Loading ...A group of 5 engineering students in the production systems class are working together to build a robot from scratch, including programming, that will be able to walk, fly and carry a general load, (ex.with a camera) for their semester class project when finished.
“Someone brought up the idea of a hexacopter and then someone else came with up a hexapod so we just put the two together,” senior Adam Claassen said. “It seemed fun.”
Mrs. Arlynda Jorgensen who is the adviser and engineering teacher said, ” I was really excited. The students were excited. It is a big, complicated and expensive project but their enthusiasm got them through.”
Claassen is one of the lead programmers, for building the hexapodter and he will also be one of the co-pilots when the project has been completed. Other members of the group include, junior, Matthew Sanderson, who also has a role in programming the HexaPodter, junior Camilio Melnyk, the main leader of the project, the lead electrical engineer and the main pilot, junior Spencer Yaculak, the lead systems engineer and junior Henry Tuit Farquhar, the lead mechanical engineer for the project.
“We needed to do a semester project that had to have something to do with arduino, the 3-d printing computer aided design (CAD), and since me and Camilo already have experience with multi-rotors that we fly and all of us [in the group] were in robotics, we decided to build [the HexaPodter] and add legs,” explained Claassen. “It’s the real engineering process in play.”
“First we started by identifying the components and we had to do some research for the components for the hexapod, but we knew what to look for since me and Camilo have had experience with building multi-rotors. Other than that we had to look up hexapod designs and information for the controls,” added Claassen.
“It’s a standard aircraft remote with control channels,” Sanderson mentioned. “We are still in the prototyping phase, we’re still building.”
“We are still working on a 3-D printed prototype for the hexapod and once we are satisfied with that, we can start the cut out of the carbon fibers,” Claassen added.
“The final design will be made by a company that will make the parts out of carbon, which will make [the HexaPodTer] stronger, sturdier and lighter,” says Mrs. Jorgensen .
Work for this project started within the first few weeks of the new school year, but the most important part of the project was getting enough funding to start and complete the robot.
“It was estimated that 2-3 grand was needed to do it [the HexaPodter]. The project scale depended on how much we got,” Claassen said.
To assist with the funding, the team started a Indiegogo campaign asking their friends, family members and peers to help them. On the funding site, the group made a brief three minute and five second video explaining their goals and needs for the project. The campaign started on October 14 2014 and ended on November 23 2014.
The team was able to fund-raise about 2,365 dollars for the project and were able to receive more money from private donations.
Claassen said, “I hope that it ends up working, but I’m confident that it will fly. The walking part is a bit complicated.”
“I hope it gets done in the time framed,” Sanderson added, “Hopefully it’s just successful.”
“I want to see what they are able to do and help them grow with the skills to compete with University of Maryland,” Mrs. Jorgensen mentioned. “It’s all about learning from the experience. Even if they don’t succeed, they have learned a lot. I want them to grow as engineers”
The University of Maryland School A. James Clark School of Engineering has a Introduction to Engineering Design class (ESEN 100) which is part of the Key Stone program. The [ESEN 100] class gives a design challenge to make an autonomous hovercraft that has to move over land, Mrs. Jorgensen added.
The productions systems class will take part in the challenge and compete with the other groups in the Key Stone program which will take place in mid-May.
“The point of the class [ESEN 100] is to increase the number of people to stick with engineering. There is a want for more people in the work force with skills to code for something. They are encouraging more women and the minority to become engineers,” Mrs. Jorgensen explains.
“Typically, an engineering student student would take all these physics, calc and statistic classes and then in their senior year they would do a project. The Key Stone program flipped it, so the students have to quickly learn the basic concepts and then they work on a design challenge with a team,” said Mrs. Jorgensen. “I wanted to give students another pathway, so if they did not have time to get an internship, they can at least get a good experience through this.”
“As a learning experience, what they take away to their colleges and jobs feels like success for me. I want them to grow as engineers and understand how it works in the real world,” Mrs. Jorgensen explained.
For more information regarding the Key Stone program at the University of Maryland A. James Clark School of Engineering, please go to http://www.keystone.umd.edu/courses/enes100
For more information about the group’s Indiegogo Campaign please visit https://www.indiegogo.com/
Note:
Camilo Melnyk is also the Co-Media Editor for The Raider school newspaper.