Integrated and Multi-Disciplinary First-Year Engineering Drone Design Project

Charles E. Baukal

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Conference: 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Portland, Oregon
Publication Date: June 23, 2024
Start Date: June 23, 2024
End Date: July 12, 2024
Conference Session: Design in Engineering Education Division (DEED) - Engineering Design and First-Year Education
Tagged Division: Design in Engineering Education Division (DEED)
Permanent URL: https://strategy.asee.org/47640

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Paper Authors

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Charles E. Baukal Jr. P.E. Oklahoma Baptist University

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Charles E. Baukal, Jr. has a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, an Ed.D., and a Professional Engineering License. He is the Director of Engineering. He has over 40 years of industrial experience and nearly 40 years of adjunct teaching experience.

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Abstract

This paper is being submitted under the Design Methodology category. It has been shown that design projects for first-year engineering students have many benefits. One of the most important is improved retention by exposing students to real engineering early in their college experience. A criticism of engineering programs from past generations is that students often had few if any engineering courses during their freshmen and sophomore years. Many students dropped out of engineering before they ever did any real engineering.

In the project described here, electrical and mechanical engineering students are divided into six teams to design a drone system for a third-world country to deliver supplies such as food and medicine. Each team looks at a different aspect of the project. The six teams include: land-based drone, water-based drone, quadcopter drone, airplane drone, retrieval drone, and power generation. All of these are based at the same location in a country selected by the students. The first four are the various methods used to deliver the supplies. The retrieval drone retrieves a delivery drone that fails to make it back to the home base. The power generation team designs a method to produce power to charge the drones using some type of renewable energy such as wind, solar, or hydro.

Because this is a first-year design project, the students are asked to select an existing drone, rather than design a drone from scratch, that they then modify as appropriate. For example, the delivery drones need to include some method to be easily retrieved by the retrieval drone. An important constraint is their final design must be easily maintained in the selected third-world country. Another constraint is that each team has a budget of approximately $500 which comes from their lab fees for the course.

The teams are selected based on each student’s self-assessment of their knowledge of drones, 3D plastic printing, and renewable power generation. The instructor then divides the students so that each drone team has at least one student with significant knowledge and experience with drones. However, all students must pass the FAA’s drone certification exam. The power generation team has at least one student with significant knowledge and experience with renewable energy generation. All six teams have at least one student with significant 3D printing experience. Ideally, each team should have at least four members.

Since this is a first-year, first semester project, most of the students do not know each other so teamwork and collaboration are important outcomes of the project. The teams need to work together for the entire system to work properly. For example, the drone retrieval team develops a common method for retrieving the delivery drones, such as incorporating some type of hook that can be attached to the delivery drones. The power generation team must work with the other five teams to develop a suitable method for charging the drones, where the latter often do not have the same types of batteries.

Teams determine the specifications for their part of the project. For example, the delivery drone teams decide what their payload will be, how far from the home base they can deliver their payload, and how the payload will be delivered. Then, they develop a preliminary design including what type of equipment needs to be purchased. The purchased equipment is then modified to meet the objectives. Then, the equipment is tested to determine its capability and the original design is modified to improve the performance which is measured and documented.

Communication is another important objective of this project. Students must learn how to communicate within their own team, since most of the students do not know each other yet. They must also learn to communicate with the other teams to ensure the entire system works as intended. Teams deliver oral presentations at various times during the project. They also prepare a final written report.

The purpose here is not to design the ultimate drone delivery system, but rather to expose students to a real-world problem that has constraints and no single solution. With a very small budget, students are only able to deliver a limited payload over a short distance. However, as part of the project, they also recommend equipment that could deliver a more significant payload over a longer distance if they had a larger budget.

Citation
Format

Baukal, C. E. (2024, June), Integrated and Multi-Disciplinary First-Year Engineering Drone Design Project Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. https://strategy.asee.org/47640

TY - CPAPER
AB - This paper is being submitted under the Design Methodology category. It has been shown that design projects for first-year engineering students have many benefits. One of the most important is improved retention by exposing students to real engineering early in their college experience. A criticism of engineering programs from past generations is that students often had few if any engineering courses during their freshmen and sophomore years. Many students dropped out of engineering before they ever did any real engineering.

In the project described here, electrical and mechanical engineering students are divided into six teams to design a drone system for a third-world country to deliver supplies such as food and medicine. Each team looks at a different aspect of the project. The six teams include: land-based drone, water-based drone, quadcopter drone, airplane drone, retrieval drone, and power generation. All of these are based at the same location in a country selected by the students. The first four are the various methods used to deliver the supplies. The retrieval drone retrieves a delivery drone that fails to make it back to the home base. The power generation team designs a method to produce power to charge the drones using some type of renewable energy such as wind, solar, or hydro.

Because this is a first-year design project, the students are asked to select an existing drone, rather than design a drone from scratch, that they then modify as appropriate. For example, the delivery drones need to include some method to be easily retrieved by the retrieval drone. An important constraint is their final design must be easily maintained in the selected third-world country. Another constraint is that each team has a budget of approximately $500 which comes from their lab fees for the course.

The teams are selected based on each student’s self-assessment of their knowledge of drones, 3D plastic printing, and renewable power generation. The instructor then divides the students so that each drone team has at least one student with significant knowledge and experience with drones. However, all students must pass the FAA’s drone certification exam. The power generation team has at least one student with significant knowledge and experience with renewable energy generation. All six teams have at least one student with significant 3D printing experience. Ideally, each team should have at least four members.

Since this is a first-year, first semester project, most of the students do not know each other so teamwork and collaboration are important outcomes of the project. The teams need to work together for the entire system to work properly. For example, the drone retrieval team develops a common method for retrieving the delivery drones, such as incorporating some type of hook that can be attached to the delivery drones. The power generation team must work with the other five teams to develop a suitable method for charging the drones, where the latter often do not have the same types of batteries.

Teams determine the specifications for their part of the project. For example, the delivery drone teams decide what their payload will be, how far from the home base they can deliver their payload, and how the payload will be delivered. Then, they develop a preliminary design including what type of equipment needs to be purchased. The purchased equipment is then modified to meet the objectives. Then, the equipment is tested to determine its capability and the original design is modified to improve the performance which is measured and documented.

Communication is another important objective of this project. Students must learn how to communicate within their own team, since most of the students do not know each other yet. They must also learn to communicate with the other teams to ensure the entire system works as intended. Teams deliver oral presentations at various times during the project. They also prepare a final written report.

The purpose here is not to design the ultimate drone delivery system, but rather to expose students to a real-world problem that has constraints and no single solution. With a very small budget, students are only able to deliver a limited payload over a short distance. However, as part of the project, they also recommend equipment that could deliver a more significant payload over a longer distance if they had a larger budget.

AU - Charles E. Baukal Jr. P.E.
CY - Portland, Oregon
DA - 2024/06/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Integrated and Multi-Disciplinary First-Year Engineering Drone Design Project
UR - https://strategy.asee.org/47640
ER -