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Re-Engineering a Mini-Drone as a Project for First-Year Engineering Students

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Conference

2020 First-Year Engineering Experience

Location

East Lansing, Michigan

Publication Date

July 26, 2020

Start Date

July 26, 2020

End Date

July 28, 2020

Page Count

8

DOI

10.18260/1-2--35776

Permanent URL

https://peer.asee.org/35776

Download Count

2482

Paper Authors

biography

Ludvik Alkhoury New Jersey Institute of Technology

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Mr. Ludvik Alkhoury is a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Newark College of Engineering, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Newark, NJ. He is currently the Lab instructor of Fundamentals of Engineering Design (FED) 101, a course that reviews the basic concepts of engineering and introduces some tools used for the design and implementation of devices and systems.

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biography

Jaskirat Sodhi New Jersey Institute of Technology

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Dr. Jaskirat Sodhi is interested in first-year engineering curriculum design and recruitment, retention and success of engineering students. He is the coordinator of ENGR101, an application-oriented course for engineering students placed in pre-calculus courses. He has also developed and co-teaches the Fundamentals of Engineering Design course that includes a wide spectra of activities to teach general engineering students the basics of engineering design using a hands-on approach which is also engaging and fun. He is an Institute for Teaching Excellence Fellow and the recipient of NJIT's 2018 Saul K. Fenster Innovation in Engineering Education Award.

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biography

Ashish D Borgaonkar New Jersey Institute of Technology Orcid 16x16 orcid.org/0000-0003-3375-889X

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Dr. Ashish Borgaonkar works as Asst. Professor of Engineering Education at the New Jersey Institute of Technology's Newark College of Engineering located in Newark, New Jersey. He has developed and taught several engineering courses primarily in first-year engineering, civil and environmental engineering, and general engineering. He has won multiple awards for excellence in instruction. He also has worked on several research projects, programs, and initiatives to help students bridge the gap between high school and college as well as preparing students for the rigors of mathematics. His research interests include engineering education, integration of novel technologies into engineering classroom, excellence in instruction, water, and wastewater treatment, civil engineering infrastructure, and transportation engineering.

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Abstract

This full paper will explore a novel idea of re-engineering or redesigning a mini-drone in a first-year engineering design course at our mid-size technology university. Reverse engineering has been used to teach the design process to first-year students for a long time. This project takes it a step further, where students not only reverse engineer the drone but also redesign the drone to make it better. Using a drone as the product makes the project relevant and interesting to the students. The students start by measuring the parts of the unassembled drone, design all components in a 3D modeling software, assemble all parts to create the complete drone in the 3D modeling software. The drone is then physically assembled by putting all the original pieces from the kit together. A workshop is organized to help students learn soldering, as the motors and LEDs have to be soldered onto the circuit board. Finally, students are asked to come up with a new design for the drone. The newly designed model has to fit the battery, the circuit board, and the motors. This part will then be 3D printed and attached to the original drone. The goal is to make the drone fly with this new design. This also helps expose students to our makerspace in the very first semester and encourages them to use the facility for future projects. This paper will include details on how the project was implemented in our class and an assessment to show the effectiveness of this new teaching technique.

Alkhoury, L., & Sodhi, J., & Borgaonkar, A. D. (2020, July), Re-Engineering a Mini-Drone as a Project for First-Year Engineering Students Paper presented at 2020 First-Year Engineering Experience, East Lansing, Michigan. 10.18260/1-2--35776

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