Creative Design Thinking
This lab tasked team members with drafting individual AEV designs, culminating in a collective AEV design. This final design was created with the project constraints in mind, such as energy efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and how aerodynamic the design was.
Arduino Programming Basics
The second lab introduced the Arduino code to the team. The team explored method behaviors and function syntax. Finally, the team was tasked with using these given functions to manipulate the AEV, then seeing how they interact with the motors on the AEV.
Concept Screening and Scoring
The third lab required the team to test the assembled AEV. This required the group to score the AEV in various categories, such as balance and energy efficiency. Once the scores were tallied, the designs were then compared to the reference vehicle in order to gauge the effectiveness of the new designs.
External Sensors
During the fourth lab, the team familiarized themselves with the external sensors of the AEV. New code functions were found and implemented to fully utilize the new sensors, and the team was introduced to troubleshooting their sensors when errors appear.
System Analysis 1
The fifth lab focused on testing propellers in the wind tunnel. The team members became acquainted with the process of analyzing propulsion efficiency in AEV drafts, and how to use this information when deciding which propellers to apply to AEV designs.
System Analysis 2
The sixth lab introduced the team to the new analysis software. The EEPROM data provided results that correspond to the team’s code and AEV performance, and helped spur modifications in the AEV design process. The tool was used to fetch raw data which was then used to make calculations to obtain data for analysis.
Design Analysis Tool
In the seventh lab, the team was given a MATLAB application to analyze Arduino data. The sample data provided allowed the team to explore possible utilities for the app, and how the app could be used in better perfecting the AEV.
Performance Test 1
This was a three phase lab with the purpose of fully testing the AEV and its code. The first test required the team to test two separate designs. The first design was propeller fixed to the body of the main AEV design, while the second was the wheel configuration for it. The team was tasked with making the AEV move to the gate, stop, and travel to the docking point.
Performance Test 2
The second phase of the performance test lab was similar to the first. The team was required to create a secondary code which could also complete the given parameters.
Performance Test 3
This was the final phase of the performance test lab. This lab was meant to allow the team to modify design and software in order to increase the efficiency of the AEV.