone online purchasing system and obtain prior approval, although Nick can help you find sources from which to order.
After-hours access to some equipment in the Prototype Laboratory can be arranged by specific permission when needed. Contact Dave Laws or Nick Hawkins to request after-hours access.
Kevin Cole, lab supervisor, 801-422-8038, mecheckout@byu.edu
There is a wealth of hardware and components in the ME Dept checkout room for your use. Kevin is also available as a resource for help or advice on hardware, motors, control systems, LabView programming, etc. He can help you find space, materials, and utilities for your project. If your project is heavy or large we have a forklift, crane, and pallet jacks available for use. You should receive training to operate the heavy equipment. The ME department also has many other resources available to you (tensile testing machines, optical measuring microscopes, heat treating furnaces, wind tunnels, etc.) Please ask Kevin about your needs. The following is an abbreviated list of things you might find in the checkout room for project prototyping and experimentation.
See On-campus Purchases for details about purchasing inexpensive materials from the Material Removal Lab.
You may not use the purchasing methods above for substantial material purchases (over $30.00). For these purchase you MUST place the order through the Capstone online purchasing system and obtain prior approval, although Clint may be able to help you find sources from which to order.
The large BYU Paint Booth behind the Snell Building is available for teams to use to paint their projects. The Paint Booth has specific procedures to follow when using their shop.
The Manufacturing Engineering waterjet cutter is capable of cutting a wide variety of materials. They can be reached at byuwaterjet@byu.edu. There is a fee for this service, which must be coordinated in advance with the Capstone office as described in On-campus Purchases.
The auto shop can help with car body repair and painting. They can mount and balance tires and help with many different vehicle needs.
There are fees for their services. Any work performed by the auto shop will be charged to your team budget and must be approved in advance by your coach and the Capstone office before requesting any work or incurring any expense. See On-campus Purchases for more information.
BYU's Office of Information Technology rents computers on a monthly basis for a nominal fee. If you need a computer to use temporarily, please contact the Capstone office for help in arranging a rental that will be charged to your team account. Please check with your department CSR first to see if they have computers you can use for free.
BYU OIT, Amazon, and other vendors provide cloud-based services involving storage, analytics, distributed calculations, and other applications to improve functionality, efficiency, and reliability for various software. Each service typically requires a fee. Prices vary and are dependent on usage, and some services may provide discounts. Coordinate with your pod instructor to determine which service may be best for your team and with the Capstone office for purchase.
There are local machine shops which can make parts for a fee. Check the Yellow Pages, or search the web. In accordance with University policy, if you wish to have parts made off-campus, you must request quotes from at least two different vendors. Work with your coach to decide the best place. Work with the Capstone office to get payment arranged before placing an order. No work can be started until the machine shop or other vendor has been assigned a BYU vendor number. There are also local companies that produce rapid prototypes, do laser cutting of metals, do precision sheet-metal work, etc.
A number of outside businesses will create professional PCBs for a reasonable fee. Please see Circuit Boards for more information.
A number of off-campus business will provide services (rather than products) for a fee. BYU has special requirements for hiring service providers. Should you need to obtain a service, please see Service Providers, Off-campus to learn the approved methods for obtaining services.