Project Based Learning Using the Robotic Operating System (ROS) for Undergraduate Research Applications

Abstract

received his PhD from Johns Hopkins University in 1990 in Mechanical Engineering. His Thesis and initial work was on underwater explosion bubble dynamics and ship and submarine whipping. After graduation he took a position with the US Army where he has been ever since. For the first decade with the Army he worked on notable programs to include the M829A1 and A2 that were first of a kind composite saboted munition. His travels have taken him to Los Alamos where he worked on modeling the transient dynamic attributes of Kinetic Energy munitions during initial launch. Afterwards he was selected for the exchange scientist program and spent a summer working for DASA Aerospace in Wedel, Germany 1993. His initial research also made a major contribution to the M1A1 barrel reshape initiative that began in 1995. Shortly afterwards he was selected for a 1 year appointment to the United States Military Academy West Point where he taught Mathematics. Following these accomplishments he worked on the SADARM fire and forget projectile that was finally used in the second gulf war. Since that time, circa 2002, his studies have focused on unmanned systems both air and ground. His team deployed a bomb finding robot named the LynchBot to Iraq late in 2004 and then again in 2006 deployed about a dozen more improved LynchBots to Iraq. His team also assisted in the deployment of 84 TACMAV systems in 2005. Around that time he volunteered as a science advisor and worked at the Rapid Equipping Force during the summer of 2005 where he was exposed to a number of unmanned systems technologies. His initial group composed of about 6 S&T grew to nearly 30 between 2003 and 2010 as he transitioned from a Branch head to an acting Division Chief.

A Multidisciplinary Capstone Design Project to Satisfy ABET Student Outcomes

“…e value of PBL in mechanical engineering projects has been demonstrated in many applications [15]. e value of PBL in engineering projects involving multidisciplinary applications has been shown in [16][17][18]. For this particular capstone, students were allowed to do their own research and come up with their own decisions with minimal oversight and guidance.…”

A Challenge-Based Learning Intensive Course for Competency Development in Undergraduate Engineering Students: Case Study on UAVs

“…Laboratory proposals to familiarize oneself with the drone's dynamics and its automatic control [27] have been described; in addition, the design of a toolkit to be applied to project-orientedlearning activities [28], as well as complete courses (from design to flight tests) [29] have been reported. Other results are implementations of activities and complete courses with simulated scenarios or real prototypes [30][31][32][33][34][35]. These activities have included components such as: calibration; computer-aided design (CAD); sensors; actuators; automatic control; and trajectory tracking.…”

Design, build, and test drive a FSAE electric vehicle

“…Teams will typically assign tasks in accordance with their own strengths. This team management used the proven techniques of project-based learning [4][5][6][7]. The project was given some basic engineering constraints on cost and milestone deadlines, and had to also conform to the FSAE regulations for EV.…”