This section contains the statement of the problem the team solved, a synopsis of the research that was conducted to improve the performance of the AEV, as well as important areas that the team focused on when designing the AEV.
Problem
As a part of the Smart City Columbus initiative, the team was tasked with designing an autonomous, Advanced Energy Vehicle, which would travel on an overhead rail and would transport civilians from Linden to Easton and Polaris. The citizens of Linden are cut off from many basic services and centers of employment due to I-71. For this reason, it is important to find an alternative mode of transportation for these people. In order to effectively design this vehicle, the team was given a small kit with a support arm, motors, propellers, wheels, fasteners, reflectance sensors, and an Arduino control board. The goal was to design, assemble, test, and re-design a small scale version of our vehicle which could then be used as a model for a full scale application.
Research
According to research conducted by the team on motors, it was found that using only one motor and propeller to power the AEV increases efficiency by 30% while only taking 10% more time to complete a certain command, when compared with using to motors and two propellers to power the AEV. The data to support can be found in the Propeller Configuration page in the Advanced R&D section.
According to further research on propellers, it was found that two propellers attached two one motor uses less energy and produces more power than when only one propeller was attached to a motor. The data to support this claim can be found on the Performance Test #1 page.
According to recent research conducted by the team regarding the servo motor, the servo motor uses less energy to bring the AEV to a stop. The servo only needs a small amount of energy to rotate the arm to hit the wheel, while power braking requires the motors to reverse the direction of rotation. The data to support this claim can be found on the Performance Test #2 page.
Priorities
Our first priority for the AEV project is to make the AEV as efficient as possible. This includes the design of the AEV as well as the way the AEV runs. The team decided on a minimalist design for the AEV. Very little space on the AEV went unused. This design will lead the AEV weighing less and costing more. The team will also make sure that the propulsion system for the AEV is efficient as possible, while still providing adequate power to the AEV.
Our third priority for the AEV project is to complete the code for the AEV. Through trial and error and calculations, the team aims to have the AEV run as fast and as efficiently as possible, meeting all the requirements for its assigned route. The team also needs to make sure that the code is not so complex that all of the time for the project is spent fixing the code.
Our final priority of the AEV project is to complete a perfect performance test under budget. The team has completed a few performance tests which have had perfect scores with no error. From data from these practice runs. The team knows that the final performance test can be completed with no error and under $500,000. This would be more than $100,00 under the maximum cost to receive an “A.”