Our group was given the task of designing, constructing, testing, and finalizing an Advanced Energy Vehicle, or AEV. To do this, we were given a kit full of pieces that would be found useful as the project carried on. After designing and building the AEV, we were required to program the device such that it would travel along a long, L-shaped track, while completing objectives along the way. These objectives include coming to a stop, turning around, picking up and transporting a payload, and overcoming slopes, as a real rover-like device would on a foreign planet. Our specific AEV was designed with the intent to be placed on the distant planet of Mars, which is far different from that of our Earth.
The AEV was required to travel along the track pictured below, while making the listed stops.
The AEV itself was constructed using a variety of parts provided to us in the AEV kit. These parts include basic plastic panels for attaching various components together, a metal brace to mount the wheels and motion sensors on, an Arduino Nano board for uploading and running programs, two motors for moving the vehicle, and a battery for powering the vehicle.
We made two designs for the AEV, the design that we ended up using throughout the project being pictured below.
