Project Proposal – ENGR 4381/4382
Hurricane Rated Pet Door
Proposed by Joseph Ambrose, President, Pet Doors USA
Prepared by Kevin Nickels
1. Introduction
This project would design, construct, test, and evaluate a mechanical pet door that can be
rated “hurricane proof”. The primary specification for a hurricane-proof rating is the
ability to withstand 1 hit from a 2”x4”x8’ board traveling at 50 feet per second. The
industrial sponsor/client for this project is Pet Doors USA, who manufactures and
markets a line of pet doors, including some electronically latched doors. The target for
materials cost for this kind of pet door is $100, in order to be marketable against the
competition.
Pet Doors, USA, has promised engineering support as well as reimbursables up to $10k.
They request two sets of brainstorming notes (one before and one after a review of
current designs on the market), a copy of the final report, and the final prototype.
Students will be required to assign patent rights to Pet Doors, USA, to be able to work on
this project.
2. Goals and Requirements
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Prototype must be able to meet hurricane specifications, including:
o should withstand hail of small pellets (rocks)
o should withstand 1 hit from a 2”x4”x8’ board traveling at 50 fps
All testing must be safe to all personnel involved, and illustrate that the prototype
meets specifications.
Materials cost of the door should be less than $100
3. Constraints on Design
a) Economic – In order to be a marketable product, the materials cost of the door
needs to be kept to $100. Consideration of the materials costs of a product is a
new constraint for the department, and a very valuable real-world constraint.
b) Health and Safety - In particular, with the testing phase – a 2x4x8 at 50 feet per
second is dangerous! There are facilities and expertise at Southwest Research that
we may be able to utilize. In addition, scale model testing may prove to be useful.
c) Manufacturability – while the company does not expect a reproducible model,
attention to manufacturability will definitely yield a more successful solution.
d) Political – The group will need to become familiar with hurricane codes, in order
to ensure that their design provably meets them.
4. Discussion
This project is an exciting opportunity to work with a Trinity Engineering alumnus, who
is an entrepreneur, to help prototype a new product. Constraints of advanced testing,
materials cost, and manufacturability, make this project potentially a very applied
experience. There is a tremendous demand in the market for this type of product, and this
is a great opportunity to be involved.