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A Multidisciplinary Course and the Corresponding Laboratory Platform Development for Teaching the Fundamentals of Advanced Autonomous Vehicles

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Conference

2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Location

Tampa, Florida

Publication Date

June 15, 2019

Start Date

June 15, 2019

End Date

June 19, 2019

Conference Session

Multidisciplinary Engineering Courses

Tagged Division

Multidisciplinary Engineering

Page Count

13

DOI

10.18260/1-2--31975

Permanent URL

https://strategy.asee.org/31975

Download Count

505

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Paper Authors

biography

Nima Lotfi Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville

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Nima Lotfi received his B.S. degree in electrical engineering from Sahand University of Technology, Tabriz, Iran, in 2006, his M.S. degree in electrical engineering from Sharif University of Technology, Tehran, Iran, in 2010, and his Ph.D. degree in mechanical engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology, Rolla, MO, USA, in 2016. He is currently an Assistant Professor with the Mechanical Engineering Department at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL, USA. His current research interests include characterization and electrochemical modeling of Li-ion batteries, traditional and electrochemical model-based Li-ion battery management system design, and real-world applications of
control and estimation theory especially in alternative and renewable energy systems, mechatronics, robotics, and electrified and autonomous transportation. Dr. Lotfi is a member of the IEEE Control Systems Society and ASME Dynamic Systems and Control Division.

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biography

Jacob Allen Novosad Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville

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Jacob Novosad is a Computer Science student at Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville. Jacob has focus on autonomous robotics spending time researching and competing in robotics. He plans on graduating in 2020

Jacob is currently the chair of the Autonomous Robotics Club (ARC). ARC annually compete in autonomous robotics competitions in the US. ARC also has focuses on educational robotics and volunteers or host events geared towards teaching robotics to grade schoolers.

Please email janovosa@gmail.com to contact me.

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biography

Huan Phan-Van Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville

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Huan Phan-Van received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology and Education, Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, in 2013. He is currently a graduate student in Mechanical Engineering, and a teaching assistant at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL, USA.
He is interested in researching Mobile Autonomous Robotics, and getting knowledge base on real-world applications of control systems, especially in Autonomous Transportation. Dr. Lotfi is his mentor.
Email: huanphan206@gmail.com

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Abstract

In the past few decades, autonomous features have been gradually augmented to traditional ground transportation systems. These features can range from simple cruise control, blind spot detection, and lane departure control, all the way to autopilot systems. Aiming to train the next generation of engineers in this field and to fill the skill gap among students in traditional engineering disciplines, a multi-purpose and multidisciplinary course, named “Autonomous Ground Vehicles”, along with an open-source laboratory platform was developed by the author. The proposed laboratory platform can be used to study a wide range of topics regarding autonomous vehicles, ranging from low-level data acquisition and control to higher-level concepts such as sensor fusion and SLAM. This paper discusses the pedagogical considerations in the syllabus and experimental laboratory platform design for this unique course. The course was offered as a cross-listed elective course among Mechanical Engineering, Mechatronics and Robotics Engineering, and Computer Science majors. Therefore, the challenges faced during the course offering, especially ensuring that the course is appropriate for ME, MRE, and CS students while complex enough to cover the essential fundamentals of autonomous vehicles are also discussed. Finally, the outcomes of offering this course in terms of student feedback, the lessons learned, and the future directions will be presented and discussed in the paper.

Lotfi, N., & Novosad, J. A., & Phan-Van, H. (2019, June), A Multidisciplinary Course and the Corresponding Laboratory Platform Development for Teaching the Fundamentals of Advanced Autonomous Vehicles Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--31975

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