Rochester undergraduates gained crucial systems engineering experience constructing a lunar rover for NASA’s Lunabotics挑战.
Melbot V3 stands just two and a half feet tall and is made primarily of aluminum and plastic, 用螺母和螺栓固定在一起. 它可以成功地完成目标任务:驾驶、挖掘和沉积.
The silver mini robot was built in Rettner Hall on the River Campus by about 20 澳门威尼斯人网上赌场 是学生组织成员的工程专业学生 你的机器人.
“梅尔博特是整个团队的努力，”25岁的亚历克斯·桑德斯说, 来自加来的机械工程专业, 佛蒙特州. “我们为我们的机器人感到非常自豪.”
The students began designing Melbot V3 last September for an annual spring competition called the Lunabotics挑战这是一项以大学为基础、由美国宇航局(NASA)运营和赞助的为期一年的活动. 机器人负责驾驶, 挖掘, 和沉淀 regolith—the fragmented rock material that covers the moon’s surface—in a lunar simulant at the University of Central Florida (UCF) in Orlando.
The Rochester students finished 19th of the 43 teams invited to showcase their robotic rovers. Ten finalists made the short trip to the Kennedy Space Center for the two-day final round, 爱荷华州立大学和阿拉巴马大学并列第一.
Lunabotics是第15个年头，澳门威尼斯人网上赌场于2022年加入. The “V3” in Melbot’s name is a nod to the third year of competition for the team.
“第一年有很多成长的烦恼, 学习做预算是什么感觉, 遵守时间表, 组装一个机器人, 把它带到佛罗里达,托马斯·霍华德说。, 副教授 电气与计算机工程系 和UR机器人顾问. “Last year was a virtual competition that involved a local demonstration of 挖掘 capabilities. 这是我们的学生第一年完成所有三项任务, 开车, 挖掘, 和沉淀, 在正式比赛中.”
Students say that combining the lessons learned in their engineering classes with real-life engineering challenges was invaluable. Howard teaches a course on mechatronics each year along with a rotating schedule of advanced electives that concern different aspects of autonomous robots.
“The most useful direct learning comes from Professor Howard’s robotics courses,桑德斯说。, 谁是团队的队长和设计负责人. “But the main takeaway is developing team skills and ways of approaching an engineering problem.”
在六个月内创造出一个机器人
在2023-24学年的三月底, the students had designed and built Melbot V3 using the basic system engineering principles outlined by NASA.
“We worked hard going from conceptual ideas to designing in CAD (computer-aided design) and manufacturing our robot,26岁的布里奇特·阮说, 他来自胡志明市，主修机械工程, 越南. “我们一直在排除故障. 虽然压力很大，但最终弄明白了还是很令人满意的.”
Saunders estimates he spent about 300 hours on the project—everything from administrative tasks, 计算机辅助设计工作, 设计评审, 加工, 组装, 测试, 外展, 并且写作达到了竞赛的所有要求.”
“这是最复杂的问题, 工程或其他, 它确实需要多学科的方法,桑德斯说。. “If the mechanical, electrical, or software sides aren’t working together, we won’t get anywhere.”
The complex technological challenges of a fully autonomous robot required breaking the project into multiple tasks, 将每个任务分配给子团队, 然后在子团队之间进行协调.
“作为一项独立任务，制造一个功能性机器人可能很容易, 但如果再加上有限的身体要求, 预算, 为项目投入时间, 制造选择, 挑战变得困难十倍,25岁的Hesham Elshafey说, 坦塔大学电气与计算机工程专业毕业, 埃及. “这就是它的伟大之处!”
意想不到的问题产生了创新的解决方案.
“在UCF, 我们没有带我们为电箱做的防尘罩,Nguyen说, “so we improvised one from a tablecloth and used the leftover cloth to make sure the washers—which weren’t the perfect size—were secured on our drivetrain’s shafts.”
体验式学习是学生们最大的收获
体验式学习是澳门威尼斯人网上赌场本科教育的标志, 有很多工程专业的学生参与 高级设计项目. 然而，这种沉浸式的机会并不局限于即将毕业的大四学生.
“One of the things our students ask for year after year is more engineering and design opportunities,霍华德说. “你的机器人 club gives students an opportunity to do this every academic year.”
Hisashi Lonske ' 25, 他来自波士顿，主修机械工程, joined the 你的机器人 club looking for a tangible project that revolved around design and problem solving. “我得到了我一直在寻找的东西，”朗斯克说. “While I was able to apply the math and concepts I learned in class to the creation of the robot, the problem-solving and critical thinking elements are the core of the Lunabotics project.”
最重要的是，作为一个团队的一员，为了一个共同的目标而工作的快乐.
“Even though the club was split into sub-teams to work on various parts of the robot, those sub-teams would frequently talk with members of other sub-teams to bounce ideas off each other,朗斯克说. “The experience of collaborating in a team setting to achieve a single goal is particularly important for us future engineers. 这些经历等待着我们 集体 过了我们在澳门威尼斯人网上赌场的日子.”
Josh Choi’25, 他来自长岛，主修电子和计算机工程, 完成了大部分的电子设备, 控制, 以及项目的软件工作. 他说这些挑战和不眠之夜都是值得的.
他说:“这无疑是我在澳门威尼斯人网上赌场期间最精彩的时刻。. “Having the opportunity to build a fully functioning robot from scratch while working alongside our team of awesome engineers was an invaluable experience I’ll always carry with me and will be crucial in my career going forward.”
