Two Students 3D-Printed a New Drive System for a Nearly 100-Year-Old Observatory

The University of Arkansas at Little Rock campus observatory opened in 1928. For nearly a century, the dome shutter was opened and closed by hand crank. That changed this summer, thanks to a senior capstone project by Jerry Adcock and Andrew Harris.

From hand crank to motorized control

The two Mechanical Engineering Technology students designed an electric drive system that replaces the manual crank. The centerpiece is a 3D-printed mounting plate that interfaces with the existing hardware. Adcock went further: he aged the plate to match the patina of the original equipment, then made bronze-finished copies for his teammates.

Why 3D printing fit the job

The observatory is a working piece of history. Machining a new bracket from aluminum would have been possible, but it would have required tooling that the students did not have. 3D printing let them iterate quickly, test fits, and produce a final part that matched the vintage equipment visually.

A project that outgrew the capstone box

Professor Srikanth Pidugu said the students invested an extraordinary amount of time and effort. Their work went well beyond a conventional senior project. The automation is now installed and operational. The observatory is back open to the public.

Stories like this are a reminder that 3D printing is not just about hobbyist trinkets. It is a practical tool for preserving aging infrastructure when commercial parts no longer exist and budgets are limited.