Experiences of Integrating UAVs into the Curriculum through Multidisciplinary Engineering Projects

Ciaran McGoldrick; Smita Shivaram; Meriel Huggard

Download Paper | Permalink

Conference: 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: New Orleans, Louisiana
Publication Date: June 26, 2016
Start Date: June 26, 2016
End Date: June 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-692-68565-5
ISSN: 2153-5965
Conference Session: Integrating Curriculum and Labs in ET Programs
Tagged Division: Engineering Technology
Page Count: 15
DOI: 10.18260/p.26818
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/26818
Download Count: 676

Paper Authors

biography

Ciaran McGoldrick Trinity College, Dublin orcid.org/0000-0001-6442-3262

visit author page

Prof. Ciaran Mc Goldrick is a lecturer in the School of Computer Science and Statistics in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland. Since 2015 he is also a Visiting Professor at UCLA. His research interests encompass wireless networking, constrained communications, security, robotics and computer science and engineering education, and he has published widely in these areas This research is supported by both National and European H2020 funding awards. Prof. Mc Goldrick is widely experienced in the formation and development of undergraduate and postgraduate programmes and syllabi at National level, and is regularly called upon to assess and validate existing postgraduate programmes.

visit author page

biography

Smita Shivaram Trinity College, Dublin

visit author page

I am Smita Shivaram, a student of the M.Sc in Mobile and Ubiquitous Computing course at Trinity College Dublin. I have finished my bachelors degree in Computer Science from VIT University, India. My interests include hardware and software programming, gaming and virtual reality applications.

visit author page

biography

Meriel Huggard Bucknell Univeristy and Trinity, College Dublin orcid.org/0000-0002-8299-6619

visit author page

Dr. Meriel Huggard has been a tenured faculty member in Trinity College Dublin, Ireland since 2000. For the 2015/16 academic year she is on leave of absence and is a visiting associate professor in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Bucknell University, PA. She teaches courses in computer science, computer engineering and mathematics. She obtained her B.A. (Mod) in theoretical physics and her Ph.D. in computer science education from Trinity College Dublin. She is an IEEE senior member, an ACM senior member and a member of ASEE. Her research interests extend from wireless networking, including the internet of things and constrained communications, through computer science and engineering education, and she continues to publish in these areas. Her research is supported by both national and European H2020 funding awards. She is widely experienced in curriculum development at both undergraduate and postgraduate level and she has served on curriculum development committees at a national level.

visit author page

Download Paper | Permalink

Abstract

The content and means of delivery of many electronic and computer engineering courses has evolved radically over the past decade due to the rise in the availability of affordable, open-source programmable microcontrollers and accessible wireless communication devices. Many engineering modules have been extended to more closely integrate the underlying technologies and systems with modern engineering practice. One of the more exciting additions to the range of inexpensive robotic technologies is unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones. Drones have a wide range of real-world applications and the full potential of these devices has yet to be explored by either industry or educators.

Drones have an enormous capacity to engage students and facilitate classroom learning. Drones offer a challenging platform for existing engineering design modules where students face challenges in electronics, control, programming and project management.

However, one of the challenges facing educators is how to integrate drones within their courses in a meaningful way; so that UAVs are not viewed as mere toys, but as devices that have a credible role to play in the solution of real world problems. In this paper we describe how UAVs have been included in a multidisciplinary project where students work on real world problems that cut across a broad range of engineering disciplines. The project draws on the capabilities of UAVs: the ability to sense objects in their surroundings, to plot and maintain an accurate course, to make on-the-fly adjustments based on environmental data, to use computer vision to interpret data gathered by the on-board camera etc.

As a proof-of-concept we focus on a practical, contemporary Engineering task – the use of UAVs to monitor the structural health of next generation wind turbines. We describe the high level task, decompose it into multiple complementary facets, relate those to specific Engineering disciplines and associated educational concepts at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and then present specific learning and developmental opportunities and describe and present the student engagement and achievements.

Citation
Format

McGoldrick, C., & Shivaram, S., & Huggard, M. (2016, June), Experiences of Integrating UAVs into the Curriculum through Multidisciplinary Engineering Projects Paper presented at 2016 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, New Orleans, Louisiana. 10.18260/p.26818

TY  - CPAPER
AB  - The content and means of delivery of many electronic and computer engineering courses has evolved radically over the past decade due to the rise in the availability of affordable, open-source programmable microcontrollers and accessible wireless communication devices. Many engineering modules have been extended to more closely integrate the underlying technologies and systems with modern engineering practice. One of the more exciting additions to the range of inexpensive robotic technologies is unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), or drones.  Drones have a wide range of real-world applications and the full potential of these devices has yet to be explored by either industry or educators.

Drones have an enormous capacity to engage students and facilitate classroom learning. Drones offer a challenging platform for existing engineering design modules where students face challenges in electronics, control, programming and project management.

However, one of the challenges facing educators is how to integrate drones within their courses in a meaningful way; so that UAVs are not viewed as mere toys, but as devices that have a credible role to play in the solution of real world problems.  In this paper we describe how UAVs have been included in  a multidisciplinary project where students work on real world problems that cut across a broad range of engineering disciplines. The project  draws on the capabilities of UAVs:  the ability to sense objects in their surroundings, to plot and maintain an accurate course, to make on-the-fly adjustments based on environmental data, to use computer vision to interpret data gathered by the on-board camera etc.  

As a proof-of-concept we focus on a practical, contemporary Engineering task – the use of UAVs to monitor the structural health of next generation wind turbines.  We describe the high level task, decompose it into multiple complementary facets, relate those to specific Engineering disciplines and associated educational concepts at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and then present specific learning and developmental opportunities and describe and present the student engagement and achievements.

AU  - Ciaran McGoldrick
AU  - Smita Shivaram
AU  - Meriel Huggard
CY  - New Orleans, Louisiana
DA  - 2016/06/26
PB  - ASEE Conferences
TI  - Experiences of Integrating UAVs into the Curriculum through Multidisciplinary Engineering Projects
UR  - https://peer.asee.org/26818
DO  - 10.18260/p.26818
ER  -