A Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Project: Development of an Autonomous Rover For Mars Exploration

Giancarlo D'Orazio; Jijuan Xu; Sasan Haghani

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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 Design II
Tagged Division: Multidisciplinary Engineering
Page Count: 9
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--31976
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/31976
Download Count: 726

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Paper Authors

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Giancarlo D'Orazio University of the District of Columbia

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Giancarlo is a Mechanical Engineering major, class of 2020, at the University of the District Columbia.

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Jijuan Xu University of the District of Columbia

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Dr. Jiajun Xu, P.E. is an associate professor of Mechanical Engineering Department at University of the District of Columbia. His research interests are Micro/Nanoscale materials for thermal Transport and Energy Conversion, Mechanical Design, Water Treatment techniques, and Multi-scale simulation. His research has been funded by National Science Foundation, U.S. Army Research office, Office of Naval Research, U.S. Department of Agriculture, and U.S. Geological Survey.

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Sasan Haghani University of the District of Columbia

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Sasan Haghani, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of the District of Columbia. His research interests include the application of wireless sensor networks in biomedical and environmental domains and performance analysis of communication systems over fading channels.

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Abstract

Very few problems in engineering only require the use of a single tool. According to the Washington Accord, skills to solve complex problems in engineering are important in the curriculum of engineering education. To provide more experiential learning experience to its students, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of the XXX is modernizing its curricula by offering complex engineering practices through curricular and extracurricular activities.

The design of autonomous vehicles requires input from nearly all STEM fields and hence provides an excellent opportunity for students from different engineering backgrounds to collaborate on such projects. During Summer of 2018, a group of students from Electrical, Mechanical, Civil and Computer Science departments at the University of the XXX were recruited to design and develop an autonomous rover for Mars exploration, supervised by two faculty members in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering. An autonomous rover was designed, powered by solar energy and a custom lithium-ion battery array powering a primary electric motor, microcontrollers, steering motor, a linear actuator and a variety of sensors. To emulate the type of data an interplanetary rover may collect, the vehicle was outfitted with VOC and CO2 gas, humidity, temperature, and proximity sensors. Sensor data was transmitted from Arduino Megas to a computer via an XBee DigiMesh radio module. Two robotic arms, also powered by lithium ion batteries and compatible with an Arduino platform, were installed on each side of the rover and the robotic arms were programmed to maneuver remotely. Customized housings for the proposed sensors, robotic arms, and solar panel were designed using computer aided design software.

Through this practice, a multidisciplinary group of students were offered a unique opportunity to work closely on a tightly integrated system. Rather than assign distinct roles, the students cooperated on the development of all systems used on the rover. As such, team members often worked on problems outside their study area and gained valuable insight into creating something as complex as a Martian rover.

This paper gives details of the student’s design, their learning experiences and how experiential learning has been integrated into the engineering and computer science programs at the University of the XXX.

Citation
Format

D'Orazio, G., & Xu, J., & Haghani, S. (2019, June), A Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Project: Development of an Autonomous Rover For Mars Exploration Paper presented at 2019 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition , Tampa, Florida. 10.18260/1-2--31976

TY - CPAPER
AB - Very few problems in engineering only require the use of a single tool. According to the Washington Accord, skills to solve complex problems in engineering are important in the curriculum of engineering education. To provide more experiential learning experience to its students, the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at the University of the XXX is modernizing its curricula by offering complex engineering practices through curricular and extracurricular activities.

The design of autonomous vehicles requires input from nearly all STEM fields and hence provides an excellent opportunity for students from different engineering backgrounds to collaborate on such projects. During Summer of 2018, a group of students from Electrical, Mechanical, Civil and Computer Science departments at the University of the XXX were recruited to design and develop an autonomous rover for Mars exploration, supervised by two faculty members in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering.
An autonomous rover was designed, powered by solar energy and a custom lithium-ion battery array powering a primary electric motor, microcontrollers, steering motor, a linear actuator and a variety of sensors. To emulate the type of data an interplanetary rover may collect, the vehicle was outfitted with VOC and CO2 gas, humidity, temperature, and proximity sensors. Sensor data was transmitted from Arduino Megas to a computer via an XBee DigiMesh radio module. Two robotic arms, also powered by lithium ion batteries and compatible with an Arduino platform, were installed on each side of the rover and the robotic arms were programmed to maneuver remotely. Customized housings for the proposed sensors, robotic arms, and solar panel were designed using computer aided design software.

Through this practice, a multidisciplinary group of students were offered a unique opportunity to work closely on a tightly integrated system. Rather than assign distinct roles, the students cooperated on the development of all systems used on the rover. As such, team members often worked on problems outside their study area and gained valuable insight into creating something as complex as a Martian rover.

This paper gives details of the student’s design, their learning experiences and how experiential learning has been integrated into the engineering and computer science programs at the University of the XXX.

AU - Giancarlo D'Orazio
AU - Jijuan Xu
AU - Sasan Haghani
CY - Tampa, Florida
DA - 2019/06/15
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - A Multidisciplinary Undergraduate Project: Development of an Autonomous Rover For Mars Exploration
UR - https://peer.asee.org/31976
DO - 10.18260/1-2--31976
ER -